He began his studies in Cerdanyola del Vallés, a small town near Barcelona, coming from a family of great artists and music lovers. During his first lessons, one of Beethoven&8217;s sonatas interpreted by his first teacher, Lolita Martínez, made such a profound impact on him that it was at this moment he decided to dedicate his young life to music.
At
the tender
age of seven, he improvised different styles on the piano, including
Bach, Chopin and Beethoven, captivating the public with his
enormous ability and musical imagination. His rapid progress
opened the door to the Academia Marshall in Barcelona; a meeting
place in the past for the finest musicians of the time: Granados,
Falla, Albéniz, Turina, and interpreters of the calibre
of Rubinstein, Arrau, Katchen, Nikita Magaloff and Rosa Sabater.
He finished studies with First Prize and special commendation
from the Board!
Carlota Garriga, his teacher, the
great soloist Alicia de Larrocha and composer Xavier Montsalvatge
were inspired by his talent and decided to support him so that
he could continue his studies at L&8217;Ecole Normale de Musique
de Paris. Here, thanks to a scholarship from the Generalitat
de Catalunya, he perfected his study technique under Aquiles
Delle-Vigne.
Unfortunately, even having obtained
the best qualifications and having been invited by special request
to attend a school for exceptionally gifted musicians in Brussels,
he was not awarded a second scholarship. The young musician
thus experienced a difficult and unstable time of irregular
concert work due to a lack of available support and management.
Nevertheless, he always received wonderful reviews which hailed
him an extremely sensitive, original and talented interpreter.
He performed in Ecuador, Switzerland and France, in recitals
in Spain, and in concerts with various Spanish and foreign orchestras.
All his previous artistic experience
would provide Luis de Arquer with both an artistic and technical
foundation from which would develop the most surprising facet
of his work, and that which today arouses the greatest interest:
his compositions and improvisations.
Improvisation is the most direct
link between musical imagination and music per se. To be completely
fluent, it requires the highest technical mastery of the instrument
combined with acute musical and rhythmical intuition. Beethoven,
Chopin, Granados and Liszt improvised in public in their concerts,
all absorbing themselves in their musical worlds. Luis de Arquer
gives us the chance to hear something unique, created in the
moment and very freely developed. His improvisations enable
us to hear directly the soul of a musician, without imposing
filters of any kind, nor stylistic nor musical genre constraints
like Jazz or Blues, nor preknown structures. His compositions
&8212;pieces for piano, operas, anthems, chamber music, and
cinema, documentary and advertising soundtracks&8212; are all
absorbed from this place, from this personal well of ideas which
make up all of us. Music filled with new energy; music which
does not go unnoticed.