Search - Juan Miguel MURANI :: Rachmaninov: Mussorgsky

Born in Totana, in the Spanish province of Murcia. At the age of six, he began to study music and at eleven he gave his first concert appearance. He studied at the Murcia Conservatory, with Miguel Bar?d Anselmo de la Campa, where he obtained the highest distinctions every year and also Graduation Prizes. In 1990 he was awarded the "Samuel de los Santos" Prize at the Young Musicians Contest "Ciudad de Albacete" and also second prize at the "Ciudad de Melilla". After having obtained Spain's Highest Degree in piano, he was given a scholarship to study at the Russian Tchaikovsky Conservatory and at the Gnessins Academy in Moscow, where he finalized his piano studies by obtaining the Master of Arts Degree. This provides him with a qualification as "Concert Pianist", "Soloist of Chamber Ensembles", "Accompanist" and "Professor". He is the only Spanish pianist to have been awarded the distinction of the Red Prize (1993) and the Honours Diploma for having obtained the highest qualifications in every musical speciality. This award is granted only on exceptional occasions by Gnessins, the prestigious Russian Academy of Music. As a student of Harmony, Polyphony and Music Analysis, he received special and personalized tuition. He was the pianist selected for the closing concert at the end of the 1993 academic year at Gnessins. Juan Miguel Murani was awarded the Special Qualification (Honours Degree) for his thesis on the religious symbology underlying in Haydn's 'Andante with variazioni in Fa minor HobXVII/6'. The investigation work undertaken for this thesis has received unanimous recognition so that he can be considered a musicologist. While in Moscow, he studied under the most outstanding piano professors such as Margarita Fedorova (a disciple of Neuhaus) at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and Nikita Yujanin and Valentina Zvereva (a disciple of Gutman) at Gnessins. As far as chamber music is concerned, he studied under Georgi Fedorienko, who is considered to be the most important professor of this speciality in Russia. On his return from Moscow, he has given numerous concerts throughout Spain (Estival 94 and 95 in Valladolid; Ateneo and Conde Duque in Madrid; Serenatas de Estiu 95 at the University of Valencia; Auditorium in Murcia, La Coru?Alicante, Castell?etc. Outside Spain he has performed in Russia, France and Great Britain. The success of all these concerts was overwhelming and was demonstrated not only by the audience but also by the critics. He recorded a CD in Prague, with works by Haydn, Liszt, Debussy, Albõmz and Shostakovich. He has recently been working with Nuria Espert in Terrence McNally's production of "Master Class", which has taken him on tour all over Spain. Among his most recent concerts, we should underline the tour with the Wroclav Philharmonic directed by Marek Pijarowski, in which he interpreted Beethoven's 4th Concert for Piano and Orchestra, and his performance at the 24th International Festival of Summer Music at Segovia in 1999 with the Symphonic Orchestra of Castilla and Le?nder the direction of Max Bragado, interpreting Rachmaninov's 4th Concert for Piano and Orchestra. The Spanish 'Radio Cl?ca' broadcasting station transmitted this concert. His different reviews demonstrate enough the high level of the interpretations. He has just toured with the Symphonic Orchestra of Murcia, under the direction of JosíŸiguel Rodilla, interpreting the above-mentioned concert by Rachmaninov. In parallel with the piano, he also studied Composition while in Moscow, under Gennadi Chernov. In this city he made his debut, not only with numerous piano pieces, but with 'Trio' for violin, cello and piano, 'Cuarteto' for soprano, violin, cello and piano, a series of songs entitled 'La Noche Oscura' for soprano and orchestra (verses by San Juan de la Cruz), and 'Movimiento Sinf?o' for orchestra, which was the last piece he composed! at Gnessins. In Spain he gave the first interpretations