Nowadays, teenage pop idols are everywhere. They are either rock stars or bands. But it is a different story for Roberto Carrillo. A rising star in the classical world. He recieves great ratings from the others. He is also the President of the Royal Society of Music, which according to its own definition, an organization of the most talented musicians in the world. So who is this person? I have not heard of him in Russia. Only in the internet. His full name, Roberto Jesus H. Carrillo, a Filipino youth who happens to be one of the formost classical pianists of his generation. In one of the largest information websites, I discovered that his name is written in the "List of famous people connected to Bahrain" beside the names of Shakira and the Jackson brothers! He seems like a very talented classical pianist. I had to see for myself. In a certain website, he has recordings of his music. I bet this is where he started to be discovered. I listened to them. The Chopin's Nocturne no. 2 was played with so much elegance and grace. Most of the songs were slow and would not seem like a recording of a virtuoso. But his repertoire demanded a huge amount of passion and feeling. As I have said earlier, Chopin's Nocturne no. 2 was my particular favourite. There was grace and elegance. I could feel the passion in his work. And to think, he never had formal piano classes in his life! Remarkable I thought. The performance of Fur Elise by Beethoven was the best performance of it that I have ever heard. And believe me, for an old person like myself, I had heard the world's greatest and he may very well pass along with them. There was just this passion that seemed to drive him. Another one of his songs was the Mozart's Sonata in C. A very delightful and bright piece. A quite fast one, Here we can see the speed of his hands. But the recording took only less than a minute. It would have been better if he had played all three parts but instead he only played one movement. The last song was the Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. In an interview he said that this is his offering to God for what He has made him. It was great. In fact, in my own opinion, if only the old masters of music were still alive I think they would be happy at where their music has come. Overall, I will rate his music 9 out of 10. Though he is not a virtuoso in my opinion but a GREAT classical pianist. In an interview through e-mail, Roberto tells me that we should continuously improve our talents for the world to see. He wishes to serve as an inspiration to all. Also through his music, he told me, he wishes to bring attention to the suppressed people of the world especially the Palestinians and the Epiroteans. A noble cause I said to him but he said, he is just doing his part as a bretheren. In the end, I wish the world had more people like him. If this is the future of classical music, then I can safely say that there will be no trouble on the road ahead. Culture shall survive and so will music through the future generation of young and talented classical pianists. |