EIGHTEEN UNFORGETTABLE DAYS OF MUSIC

The Fourth Vladimir Horowitz International Contest of Young Pianists is over, after featuring performers in the medium and senior groups (68 contestants from eleven countries). 18 unforgettable days of a fascinating albeit very strained musical marathon.

Head of the jury, composer Ivan Karabyts, is happy to note that the contest’s geography has expanded and its prestige increased. “The Ukrainian piano school was very impressively represented,” he stresses. “Now we have a whole generation of young talents, students of the Lysenko and Gliere special music colleges and Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music.

A MUSICIAN MUST SPEND A LIFETIME TO PROVE HE IS BEST

This year’s competition was severe. In the second round the contestants had to show academic technical merits, playing classical pieces. 25 made it to the next round in the medium group (14-19 years of age) and 22 in the senior group (19- 33). The pianists demonstrated their enviable independence of performing clichОs and an ability to balance emotions. Many performed the most sophisticated compositions, each lasting up to fifty minutes, all showing genuine skill. And the National Philharmonic audience remained packed throughout the contest. The regular listeners gradually singled out favorites and encouraged them in every way possible. Several dramatic events took place during the contest.

The fourth round proved a Waterloo for many. Nine in the medium and six in the senior group survived. Playing with a symphony orchestra is a severe trial for a young pianist. Among the favorites were Chinese pianists U Tsung and Vang Evei, currently Odesa Conservatory students under Prof. Halyna Popova. Getting ahead of the story, both won bronze medals in the medium and senior groups respectively. Vassili Netukh from Belarus showed a sparkling and temperamental performance, but in the finals he must have given way to emotions and got out of sync with the orchestra. The jury was merciless and, although the audience won an ovation, the young man went home empty-handed. Well, he is 19 and is making his first steps in professional music. Another favorite was Oleksandr Hryniuk, eleventh year student from the Lysenko Music College. He won the bronze and a special prize, Most Talented Kyivan, and a Panasonic television presented by Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko. Incidentally, the pianist’s brother Oleksiy won the Horowitz contest in 1999 and now studies in Britain.

Volodymyr Viardo, member of the jury, admitted, “It was difficult to name the best of the best, for all the contestants showed a very high professional level. I was very impressed by all the rounds, but quite frankly, I was also disappointed a bit, watching some of the boys lose heart. The favorites of the first couple of days were all in by the finals. We on the jury know only too well that a brilliant performance must be complimented by determination to win. Indeed, all of the contestants worked hard preparing for the event and we could sense their professors’ experienced hands. So they failed this time. There will be a next time and the main thing is believing in one’s strength and ability to win. A professional musician must spend a lifetime to show he is the best.

Ihor Riabov added that he, as a member of the jury, admired the contestants’ high professional level, especially in the medium group. Beethoven’s sonatas composed in his twilight years are more than sophisticated, particularly their second part where a musician has to convey the author’s innermost feelings and the composition’s philosophy. Of course, this takes faultless technique.

All participants noted the remarkably warm atmosphere of the contest. Pianists from other cities lived at the Composer’s Home in Vorzel where everything was provided for rest and practice. The jury was accommodated at the Slavutych Hotel. The only shortcoming was that the guests could have just a fleeting glance at the Kyiv sights due to the contest’s tight schedule

ONE, TWO

Without disclosing all the secrets of the jury vote, Ivan Karabyts notes that the team was unanimous in naming the gold medal winners. No one voted against Dmytro Onyshchenko in the medium and Mariya Kim in the senior group. Both stood out of the rest of performers by far. Dmytro is 18 and in his first year at Lviv’s Music Academy (Prof. Natalia Hramoteyeva). He considers mother his first teacher, for she led him into the wonderful world of music. Two years ago, Onyshchenko won a certificate of distinction at the Horowitz contest and now the gold medal! Of course, he has made considerable headway. Ivan Karabyts believes the young fellow has rare intellect, he is keenly aware of the piece he performs, he has excellent technique, and with all this he is absolutely devoid of all the external factors. Dmytro is remarkably purposeful, he also plays the clarinet and writes music and verse; he is fond of astronomy, geography, and foreign languages.

