Alberto Portugheis honoured to receive the lifetime achievement award of Sorrento Classica last night for his tireless work for Music and Peace thanks must go to Maestro Paolo Scibilia President and Artistic Director of the Società dei Concert di Sorrento who for years has brought cultural excellence to Sorrento.
A special thanks must go to the Fiorentino family owners of the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria who for years have invited artists to stay in their wonderful Hotel overlooking the Gulf of Napoli and in the very centre of Sorrento
Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize he is one of the last rappresentatives of the Neapolitan school of piano playing . His childhood training in Buenos Aires , together with his lifelong friend Martha Argerich, was of the school of Vincenzo Scaramuzza. Scaramuzza was born in Crotone on June 19, 1885 and died in Buenos Aires in 1968. He studied at the Academy of Music of San Pietro a Maiella in Naples with Florestano Rossomandi, Alessandro Longo and Beniamino Cesi. Disappointed and annoyed by the excessive bureaucratic rules of the Italian educational system that in his opinion hampered the freedom of expression of a teacher, after only two months teaching in Naples, Scaramuzza decided to leave Italy.In 1907 he moved to Argentina where he really started his career as a teacher at the Santa Cecilia Academy of Music, in Buenos Aires. Then, after marrying one of his students, Sara Bagnati, he founded the “Scaramuzza Academy of Music” in 1912. He devoted himself only to teaching from 1923 onwards. His students include Martha Argerich,Bruno Leonardo Gelber Fausto Zadra,Alberto Portugheis ,Martha Noguera and Enrique Barenboim father of Daniel.
Alberto Portugheis has been sharing his knowledge and music with others for over 75 years with a firm belief that war can and should be avoided and that Music can provide Light over Darkness.
The nomination also mentioned his close association and benchmark recordings of the works of Alberto Ginastera.
It was with Ginastera that he chose to end his recital in the Chiostro di San Francesco before receiving the award from the hands of the artistic director Maestro Paolo Scibilia and Assessore Vincenzo Ercolano. A recital that had heard a crystalline account of Mozart’s Sonata K 330 and passionately involved performances of some of the best loved works of Chopin. But it was Ginastera that stole the show with a scintillating performance of his Three Argentine Dances op 2. Adding by great request his Milonga op 3 . Had there been more time I know he had his arrangement of ‘O Sole Mio’ up his sleeve as a homage to Naples and in particular Sorrento.
A cloister that has seen many great musicians in the past and where I had brought Shura Cherkassky in 1988, a close friend of Alberto, whose photo sits proudly on the wall of fame of the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria, where Alberto was a guest. Shura Cherkassky together with Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti and Sophia Loren. Other pianists who have played in this magical Cloister include Tatyana Nikolaeva, Rosalyn Tureck, Byron Janis and also a very young Martha Argerich. In the past years Maestro Scibilia has crowned such artists as Oxana Yablonskaya, Marcella Crudeli, Bruno Canino and Leslie Howard.
Simonetta Allder writes : ‘ Today is International Peace Day. After giving a memorable concert last night, delecting us with Mozart, Chopin and Ginastera, in the beautiful Chiostro di San Francesco, Sorrento, renowned pianist Alberto Portugheis receives the prestigious “Sorrento Classica alla Carriera” Award in recognition of a long and brilliant career and delivers an appeal calling for universal peace. Thank you, dearest Alberto: you are a fearless tiger at the piano and a gentle dove of peace. Thank you for spreading harmony, the harmony of music and the harmony of a universal brother/sisterhood which is your highest mission in life. With infinite gratitude also to Christopher Axworthy , a true Angel of Music who tirelessly and generously makes these wonderful moments possible’.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 