Arias, Piano, and Mandolin at the Key Biscayne Piano Festival

Mandolin virtuoso Carlo Aonzo performing during the December 13th Key Biscayne Piano Festival (Maria Iriondo via Key News)

Once again, Key resident Amarylli Fridegotto presented a world-class concert as part of the Key Biscayne Piano Festival. Sponsored by the Village of Key Biscayne and the Italian Consulate in Miami, islanders were honored with an enticing evening of classical music and alluring arias.

The night began with special guest, Italian artist Carlo Aonzo, who opened the show with the sound of his melodic mandolin. Aonzo has played in prestigious institutions such as La Scala in Milan (Italy), the Nashville Chamber Orchestra (Tennessee) and the McGill Chamber Orchestra in Montreal. He delighted the crowd with a lovely Capriccio by Carlo Munier. He then followed with one of  his own creations, Wings For Flying, which he composed after visiting Winfield, Kansas in 1997 where he became the American mandolin champion.  Graced with notes of bluegrass, this beautiful piece is dedicated “to people who have wings to fly to make their dreams come true,” Aonzo explained.

Pianist McLaurin performing on the piano at the Key Biscayne Piano Festival Dec. 13 (Maria Iriondo via Key News)

Pianist Micah McLaurin followed with two rather melancholic compositions by Scriabin and two powerful pieces by Rachmaninoff. A winner of the Gilmore Young Artist Award and a laureate of the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists in Germany, McLaurin, born in Charleston, has played at Music Fest in Perugia, Les Pianissimes Festival in Paris and Lincoln Center in New York. Presently, he is a semester away from graduating with a masters degree from Julliard. “I came from the Curtis Institute, which is tough school, so I was well prepared for Julliard.”

Guests were immediately drawn in by the warm and rich voice of Cuban soprano Eglise Gutierrez who, accompanied by Venezuelan pianist Luis Urbina, began with Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, Zoe’s Khorosho and Ne poy. Gutierrez, who has performed in important venues such as Convent Garden in London, Teatro Dell’Opera di Roma and Carnegie Hall, is a native of Cuba who moved to Philadelphia in 1996, where she graduated from the Academy of Vocal Arts.  She has sung in Russian, German, French, English and Spanish and is the winner of the Montserrat Caballé International Opera competition in Spain, and has performed at the Liceu de Barcelona and the Teatro Real in Madrid.

Gutierrez as accompanied by Urbina (Maria Iriondo via Key News)

After years of traveling around the world, the soprano has settled in Miami where she now lives with her family and teaches at Coconut Grove Music Academy and Encore Academy of the Arts.“I’m taking a break to raise my nine-year-old daughter.”

Towards the end of the evening, Gutierrez graciously displayed a more playful side with three songs by Spanish composer Granados and later concluded with arias by Turina, Donizetti and  Puccini’s Oh Mio Bambino Caro, generously sharing the diversity of her repertoire with a mesmerized audience.

McLaurin returned to the stage, filling the small hall with the wondrous magic of Liszt’s Sonetto de Petrarca 104 and one of the Hungarian composer’s famous Mephisto Waltzes. “I like smaller venues because they’re so intimate and I can really feel the energy of the audience,” he said. “I would love to come back to Key Biscayne.”

Mandolin, piano and amazing arias. Another enrapturing evening at the Key Biscayne Piano Festival. And as Mayor Davey reiterated at the beginning of the show, it is important to keep supporting cultural events on the key. Please don’t  forget the upcoming Seraphic Fire Holiday Concert featuring traditional Christmas carols, choral arrangements and Gregorian chant on December 21st at the Crossbridge Church at 7pm. It is free!