Ever since SCHERZO magazine was founded in December 1985, it has been active as a promoter of musical activities and, in particular, as an organizer of operas and concerts. In addition to FESTIVAL MOZART, held annually for a decade until it was discontinued in 1997, SCHERZO offered, from 1986 to 1995, at least one annual concert to commemorate its inauguration. Some of these performances are considered historic, such as that given by the Chilean Claudio Arrau, a legendary figure among pianists, who offered a memorable recital to celebrate his 85th birthday, a poignant occasion as it was the last concert he would ever give in Spain. We are also indebted to other outstanding musicians for their performances : the organist and keyboard player Gustav Leonhardt and the astonishing Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman, who rendered for us, with his usual perfection, the complete Debussy Preludes. SCHERZO’s concerts also provided the setting for the premiere of four new works (SCHERZO commissions) by composers Eduardo Rincón, José Luis Turina, Mauricio Sotelo and Carlos Cruz de Castro, and for the promotion of new talent. Maria Bayo and Alba Ventura offered their very first Madrid recitals and the Orquesta de Cadaqués had its Madrid presentation within this series. Anatol Ugorski, the controversial Russian pianist, was another figure who made his Spanish debut with SCHERZO.

In 1995, to celebrate the magazine’s 10th birthday, an ambitious commemorative cycle of five recitals was organized with world renowned pianists: the late Sviatoslav Richter (it was his last concert in Spain), Krystian Zimerman, Maurizio Pollini, Maria Joao Pires and Alícia de Larrocha. Critics and audience were so enthusiastic that the present Ciclo de Grandes Intérpretes was launched.

After eight years of existence, the Ciclo de Grandes Intérpretes has become an essential point of reference for Madrid’s musical life and one of Europe’s outstanding piano series. At the close of the 2003 cycle, the full roster features pianists of the stature of Ivo Pogorelich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Grigori Sokolov, Alicia de Larrocha (together with the Tokyo and the Keller Quartets), Alfred Brendel, Evgueni Kissin, Zoltán Kocsis, Maurizio Pollini, Maria João Pires, Andras Schiff, Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia, Arcadi Volodos, Gianluca Cascioli, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Dezsö Ranki, Elisso Virsaladze, Mikahil Pletnev, Leif Ove Andsnes, Bella Davidovich, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Hélène Grimaud, Olli Mustonen and Christian Zacharias (whose interpretation of the complete Schubert Sonatas in 1997 was a resounding success); in addition to other great artists such as organist and harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt, viola player and conductor Jordi Savall, violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann and cellists Heinrich Schiff and Natalia Gutman who have performed within the piano cycle.

During these many years, SCHERZO has organized a total of 91 concerts, filling, on an average, 98% of the concert hall’s seating capacity during the magazine’s various Anniversary Concerts and recent Ciclos de Grandes Intérpretes which have featured some of the world’s most outstanding pianists; moreover, the above figure does not take into account the more than 200 concerts offered by the defunct Festival Mozart de Madrid.

Since the year 2002, the goals established by the newly launched FUNDACIÓN SCHERZO include an increase in our activities, fund-raising to help advance the careers of young musicians, and the publication and promulgation of fundamental works and texts within the field of the history of music, etc. To sum up: the pursuit of those aims -aims that seemed no more than pipe dreams at the time- which we set out more than 17 years back, when the first issue of SCHERZO appeared.

One of cultural activities programmed by the FUNDACIÓN SCHERZO for 2004 is the organization of the IX Ciclo de Grandes Intérpretes offering a total of ten concerts lasting from January 19^th to December 19^th.

Another activity launched by the FUNDACIÓN SCHERZO is an annual cycle of three concerts complementary to that of Grandes Intérpretes called Ciclo de Jóvenes Intérpretes. Its objective is to introduce to Spanish audiences some of today’s most interesting, although still unknown, young up and coming national and international pianists .

At the same time, a collection of books devoted to the themes of musical ideas and information will be published in collaboration with other musical institutions.

Director: Antonio Moral
PP RR: Barbara McShane
Administration: Cristina García Ramos e Iván Pascual
Accounting: José Antonio Andújar

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