 South America seems to produce exciting classical guitarists. Belonging to the top echelon of classical guitarists in the world, Eduardo Fernandez hails from Uruguay.
When he made his New York debut in 1977, he won critical accolades, being described as "A top guitarist...Rarely has this reviewer heard a more impressive debut recital on any instrument" (Donal Henahan, The New York Times).
Born in 1952 in Uruguay, he began his studies of guitar at age 7. His principal teachers were Abel Carlevaro, Guido Santórsola and Héctor Tosar.
After being prized in several international competitions, the most notable being the 1972 Porto Alegre (Brazil) and 1975 Radio France (Paris) competitions, he won the first prize of the 1975 Andrés Segovia Competition in Mallorca (Spain).
Fernández has returned to the U.S.A. every season since then, playing with prestigious orchestras as well as giving recitals, always to great acclaim from critics and audiences. His London debut, in Wigmore Hall (1983), had also a great impact, and resulted in his signing an exclusive recording contract with Decca, a label for which he made 18 recordings (solos, and with the English Chamber Orchestra and the London Philharmonic), that cover a wide section of the repertoire, from Bach to the contemporary. They include many first recordings (for instance, Berio's "Sequenza XI"), and several of them have been selected as "best of the month" and "best of the year" by publications such as Stereo Review and The New York Times, as well as Asahi Shinbun from Japan.
He has also made a recording for Erato with violinist Alexander Markow, covering most of Paganini's work for violin and guitar, and two duo CDs with Japanese guitarist Shin-Ichi Fukuda (with whom he has also performed in the Far East and in Germany) for DENON, in Japan. He recorded 2 CDs for the German Label ARTE NOVA (the complete lute suites by Bach and "Romantic Guitar" a 19th-century guitar recording on a period instrument).
Currently he is exclusive recording artist of the Oehms Classics label, also from Germany. Fernández has also played, with the same success, in most European countries, and in the Far East (Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong and China, Thailand and Singapore), as well as in South America and Mexico. He is recognized as one of today's leading guitarists.
He has a vivid interest in historical instruments, and he plays often the repertoire of the XIXth century on a period guitar.
Eduardo Fernández is also active as a teacher, having taught several years at the University Conservatory in Montevideo, where he is now a fellow researcher, as well as being very much in demand for masterclasses and lectures all around the world.
He has written a major book on guitar technique (Technique, Mechanism, Learning, published by Chanterelle Verlag, Heidelberg and in Spanish edition by ART Ediciones, Montevideo), a book on Bach's lute music (in preparation, to be published in 2003), and several articles in leading guitar publications.
An active composer, he was the secretary of the Uruguay branch of ISCM for two years. He is also a founder of Uruguay's CIM/UNESCO section, and Artistic Director of Montevideo's biannual International Guitar Festivals since 1996, and of Colombia's Encuentros Nacionales de la Guitarra since 2000.
Links:
Classical guitar technique book: Eduardo Fernandez: Technique, Mechanism, Learning
CDs involving Mr Eduardo Fernandez
Eduardo Fernandez's web site |
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