Manuel Peguero brings to his piano the beauty in overlooked, forgotten moments of music

Manuel Peguero’s mission in piano is to find and broadcast small, beautiful little moments of movie music – Lestat playing the piano in the movie Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, for instance.

In Manuel’s hands, that minute or so of soundtrack punctuating the prelude to movie horror becomes almost three and a half minutes of lovely listening in his single “Lestat’s Sonata,” featured from his first album, Dark Piano Liaison.

“The movie version of Haydn’s sonata, No. 59, never goes into the bridge,” said Manuel. “The film takes the main melody, but it never goes into the mid-section of Haydn’s piece, so I included the beautiful bridge.”

His gift is to see the beauty in these small, forgotten or ignored moments of movie music. Searching for the word for what he does, he settles on “reveal”: He “reveals” the beauty in them. He brings it out, expands on it and creates something new at the same time.

In “Lestat’s Sonata,” this is what he does: “What I do different from Haydn is I come back to the main melody with more drama. So you have the bridge, which is Haydn’s, and then I come back with a variation that somewhat resembles what the Tom Cruise character did. So I sort of frame it — main melody, bridge, back to the main melody with a bit more dramatic effect. Also, Haydn ends it — almost like he just like winds it down, as it’s within the context of the full sonata. I end it a bit more conclusive yet maintain the intensity.”

The result has nothing to do with the story in the movie. The beauty of the music attracts him. The title simply indicates where Manuel discovered the piece. The haunting moments of piano beauty in his “Lestat’s Sonata” are all its own.

This choice of music is a little unusual in that the original was written for piano. It cuts against the grain of one of his two “points of pride.” The first is taking “a melody that you forgot about or didn’t know existed and bringing it back with flair.”

“The second thing is, many of them have never been transcribed for piano. So, for a lot of these, I’m going to be the first one making the crossover to piano solo.”

Manuel began playing piano at about age 15. By his late 20s, he was playing, he says in his official bio, “Chopin preludes, a little Beethoven, and some of the romantic movie themes” in a lounge in the New York Hilton. Then he left performing for almost 15 years while he made a career of corporate banking, which is still his day job.

But his heart never left the piano.

He also composes original pieces. The 18 tracks of Dark Piano Liaison include two, “Daliana’s Song,” inspired by his daughter, who was about 7 when he wrote it, and “Midnight Serenade.” His next album, coming out this summer, will have 11 tracks, three of them originals.

He has three main criteria for the music he picks.

“I never say this is what I think other people want to listen to. I say this is what I would listen to if I had to hear this melody 100 times. Then, I choose a song that’s not the main theme, and I tend to choose the darker melodies.”

The first and third rules are hard and fast, but he has chosen some main themes to “punctuate” with his own creativity.

He is grateful for the internet and music streaming because it allows him to rediscover and reconnect with some of these unappreciated snippets of music and “reveal them to the listening public.”

“What goes through my mind is, ‘Why isn’t this song more popular? I’m going to do something about it. I’ll bring out its beauty and uniqueness and put it out there.’”

Titles from his first album include “A New World (From Shakespeare in Love)”; “The Terminator Love Theme”; “Exodus (Schindler’s List Trailer Theme)”; “Basic Instinct Theme”; “Theme from ‘Cousins’”; and more.

His recognizes that his music fills a particular niche, but it is a broad one, and one that he embraces wholeheartedly.

“It’s not a particular genre for genre-loving people. I would want folks who work at home and are able to play music in the background, or people who would want to discover this music because it is simply relaxing. It’s not overwhelming, and you don’t have to be a piano music fan to appreciate it. Thinking in general terms, opera listeners, classical loving people or people who love movies may find great appreciation in my unique brand of piano. That will work for me, and I’m just saying give mine a try and let your own ears embrace it.”

Visit his niche. Connect to Manuel Peguero on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

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