He will perform at the Coliseo Theater, where he will blend classical and rock music.
His ambition is to play in Liverpool.

ALEJANDRO DUCHINI

In mid-2019, pianist Horacio Lavandera received a call from one of his favorite Argentine rock artists: former Piojos member Andrés Ciro Martínez was scheduled to perform at Luna Park with his band Los Persas. He invited him to come up on stage. Lavandera accepted, and together they performed a version of the Argentine National Anthem and another of the Piojos song “Tan Solo.” That night was perhaps the seed of what is to come.

On October 25th, he will appear at the Coliseo Theater to perform his usual songs: Ludwig van Beethoven and Gustav Mahler, but he will also add two solid rock icons in piano versions: The Beatles and Gustavo Cerati. The production is titled “Sounds of the Eternal.”

Identified with classical music and the fifth generation of a family of musicians, Lavandera (40 years old) grew up listening to a variety of styles, including rock, tango, and jazz. “I remember listening to Queen a lot at home when I was a kid, and I was struck by the imprint Freddy Mercury had on stage, his movements. I found it very interesting. As much as Sting or Led Zeppelin,” he says.

“When you start studying Argentine rock, you realize it’s very profound.”

Horacio Lavandera, Pianist

“Of course, I liked Tchaikovsky much more, but I also enjoyed Chick Corea and his Elektric Band. And there was rock: I remember, very vaguely, some images of Kiss, with their painted faces.”

At 15, encouraged by his friends, he expanded his musical tastes. Limp Bizkit, for example. And Los Piojos and Soda Stereo. “Ciro is part of the landscape I grew up with in the 90s,” he now tells this magazine.

He came to Soda through the parody of Everything for Two Pesos, Call Moe. “Singing that song at sweet 15 parties with my friends was the most fun,” he laughs, recalling his adolescence. “Not to mention when Gustavo Cerati did his parody version; it was incredible how grown up he was, having so much fun. For kids my age, that was great because all we wanted was to have a good time.”

A touch of rock

Now his center of action is the Villa Devoto neighborhood, where he lives and rehearses. He was born on December 20, 1984. Being on this side of the world allows him to stay in close contact with his mother, Lili. He misses his father, the renowned drummer José María Lavandera, who passed away in 2020 and influenced his love of music.

His parents were fundamental to his career. They coordinated his logistics from the very beginning. Or, from “the little garden,” as he calls kindergarten, when, accompanying his sister to ballet classes, he was dazzled by a piano in the classroom. He was a “happy” boy at school, someone who knew how to make friends who are still his friends today. He then mentions Rodri, who started a fundraiser when he was 7 years old to raise money to allow Horacio to buy a piano. The money wasn’t enough, but he was able to buy it anyway, thanks to his parents. Rodri’s family owned a moving company, which, of course, transported the piano from Santa Fe, where it was purchased, to Buenos Aires.

After the night with Ciro at the Luna, the pandemic hit. In 2020, Pedro Aznar invited him to collaborate on a song for a streaming concert: “I played Desarma y sangra on the piano, a beautiful song that Charly García wrote when he was 12 years old, a time when I was very inspired by classical music. For me, it was another step into the world of rock.”

Around that time, he began working with producer Sebastián Celoria, with whom he initiated projects that included other musical genres. There were more tours and new music. It was Celoria who asked him if he’d be up for doing something Beatles-themed. “I said yes right away,” he says.

I feel very blessed. I make a living doing what I love.

Horacio Lavandera, Pianist

He researched the musical influences of the four from Liverpool. He adapted their songs to his own Beethoven-style music. “I tried to blend them with English Renaissance and Baroque music in my versions, because that’s where I find a direct line between what interests me and what they are. Even though they’ve broken social structures, we mustn’t forget where they come from and what their cultural history is,” he emphasizes.

Classical and Modern

The Beatles became almost an obsession for him; perhaps a way to get closer to his father, a huge fan of the English band. And he went a step further by connecting the Argentine Gustavo Cerati with classical music. With Viva, he singles him out above other Argentine bands that fascinated him, such as Los Redonditos de Ricota, Los Abuelos de la Nada, and Virus.

“When you start studying Argentine rock, you realize it’s very profound,” he opines. And he emphasizes the “poetic key” in his lyrics. That discovery is what he now brings to the piano: “It’s my contribution to breaking down certain prejudices, like the idea that classical music is for a certain, closed audience. It’s nothing like that. You can even mix the melodies of Nirvana and Luis Miguel, which also has depth.”

He never stops thinking of himself as a citizen of the world. Always, of course, with a piano. A piano that might take him to Liverpool to indulge in the pleasure of playing Beatles songs, where they were born. “Well, it’ll come, right?” he hopes.

He identified with Cerati when he presented his 11 Symphonic Concerts at the Teatro Colón in 2002. “Back then, those kinds of performances were sporadic, but today we’re in a context where several artists are now taking on classical music,” he says. He adds, “I feel part of that change, and in that sense, I try to contribute.”

He also maintains that in Cerati, he found “certain connections with the pentatonic scales” of the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, another of his admirers.

Therapy once a week, eight hours of sleep, annual medical checkups, healthy eating, and projects: “I feel blessed because I can make a living doing what I love.” And then: “It’s a privilege to always be connected to my emotions, to how I feel about life.”

“It’s a wonderful time I’m experiencing,” he adds, and after smiling: “Although nothing can prevent the nerves I start to feel before playing at the Coliseum. There was a pianist who used to say that if you don’t have nerves before a concert, the concert won’t go well… And I start to feel very nervous.”