The American pianist Douglas Riva has gained international recognition for his profound knowledge of Spanish music, and no less an authority than the distinguished Spanish composer Xavier Montsalvatge has described him as an exceptional pianist. Douglas Riva’s interpretations of the works of Enrique Granados, in particular, have earned him a place as one of this composer’s leading exponents worldwide. In the words of El País (Madrid) Mr. Riva is "one of the principal apostles of Granados’ music." And according to Natalia Granados, the composer’s daughter, "Mr. Riva knows everything relating to my father to perfection."
His recordings for Naxos of the complete piano works of Granados have won critical acclaim, notably in Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Spanish critics writing in Scherzo praised Mr. Riva’s interpretation of Granados’ masterpiece as “belonging to the privileged class of the very best versions of Goyescas.” London’s The Guardian described Vol. 3 of the series as “a totally compelling performance [that] demands to be heard.”
Douglas Riva is the Assistant Director of the eighteen volume critical edition of the Complete Works for Piano of Enrique Granados, directed by Alicia de Larrocha and published by Editorial Boileau, Barcelona. The de Larrocha-Riva edition contains the DLR catalogue, the first complete catalogue of Granados’ piano works.
An active recitalist, he has performed at the White House and at Carnegie Hall and has recorded numerous programmes for television and radio in Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Holland, and the United States. He gave the first American performance of a newly discovered Scarlatti sonata at the National Gallery of Art and the world première of Gazebo Dances by John Corigliano in Barcelona.
Douglas Riva started his musical education at the age of nine, studying both the piano and the flute. He began his professional career at the age of sixteen as the Principal Flautist of the El Paso (Texas) Symphony Orchestra. Later, devoting himself exclusively to the piano, he continued his studies at the Juilliard School, New York University, and at the Academia Marshall, founded by Granados. The Fallen Nightingale, a novel by John W. Milton based on the life of Enrique Granados, was published by Swan Books in 2005 and includes a compilation CD of Douglas Riva’s recordings for Naxos.
Mr. Riva is the author of two popular piano methods and has been invited to contribute articles for Grove Dictionary of Opera, Diccionario de la música española, Opera News, Sheet Music, Revista de Catalunya, Keyboard Classics, The Pianola Journal, and the Catalan Review. He is a Contributing Editor of Piano Today.
