Born: July 9th, 1924 in Buffalo, New York.
Died: June 27th, 2008 in San Diego, California.
Few
artists can match the brilliant accomplishments of the American pianist
Leonard Pennario. He has successfully appeared with every major
orchestra in America. Acclaim emanates from audiences and critics alike
for his performances with the "Big Five": Chicago Symphony,
Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York
Philharmonic and Cleveland Orchestra. Traveling throughout North
America, Pennario is known as guest artist with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra,
Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Atlanta
Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic,
Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, New Orleans Symphony, St. Louis
Symphony, Seattle Symphony and Vancouver Symphony, among many others.
Highlights have included performances by Leonard Pennario in Los
Angeles, Washington, D.C. (Kennedy Center), New York (Lincoln Center),
Detroit, Milwaukee, Tulsa, Buffalo, San Diego, Memphis, Norfolk,
Richmond, Dallas, Augusta, and Hawaii (with the Honolulu Symphony).
The 1986-87 season saw Leonard Pennario applying his talent as one of
the foremost interpreters of Gershwin with an appearance at a Gershwin
celebration at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. In the concert,
marking the 50th anniversary of the composer's death, Pennario
performed the I Got Rhythm Variations and Rhapsody in Blue in its
original Jazz Band version. He also performed the works of Gershwin at
special festivals in Westbury, NY, Devon, PA, and the Waterloo Festival
in New Jersey.
His 1984-85 season included a nationwide television appearance on the
PBS "Gala of Stars" hosted by Beverly Sills, where the pianist
performed Gershwin's I Got Rhythm Variations with Metropolitan Opera
Music Director James Levine conducting the American Symphony Orchestra.
He also made highly successful tours of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria in May,
which resulted in immediate invitations for re-engagements. In the
spring of 1984 he made his first tour of the Far East, appearing in
recital and with orchestra in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Manila
and is scheduled to return to the Far East in the near future. In other
parts of the world the list continues to be as impressive: Berlin
Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, London Philharmonic, London Symphony,
Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Halle
Orchestra, Hague Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Tonhalle Orchestra
and Frankfurt Symphony, among others.
Concerts with the greatest orchestras have made Pennario the choice of
world-famous conductors. Among the nearly one hundred eminent artists
with whom he has collaborated, a reasonable list must included Eugene
Ormandy, Sir Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta, André Previn, Seija Ozawa, Otto
Klemperer, Fritz Reiner, Rafael Kubelik, Leopold Stokowski, Thomas
Schippers, Arthur Fiedler, André Kostelanetz, Sir John Barbirolli,
Edward Van Beinum, Sir Adrian Boult, Vladimir Golschmann, Josef Krips,
Dimitri Mitropoulos, Pierre Monteux, Charles Munch, Artur Rodzinski,
Kenneth Schermerhorn, Robert Shaw, Gerard Schwarz and Alfred
Wallenstein.
Of the artist's concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic and Rafael
Kubelik, Die Welt of Berlin cited his "superb technique and keyboard
touch of exceptional sensitivity." Le Figaro of Paris calls Pennario "a
phenomenon of the piano." In London, Andrew Porter told his readers in
The New Statesman and The Nation, "Nobody today plays the piano better
than Pennario."
In Carnegie Hall and in Los Angeles, Pennario collaborated in
history-making concerts with Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky.
Thousands of music lovers attended, hearing these three great artists
in brilliant performances of trios by Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorák,
Arensky, Turina and Mendelssohn.
During the past season Leonard Pennario maintained his busy schedule of
concerts, visiting cities coast-to-coast for both solo recitals and
performances with orchestra. A highlight was his critically acclaimed
appearance as soloist with the Budapest Symphony during their United
States tour in February and March of 1989.
An auspicious event marked the beginning of Leonard Pennario's career.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra urgently needed a pianist to replace an
indisposed artist. Sir Eugene Goosens (who knew of the dilemma) wired
his high recommendation of the pianist, at that time a youngster of
twelve years. The concerto to be performed was the Grieg, and although
Pennario had never seen, heard or studied the score, he made his
professional debut within six days and played such a stunning
performance that he was immediately launched on one of the most
glorious careers in the history of American music. In September 1986,
Mr. Pennario celebrated the 50th anniversary of this debut in a concert
appearance with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, this time playing the
Rozsa Concerto; a work composed especially for Mr. Pennario. He was
also honored on this anniversary by receiving the Dean's Award for
Outstanding Contributions to Music from the University of Southern
California in Los Angeles in May, 1987.
Other highlights of Mr. Pennario's career included his acclaimed debut
with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. At this concert, Mr.
Pennario, who had just been enlisted by the United States Army,
performed Liszt's Concerto in E flat in his Army uniform. He also had
the honor of playing Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the
Minneapolis Symphony at the request of conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos in
a memorial concert dedicated to the great Russian composer.
Pennario has recorded on the Angel, Seraphim, RCA, Columbia, Vox and
Pantheon labels. His acclaimed releases include Chopin Polonaises and
Waltzes for Angel, the Rozsa Concerto for Pantheon and Beethoven's
Piano Trio in E flat, Op. 70, No. 2 with Heifetz and Piatigorsky for
Vox. Pennario's most recent album features solo piano works by George
Gershwin, including his "Song Book."
As a composer, Pennario has written a number of works for piano which
have been published and earned him membership in the American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). This distinguished artist
has also appeared at the White House and is a regular guest at summer
festivals, including the Hollywood Bowl, Mann Music Center in
Philadelphia, Waterloo in New Jersey, and Brevard Music Center in North
Carolina.
Leonard continued to record and give concerts until the late 90's. His recording and performing career spanned more than 60 years!
He retired in the late 90's, and shortly thereafter moved from LA, to La Jolla California, to be closer to his brother.
The 2005 issue of the AMG's All Music Guide to Classical Music (Backbeat Books) has a nice paragraph on Leonard on page 990. See here for an extract.
In 2006, MSR Classics issued a 4 CD set of digitally remastered tracks of Leonard's early recordings. Pennario fans were thrilled to have pieces such as Gaspard de la nuit, Miroirs, and Visions Fugitives once again available in a modern format.The set also included an original composition, Variations on Kerry Dancers, never before heard by the public. Leonard composed this piece while at USC in 1942, while waiting to be called up for the war.
In 2007 Leonard's birthplace honored him by inducting him into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame.
On
June 27th, 2008 Leonard lost his many years battle with Parkinson's and age.
He died in the company of his brother in San Diego California.
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Here is the eulogy by one of his best friends, Phil Leon.
Of the many many obituaries that appeared in the press, this one from
the Independent in the UK, is the most accurate portrayal of the Pennario that I knew.
Here is a link to a text only version, if the original page is no longer available.
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