“To me, vying in a contest is an opportunity not only to show what I can do, but also to hear others play, it’s a stimulus to self-perfection,” says Dmytro Onyshchenko. “You know, playing with the National Philharmonic symphony orchestra was very easy and enjoyable. As I did I felt I was not alone on stage. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor is one of my favorite compositions.”

Ivan Karabyts says that Mariya Kim, winner in the senior group, is like a volcano. Her performing style is uninhibited, absolutely free, and her technique is simply brilliant. Playing, she seems to emanate tremendous energy enveloping the audience. She was born in Sevastopol, won an international contest in Senigallia (Italy, 1994) and the Vladimir Krainev young pianist contest in Kharkiv (1996). Currently in her third year in Prof. Krainev’s class at the Higher School of Music and Drama in Hanover (Germany). Her father is an orchestra conductor and mother a pianist. Mariya believes that a musical contest is very much like a sports competition psychologically. One has to set one’s mind on winning. She admits that she practices a lot. Every time she performs onstage she tries to show what she can really do, revealing every nuance of the composition. She went to study in Germany because she could join Prof. Krainev’s class there. She admires him. She says she needs both the stick and the carrot when studying. She dreams of concert tours, loves quiet, and can truly relax listening to pop music. At first she missed home, parents, and relatives very much, then she got over it, aware that she was receiving fundamental knowledge for her future career. Among many presents accompanying Kim’s and Onyshchenko’s awards was an invitation to perform solo programs in Hungary.

While naming the laureates was easy, appointing the other awards was anything but simple for the jury. In the medium group, for example, were Pavel Dombrovsky from Moscow and Robert Umansky from Kharkiv, currently at the Moscow Conservatory’s special music school. Both played beautifully. So which was to be awarded? After a stormy debate the jury agreed on a compromise: both would be placed second. The same was the case with the senior group where silver medals went to Aleksandr Pirozhenko (Russia) and Pavel Yeletsky (Belarus). Six contestants shared three bronze medals: Oleksandr Hryniuk (Ukraine), U Tsung (China), and Serhiy Shkoliarenko (Ukraine) in the medium group; Vang Evey (China), Eduard Kuntz (Russia), and Natalia Sukhina (Ukraine) in the senior group. There were also special prizes for technical merits in the compulsory program, for the best performance of works by Ukrainian composers and those from other countries represented at the contest, for virtuosity, and so on.

Interestingly, in addition to the contest, the Ukrainian audiences were gladdened by the concerts of the visiting German star pianist Boris Bloch and members of the jury as active touring performers and teachers, including Vladimir Viardo, Jerome Lowenthal, Daniel Pollack (all from the US), and Hupert Stuppner. David Duballe (US), pianist and music critic, appeared with a lecture, presenting an exclusive project dedicated to Vladimir Horowitz , using unique audio and video materials. He was showered with questions, so he had to hold a discussion backstage, lasting two hours. Among other things, Mr. Duballe shared the pleasant news that his book Conversations with Horowitz is being translated into Russian and is expected to appear this fall. Mr. Stuppner acted as both composer, conductor (his piano concerto was performed, starring Vyacheslav Zubkov, winner of the second Horowitz contest), and music critic, delivering a lecture titled “Raising Performers in the System of International Contests,” based on his book Mephisto Waltz or a Dance on the Clavier.

ENDING ON THIS NOTE

Summing up the fourth Horowitz young pianists international competition, it should be noted that it helped discover new names and further encouraged the contestants and their teachers to improve their skill, drawing tremendous public interest and paying tribute to the memory of the celebrated musician, whose centennial of birth will be marked in 2003. The event is expected to be commemorated also by the release of a book illustrating Horowitz’s life in Kyiv, his professional maturation before immigrating to the United States. The author is Yuri Zilbelman, a music critic. Also, the organizers do not let talented musicians out of sight after the contest, following their professional growth, arranging for concert tours, holding performing art workshop seminars, releasing CDs with laureates, and helping them prepare for other international contests. The Kyiv Summer Music Soirees International Festival is starting May 26 at the capital’s Central Park by the Mariyinsky Palace. Meaning spectacular performances every weekend, starring Horowitz winners among others.