Luis Carlos Miranda Cordal (born Santiago, Chile, 17 July 1945), also known as Carlos Miranda, is a Spanish composer, pianist, conductor and actor.
Life and career
He was born in Chile, where he studied at the composition with Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt and piano with Flora Guerra. He moved to Italy and worked as apprentice in films by Franco Zeffirelli (Romeo and Juliet) and Pier Paolo Pasolini (Teorema). He then settled in London, initially working nights as accompanist to American cabaret singer Militia Battlefield (portrayed in Jana Bokova's 1975 documentary film of the same name, and days as pianist repetiteur at The Dance Centre (Covent Garden) for various dance teachers among which: Errol Addison, Matt Mattox, Brigitte Kelly and John O'Brien.
He won a British Council Scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London studying piano with Harry Platts, composition with John Lambert and conducting with Vernon Handley. After graduating, he joined the Rambert Dance Company (1974–78) as pianist and resident composer, playing and writing scores for both dance performances and concerts with the Mercury Ensemble.
In 1977 he wrote the music for the full-length dance-theatre work "Cruel Garden", choreographed by Christopher Bruce, scenario and direction by Lindsay Kemp. The piece, based on the life and death of Federico García Lorca, has since been staged by various dance companies in the UK,Article in The Independent about Cruel Garden (1998) Germany and the USA. The BBC television adaptation, directed by Colin Nears, won the Prix Italia Music-1982.
His association with Lindsay Kemp began with his earliest creation for Rambert Dance Co., the recently revived ballet "The Parades Gone By". He then joined the Lindsay Kemp Company writing the music and collaborating in the creation of various dance-theatre productions that toured Europe, the Americas, Israel, Singapore, Japan and Australia: "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Mr. Punch's Pantomime", "Duende, Poema Fantastico per F. Garcia Lorca", El País, article on "Duende, poema fantastico per Federico García Lorca" in Spanish (1980) "The Big Parade" (Producciones Julio Alvarez), "Nijinsky il Matto" (Teatro Alla Scala, Milano), "Cinderella, a Gothic Operetta" (Cenicienta S.L), "Variété" (Susumu Matahira-Tate Corporation), "Dreamdances" (Italian tour 2001)On "Dreamdances" Italy, review, in Italian and "Elizabeth I, the last dance"Article on Elizabeth I, The Last Dance film in Screen Arts HubMadrid Teatro, article on "Elizabeth I, the last dance" (2010), in Spanish
Carlos Miranda has produced scores for movies directed by independent Spanish film-makers, among which: Celestino Coronado’s "Hamlet" (1977) and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1984), Manuel Huerga's "Gaudì" (1988), Félix Rotaeta's "The Pleasure of Killing" (1988) and "Chatarra" (1991).
In 1992, Miranda composed the music, and conducted the Ciutat de Barcelona Orchestra, for the Parade of Nations during the opening ceremony of the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also created the soundtrack for the official video of the Seville Expo '92.
In 1993 he conducted the Orquestra de Cambra Teatre Lliure in performances of his score for the full-length ballet "El Jardiner" for Compañía de Danza Gelabert Azzopardi. In 1997 he wrote the piece "Quell Inocente Figlio" for the BBC Radio 3 series "The Schubert Songbook". In 2004 he composed and recorded the music for multimedia dance spectacle "Glimpse"The Interactive Imaginings of a Spaniard in the Spotlight.Article in The New York Times about "Glimpse" (2004)Dance Review: A 'Glimpse' into the senses – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2004) (Barcelona FORUM) collaborating with choreographer/dancer Cesc Gelabert and American media-dance filmmaker Charles Atlas. That year he also wrote the instrumental piece "Del Amor Insomne Noche" (City of London Festival) later recorded for BBC Radio 3 by the Galliard Ensemble Wind Quintet, with Lucy Wakeford (harp) and Colin Currie (marimba).
Films as an actor Among the films he has acted in: Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes – 1998), Mauvais Esprit (Patrick Alessandrin – 2003), The Feast of the Goat (Luis Llosa – 2005), Goya's Ghosts (Miloš Forman – 2006), Karol: The Pope, The Man (made for TV, Giacomo Battiato – 2006) and The Promise, (Terry George – 2016).
The Assassination of Trotsky (1972) – Sheldon Harte Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1987) A Show of Force (1990) – Thug Havana (1990) – Inspector No. 1 Captain Ron (1992) – Pirate Velvet Goldmine (1998) – Pianist Duplo Exilio (2001) – INS Agent 1 The Feast of the Goat (2005) – Antonio Imbert Barrera Los Reyes: La verdadera historia de Buster y El Camaleón (2014) – Coronel
Discography Carlos Miranda "A Midsummer Night's Dream", The Lindsay Kemp Co. CD- Fonè Records Carlos Miranda "The Big Parade", The Lindsay Kemp Co. CD- Fonè Records Carlos Miranda "Cinderella, a gothic operetta" CD- Miranda Records "Chilean Music of the 20th Century, Volumes VII and VIII", Luis Carlos Miranda, pianist
Awards "Cruel Garden" Special Award 1979, Belgrade International Theatre Festival – BITEF "Dancers" (film directed by John Chesworth, Derek Hart) Special Prize for Music, Krakow Film Festival 1979 "A Midsumer night's Dream" Special Award 1981, Belgrade International Theatre Festival – BITEF "Cruel Garden" Prix Italia Music 1982
See also Carlos Miranda Interview, BBC Radio 3 "Sogno di una notte di mezza estate" – archivio di 393 diapositive (Pino Addante, photographer) "Cruel Garden" in 50 Years in Dance René Amengual – Sonatina (1939), played by Luis Carlos Miranda, piano "Elizabeth I, the last dance" in Lorenzo Cutùli's sketches for the set "Glimpse" Portfolio Barcelona 1992 Olympic Ceremonies Barcelona 1992 Olympics, Spanish Team Parade
References
External links
Carlos Miranda Website
Entry on Carlos Miranda and "Del Amor Insomne Noche" Performing Arts Collector's Home entry on "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1985) Designing Shakespeare Collection – Performance details on "A Midsummer Night's Dream" "Cruel Garden film" on IMDB The Oxford Dictionary of dance entry on "Cruel Garden" Josep Carreras – Barcelona Summer Olympics 1992 Barcelona olímpica – Música de los Juegos, in Spanish 40 Years of Dance on BBC Television: from Karsavina to Mukhamedov; from The moor's pavane to Strange fish