On June 12, 1917, the extraordinary Venezuelan pianist Teresa Carreño died in New York at the age of 64.
More than the name of the famous theater, today epicenter of cultural life in Caracas (Venezuela), the musician who was Teresa shone in the stages where she performed. It is worth remembering that Teresa was mainly a woman of her time: she was born on December 22, 1853 in Caracas, and she suffered the convulsive years of the Federal War. Although she was very young when her father (and family) left the country with her, for the United States, her transfer and everything that came later was somehow the product of these events.
But let's concentrate on what was called "Leona del Piano" or "Walkiria del Piano". Such motes were earned precisely by the stamp and bearing that offered on the stage. There was not an iota of stage fright, since from her earliest childhood, Teresa was the object of applause, of presentations from home-made stages, through scenarios of all kinds (farms, sheds, sheds) to theaters of international renown, , The Carnegie Hall of New York.
Music in all its forms passed through his hands, and while it is true that he is recognized as a great interpreter of the classics, he also ventured with finesse for popular music. In fact, listening to Teresa Carreño's own music, the aromas of Venezuelan folklore, the rhythms, the cadences are perceived. We imagine that if Teresa had had ample contact with the jazzists, she would have excelled in that field.
So, during her life in the United States, she learned to earn a living from a young age, enrolling in an artist company, a kind of "American Idol" of the nineteenth century, said the pianist and researcher Mariantonia Palacios. There in these companies there was everything, but in particular, musicians who had to please their audiences, interpreting the music of the common taste.
That is why, after his stay in Venezuela, in 1887, Teresa left for Europe with the firm intention of "making a serious debut". That meant playing hard recitals, with cultured music, serious or academic, as he was known. In this way, she found herself with great musicians and composers, with orchestras of relevance and notoriety, not only because her courage and talent made her look, but also because she had her own personality. The critic wrote about her as a male performer or as a man, and once as two men.
And it was not that there was a feminine or masculine way of playing, but that consideration was made because the Carreño had no half-tones: he played hard, with passion, with boldness, and the delicacy left him for manners. In this respect, his father, Manuel Antonio Carreño, the author of the famous "Manual de Urbanidad", should have instructed him.
Today, we must remember Teresa as a woman who prevailed in a masculine world, as a convinced interpreter of what she did, and that is the best teaching that a true teacher, a true teacher, like her, can bequeath.
