Horacio Lavandera to Present “Cinema at the Piano” in Mar del Plata: “Many of My Favorite Films Are Silent”

The concert will take place on April 3rd at 8:30 PM at the Teatro Colón. He will perform compositions by classical composers, works by John Williams, and pieces by Argentine artists such as Astor Piazzolla and Osvaldo Golijov.

March 29, 2026 – 5:27 PM

Pianist Horacio Lavandera will perform on April 3rd at 8:30 PM at the Teatro Colón (Yrigoyen 1665) with the concert “Cinema at the Piano,” a show that explores the intersection of classical tradition and the world of cinema. He will revisit works by classical composers, as well as pieces by composers who made fundamental contributions to film, such as John Williams. However, the artist is keen to clarify that, “although the program engages with film, this is first and foremost a piano concert. The works are linked by their connection to cinema, but here the logic is reversed: it’s not the music at the service of the image, but rather the music as the driving force of the narrative.”

The concert will include works such as Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which have been used in countless films, including The English Patient; his own versions of Star Wars pieces; and Chopin pieces used in The Pianist. There will also be a selection of works by Argentine composers such as Astor Piazzolla, whose Punta del Este Suite is featured in 12 Monos, and Osvaldo Golijov. “I’ve been working on these solo piano transcriptions for over four years, adapting an orchestra of more than 90 musicians to a single instrument. It’s a challenge that great composers like Bach, Beethoven, and Liszt also took on: translating orchestral works to the piano,” Lavandera told El Marplatense.

-How complex is it to translate an orchestral work for the piano?

It’s a very complex task. The piano is, in a way, the “king” instrument for this type of transcription, but it requires solving very demanding technical and musical problems. In the case of Star Wars, for example, there’s overlapping rhythms—groups that divide the measure into three while others do so into four—and translating that to the piano was one of the biggest challenges of recent years. My first performance was recently in Berlin, at an intimate concert, and I was very pleased. Mar del Plata will be one of the first stops on this tour, so I’m very excited.

As a musician, what is your experience like when watching films? Are you able to detach yourself from the music?

It’s difficult. I automatically start analyzing the harmony, the orchestration, the texture. That’s why many of my favorite films are silent: there I can concentrate completely on the image and the acting. However, when a film is a masterpiece, that transcends any technical analysis.

-What role does music play in the emotional construction of film?

It’s fundamental. In Star Wars, for example, it’s impossible to separate the image from the music. From the very first chord, you’re already immersed in that universe. The leitmotifs build the emotional identity of each character. If you watch those scenes without music, the effect is completely different.

-There’s a certain debate about the value of film music versus classical music. What’s your take on it?

It’s an interesting discussion. In film, the director makes the final decisions: they define cuts, moods, duration. The music serves that vision. Therefore, rather than judging the composer in the abstract, we must analyze the result based on the impact it achieves in the film. It’s a profoundly collaborative effort.

-Do you consider Star Wars to be John Williams’ best work?

Yes, definitely. From a musical standpoint, it’s an extraordinary synthesis of the American tradition: there are elements of military music, jazz, and symphonic music. It’s a very rich and very interesting work to study in depth.

-Which other film composers particularly interest you?
Piazzolla, without a doubt, has impressive work in Argentine cinema. Also Prokofiev, who composed for Soviet cinema, and directors like Tarkovsky, who had a very particular relationship with music. In any case, I always end up talking more about film than music, because the director is the one who defines the final result.

-Do you think the use of the leitmotif in film has been lost today?
In many current productions, especially in series, I notice a certain standardization. There’s more neutral music, which could work in any context. This has to do with production schedules: often the music is composed at the last minute, and there isn’t room to develop more complex ideas or strong thematic identities.

El Marplatense