Biography
Agustín Anievas rose to prominence in the manner of many leading pianists, driven upward by competition successes and the major engagements that quickly followed. Around 1980, however, his profile receded, not from any diminishment in skill but from the steady emergence of newer artists and the public’s wish to hear them. Although often identified as a specialist in Beethoven and Chopin, Anievas produced recordings of the Rachmaninov concertos and assorted solo pieces that rank among his most distinguished achievements on disc. His catalog also contains the complete Chopin waltzes and etudes, while his active repertoire encompassed substantial selections from Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, and many other composers. Fresh attention to his work was sparked by EMI reissues in 2006 that presented the Rachmaninov concertos (together with the Paganini Rhapsody) and a group of Chopin compositions.
Anievas entered the world in New York City in 1934. A prodigy from the start, he began lessons with his mother at three and played at four in the Weiss Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He appeared publicly at the Pan American Union in Washington, D.C., at nine and, three years later, performed a program of Liszt and Beethoven at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico.
His teachers were Olga Samaroff, Ernest Hutcheson, and, at Juilliard, Adele Marcus. With such preparation during childhood and adolescence, Anievas predictably gathered multiple awards from the late 1950s onward: the Michaels Award in Chicago (1958), New York’s Concert Artists’ Guild Award (1959), leading prizes at the Queen Elizabeth and Busoni Competitions (1960), and first prize at the 1961 Dimitri Mitropoulos Competition.
He moved temporarily to Brussels in 1965 and soon attracted wide notice across Europe. His debut recording, the Brahms, Paganini, and Handel variations, appeared on EMI and drew strong critical approval on both sides of the Atlantic. The Chopin waltzes came next and received favorable notices from the New York Times and other major publications. By the mid-1970s Anievas had returned to New York City and joined the faculty at Brooklyn College School of Music. Though he maintained a steady concert presence in the ensuing years, his performing calendar gradually lightened, permitting him to take on other roles that included service on juries for major competitions.
Anievas entered the world in New York City in 1934. A prodigy from the start, he began lessons with his mother at three and played at four in the Weiss Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He appeared publicly at the Pan American Union in Washington, D.C., at nine and, three years later, performed a program of Liszt and Beethoven at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico.
His teachers were Olga Samaroff, Ernest Hutcheson, and, at Juilliard, Adele Marcus. With such preparation during childhood and adolescence, Anievas predictably gathered multiple awards from the late 1950s onward: the Michaels Award in Chicago (1958), New York’s Concert Artists’ Guild Award (1959), leading prizes at the Queen Elizabeth and Busoni Competitions (1960), and first prize at the 1961 Dimitri Mitropoulos Competition.
He moved temporarily to Brussels in 1965 and soon attracted wide notice across Europe. His debut recording, the Brahms, Paganini, and Handel variations, appeared on EMI and drew strong critical approval on both sides of the Atlantic. The Chopin waltzes came next and received favorable notices from the New York Times and other major publications. By the mid-1970s Anievas had returned to New York City and joined the faculty at Brooklyn College School of Music. Though he maintained a steady concert presence in the ensuing years, his performing calendar gradually lightened, permitting him to take on other roles that included service on juries for major competitions.
Albums
