Only Few Reached the Depths

In the course of its existence, the contest has undergone a series of changes: each year sees an increasing number of participating countries, the contestants become older (20-year-olds were the oldest in the first contest, but this time the limit was 29). Accordingly, they face more stringent demands: only 87 out of 227 who wished to compete were allowed to do so. As often happens, not all of them managed to travel here, and 79 musicians started the competition in three age categories.

There were almost no "untitled" competitors in the Horowitz memorial contest: each was either a prize or a diploma winner in several international forums. But, as we know, there are contests and contests. And the professional background of some contestants, especially from the far abroad, left much to be desired. But they all noted the high prestige of the Ukrainian forum.

First on the stages of competition. The rivals were offered three rounds. The first included the Bach mini-cycle (a prelude and fugue), a classical sonata (Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven), and a virtuoso etude. Naturally, all pianists without exception play this standard set, referred to as the performing minimum for a professional musician. This means practically every more or less well-trained student at a secondary or post-secondary music school or conservatory could learn the pieces to be performed in the first round without any special time-consuming efforts. However, it was the first round that proved to be most difficult for many performers. Why? Perhaps because this kind of music (like any other, but especially classical) requires of a pianist not only good technique but also something else, specifically, tremendous intellectual strain. This is the stumbling block. Everyone can run his/her fingers swiftly (otherwise, one would never pass the selection stage), but many participants were found wanting in mental and intellectual stamina. No one knows whether they are not taught this or whether it can be taught at all. And while in romantic music you can save yourself with emotions, you practically cannot do so in classical music. This why so many technically-well-trained young people dropped out of the contest.

In the second, less regimented, round, the competitors could show their individuality more broadly. Many contestants exposed their creative potential precisely at this stage. They did it so well that the jury found themselves in a quandary. The results had to be determined by means of points, with points subtracted for technical errors in performance.

In the third round, all competitors played with the orchestra. And almost all of them deserved the title of winner. An especially hard struggle went on in the middle group: nine competitors vied for three prizes. But the jury arrived at a decision worthy of Solomon: they ordered the third prize to be shared by four (!) contestants, a rare case in world practice.

No less acute was the competition in the senior group. But there, too, no one was deprived of an award: the second prize was shared by three competitors who richly deserved it.

There were performers and music to listen to at the contest. Even on the first day of the second round, the audience was literally astonished by an anything but childish performance of the Beethoven sonata by the youngest competitor, Anastasiya Franchuk from Kazakhstan, who became one of the discoveries at the Horowitz contest. However, the young contestant managed to hold onto her success only partially: she won third.

A few words about stability: Very few managed to go through all the three rounds flawlessly. Only musicians with wide concert performance experience were able to rise to the occasion. Among them were Oleksandr Havryliuk and Oleksiy Yemtsov in the middle group, and Seiko Zukamoto in the senior one. Many truly brilliant performers played less smoothly and remained in our memory as leaders who led in certain rounds but, alas, remained without a prize. Among such losers was Muscovite Aleksandr Orlotsky who made the hearts of the audience throb with his brilliant performance of the second round's program. As far as his talent and skills are concerned, he might as well have contested the first prize in the senior group, but (let it be a bitter lesson to all) it is still better to learn and practice the score of competition pieces well in advance so as not to regret later chances lost.

And, finally, about the winners. Iryna Arbatska of Odesa finished first among junior contestants. She went through all the rounds quite smoothly but she especially captivated one and all with her artistic technique and childish ingenuousness at the closing stage. However, Iryna also deserves reproach in that her playing produced a more external, rather than internal, effect. But, children, as the youngest competitors, can be forgiven many things, even some errors in piano playing, for they are only learning to play, and encouraged for what God gave them - artistic flair and style.

The first prize winner in the middle group, Oleksandr Havryliuk, needs no introduction, for he has the experience of winning previous Horowitz contests. He was trained by brilliant Kharkiv-based teacher Viktor Makarov who now works with three pupils in Australia. As the jury member Dina Ioffe from Israel noted, Oleksandr had turned from a talented child into a mature musician over the past two years.

A highest prize was awarded in the senior group for the first time in the contest's history (last time nobody was awarded it). The winner was Kyiv pianist Oleksiy Hryniuk. His play, like all things brilliant and extraordinary, attracts listeners, though I personally do not place myself among the admirers of his talent. But he is only 21 and thus has ample time for artistic growth.

The contest conditions envision concert tours by the competitors of cities in Ukraine, Europe, and America. Now it is not only Kyivans but also the inhabitants of many other cities of the world who will hear the winners play. They will also perform in Kyiv again in June at the Kyiv Summer Musical Evenings, and in the fall at the Kyiv Music Fest. The contest itself says goodbye to the capital of Ukraine for an indefinite time. From now on, as the forum director Yuri Zilberman said, it is planned to hold the contest at longer time intervals due to financial constraints. But, in any case, the music stays with us.