Piano great recalls his orphanage beginnings

Friday, Feb. 16, 2001 | 9:43 a.m.

Fast Facts

What: Russian Masters Concert featuring the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Santiago Rodriguez.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Where: UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall.

Tickets: $20, $40, $60.

Information: 895-2787.

Similar to most children growing up in affluent families in Cuba in the 1950s, Santiago Rodriguez was introduced to art and music at a very young age.

By age 4 he was taking piano lessons. His relationship with the piano, he said, was "an instant fit."

But by the time Rodriguez was 8 years old Fidel Castro had come into power, and Rodriguez's parents, concerned the new regime would compromise their children's education, put Rodriguez and his younger brother on a plane to Miami. Under the care of Catholic Charities, the two continued their studies in the United States.

The practice was common among wealthy Cuban families at the time, Rodriguez said in a recent phone interview from his Maryland home. The children were to return to Cuba within a few years, as it was believed that Castro's rule would be short-lived. But Castro is still in power, and Rodriguez is still in the U.S. The pianist will perform Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2" Saturday with the Las Vegas Philharmonic.

Rodriguez has been highly acclaimed by critics for his musical interpretations of Rachmaninoff and Schumann. He's recorded all of Rahmaninoff's solo piano works.

Rodriguez has performed with such orchestras as the London Symphony, the Berlin Symphoniker, orchestras in Houston, Chicago, Baltimore and Seattle. In 1995 the Baltimore Sun called him "among the finest pianists in the world."

Rodriguez attributes his success, both in life and in music, to others who helped him along the way, and to luck.

"I've been very fortunate," he said. "I don't know how I got from there to here."

Upon his arrival in the United States, Rodriguez and his brother were sent to a New Orleans orphanage run by nuns.

The lifestyle he was accustomed to quickly changed. His well-stitched monogram shirts became public property, and soon everyone in the orphanage wore clean shirts with the initials "S.E.R." on their lapels, a story Rodriguez tells today with humor.

"There was a great deal of changeover," he said. "But when you're a child it's not that difficult." It was his parents, Rodriguez said, who took a great leap of faith in sending their children away.

Rodriguez didn't see his parents again for six years. Because his father was a Spanish citizen, his parents were able to return to Spain, then immigrated to the United States in 1966 to be reunited with Rodriguez and his brother.

By age 10 Rodriguez had already made his concert debut performing Mozart's "Piano Concerto No. 27" with the New Orleans Philharmonic.

Because of his mother, Rodriguez was able to continue on his musical journey when he arrived in the U.S. She had concealed two $100 bills in the collar of his bathrobe, along with a note asking that her son's piano lessons be continued. She contacted a person with the charity to let them know about the money and the letter.

Before long the nuns were taking Rodriguez to piano lessons on Saturdays, and seeing to it that he practiced regularly on a piano at the orphanage -- a large, antiquated, out-of-tune upright with candle holders on each side.

"It was a piano-like object," Rodriguez said with a laugh. "It resembled a piano in many ways, until you played it."

Nevertheless, he practiced and was encouraged. His hard work and talent gained him a scholarship to attend a Catholic high school, where he continued studying music. Another scholarship took him to the University of Texas. Another to the Juilliard School of Music in New York.

"Those nuns were very key to my development in the piano," he said. "(And) from the time I was 14, I had a teacher at the next step to not only guide me (in piano) but help me grow as a human being."

Looking back at his childhood, he said his time at the orphanage was not the happiest, or the saddest, of his life. But for better or for worse, he said, it was home.

"Of course, we had a wonderful baseball team with five Cubans on it," he said. "I don't ever remember losing a game to another school -- ever.

"The kids did not have (the sport) flowing through their blood like we did," he said. "In Cuba you learn baseball. I remember baseball before the piano."

The orphanage eventually closed and the nuns disbanded. Rodriguez said visiting the place years later with his wife was "probably the most heart-wrenching" experience he's ever had.

"It was a very emotional time for me," he said. "It's the place (where) I became a survivor."

Las Vegans will have the opportunity Saturday to become acquainted not only with Rodriguez, but with his love for Rachmaninoff.

"His romanticism is very much today," Rodriguez said of the composer. "I've always found a real ease, a real comfort in his music. It's very melodic, romantic music.

" 'Piano Concerto No. 2' is one of the most beautiful, drop-dead gorgeous piano concertos ever," he added. "Perhaps the greatest."

Kristen Peterson

is an Accent feature writer. Reach her at 259-2317 or kristen@lasvegassun.com.