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The Spanish pianist, Miquel Villalba, began studying music at the Escolania of Montserrat and at the Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música in Barcelona under the direction of Antoni Besses. He later studied with Claude Helffer in Paris, and with the Belgian piano teacher Frédéric Gevers. He has been described by the latter as being “one of the most gifted pianists of his generation”. An outstanding course of studies led to the Premios de Honor for piano and accompaniment and he has been a prize-winner at various national and international piano competitions, such as those in Albacete, Granada and Carlet, the Maria Canals competition in Barcelona, and the Jonge Virtuozen competition in Antwerp. Villalba also received the Premi de l’Associació Catalana de Compositors and the Premi Generalitat de Catalunya.
On the concert platform Miquel Villalba has appeared as a soloist with chamber ensembles in many countries, such as his native Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, Venezuela and the Philippines. He has an admirable breath of repertoire, ranging from the Baroque up to music of current times, and his acknowledged support for contemporary music has resulted in him beiun the dedicatee for many compositions.
Miquel Villalba has recorded several discs for the Naxos, Marco Polo, Ediciones Tritó and Aglae labels. His rich discography extends from the works of Franz Liszt to Paul Hindemith and includes a noteworthy five-disc set of the complete piano works of Manuel Blancafort for the Naxos label, one which been welcomed and applauded by specialist critics around Europe. About his last recording, dedicated to Montsalvatge and Mompou, it has been written in Scherzo magazine: "The Villalba performance of both composers is - and we cannot imagine it could be different - excellent". |
