The preparations for the Ninth International Competition of Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz, which will be launched on June 8 at the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine, are in full sweep. The honor to launch this prestigious music competition was conveyed on two gold laureates, the winners of the 2010 competition, Kyivite Roman Lopatynsky (middle group) and pianist from Southern Korea, Kim Kho Woon (senior group). On the eve of the Horowitz Competition, its founder and unchanged director Yurii Zilberman answered the questions of The Day.
Share your impressions made during the trip to Japan.
“We have invited Oleksandra Kasman, representing the US, the winner of the Eighth competition in the junior group, and Ukrainian winner in the middle group, Roman Lopatynsky, to take part in the concerts. The Horowitz Competition has been maintaining contacts with Japan for many years. Back in 1997, when Japanese pianist and pedagogue Kazuhiko Nakadzima was a jury member, Tokyo hosted a selection round for Japanese pianists to take part in the competition. Ukraine in the jury was represented by rector of the National Tchaikovsky Music Academy, Volodymyr Rozhok. The pianists selected for the trip to Kyiv included a unique young pianist, who won the first prize and gold medal, Risa Hinoue. And in the senior group – a wonderful refined musician, who became a competition laureate as well, Kazumasa Matsumoto. He enjoys vast popularity these days and gives successful concerts in Japan and Europe. Japanese have become winners many times in the following competitions. So, the contacts with Japan have been maintained for as many years as the Horowitz Competition exists. We had planned to go with concerts to Tokyo, Osaka, and Hamamatsu in 2011, but the tragedy of March 11 prevented us from doing so. This year we have been invited again to Japan. Our aim was to give concert grounds for our winners and familiarize the highest number of people and countries possible with the Horowitz Competition.
“We arrived in Tokyo on March 10, had a couple of meetings with our business friends, and on March 12 set out for Hamamatsu. The factories manufacturing music instruments of the Yamaha firm are located in this city. Besides, as is known, it also hosts the famous international competition named after the city, Hamamatsu. (Its laureates, by the way, included many winners of the Horowitz Competition.) We were given a wonderful reception: it was gratifying to see three flags, Ukrainian, Japanese, and Yamaha firm banner, in front of the firm’s central office. We have visited the factory of grand pianos, and our pianists had an opportunity to play dozens wonderful instruments (a new series of handmade concert grand pianos), and together with the competition’s impresario, Iryna Polstiankina, we had successful negotiations with the administration of the firm concerning the establishing of a new concert grand piano for the future competition. Already in the evening we arrived in Osaka, where on the following day our winners were giving a concert. I will admit at once: the Japanese audience may be somewhat more reserved than ours or American, but it is very attentive and friendly. Why am I mentioning the public? The thing is that the concert was divided into two parts: in the first one Oleksandra Kasman performed Nikolai Medtner’s works (he’s not the most popular author), and in the second one Roman performed Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka, Scherzo from Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony (in a very complicated interpretation by Samuil Feinberg). The program was not for amateurs, mildly speaking, rather for professional listeners. But they were listening very attentively, accepted it warmly and delightedly.”
Maybe good reception was caused by the fact that our musicians are exotic for the Japanese?
“No. I think that’s not the thing. Music classes are as compulsory as the subjects like arithmetic or native language in Japanese secondary schools. Children may borrow wonderful music instruments at schools. They learn to play them. They perform in ensembles and orchestras (the abovementioned Yamaha produces thousands of instruments). The taste to real art is cultivated in them since early childhood. Everyone in audience has quite a decent music thesaurus: he has listened to many music pieces and maybe even performed. Therefore his perception is prepared for serious music works.”
Did you give a concert in Tokyo?
“The musicians performed in Tokyo’s Ginza Hall. This is a hall with wonderful acoustics, it’s made of wood, and what is most important, it has a fantastic grand piano. The concert was a great success. Maybe the entire atmosphere of exaltation, importance of the concert in a capital, the audience’s aura, had its effect, but all those things made musicians concentrate on the performance, and they were performing in an extremely interesting, inspired, bright manner, merging with the audience, which echoed in response. I was observing a little girl, aged six to seven, sitting with her mother in the front row. The child was absolutely enchanted with the complicated music by Stravinsky, Medtner and contemporary composers. I was impressed. Later it turned out that she is a well-known performer in Ukraine, a winner of competitions for the youngest (Japanese analogue of Horowitz-Debut) and intends to take part in the Horowitz Competition in Kyiv next year.”
Roman Lopatynsky is now passing his first exams in the National Music Academy in Ukraine and in June he will launch the Horowitz Competition. Does he perform much?
“In the end of May, Roman is giving a concert in Paris with a new program. This will be a concert presentation of Ukrainian composers of the 20th century: Borys Liatoshynsky, Ivan Karabyts, and Myroslav Skoryk. This is our joint project with the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Paris. We have prepared a special edition of scores, Karabyts’s 24 Preludes, which we will present to the audience.
“You have touched the most painful string: the task of a music competition, as I imagine it, is not only to reveal a talent, but also to develop it. This is the main thing what the competition can and should do for him. Therefore we, as organizers, must provide our laureate with the maximum possibility to realize himself. And how can we do so? Only by way of concerts. The assemblies of the European and World Federations of music competitions are dedicated namely to these questions.”
The most recent General Assembly of the Federation has taken place in Holland. Is the Horowitz Competition member of the Federation?
“The World Federation of International Music Competitions has existed for over 50 years (it was founded in 1957). It includes 123 biggest music competitions of the world. These are well-known, prestigious international competitions, like Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, Van Cliburn in the US, Beethoven in Vienna, Paganini in Italy etc. In 2004, Horowitz Competition was taken to the Federation. The general assemblies of the organization take place once a year. They consider important problems that worry the members of the federation: the systems of evaluation of the contestants, organization of tours, concerts for the laureates, drawing attention of young performers to the competition. The general assemblies consider the questions of the actuality of competition requirements and programs, the application of new technologies in the competition movement etc. In April the WFIMC General Assembly took place in a small Dutch town Hertogenbosch, hometown of Hieronymus Bosch.
“The main question of this year was whether the competitions meet the Federation’s Statute. Several examples were given, when one or another competition failed to meet the requirements, for example, in their obligation before their laureates concerning engagements in the after-competition period. There have been other violations: moving the schedule of the competition without agreeing it with the Federation (this leads to monotype competitions held in neighboring countries simultaneously), the change of nominations, program requirements, in a word, everything that brings elements of chaos to the worldwide competition movement. The Assembly took a unanimous decision to increase the number of people on the board (usually those are presidents of prestigious world competitions) to nine representatives in order to broaden the monitoring field, i.e., foresee the inspection trips of the members of the board to the competitions held during the year. This has had an effect on the Horowitz Competition: in June 18 through 23 (i.e., the final round and concert of winners) the competition will be attended by the President of the Worldwide Federation of International Music Competitions Glen Kwok. I will add that in the same period we expect General Secretary of the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY) Claire Goddard to come.”
Please, tell about the preparation for the Ninth Horowitz Competition. Its launch coincides with the launch of Euro-2012. Has not it added difficulties for the organizing committee?
“Sure. But it was worth of it, because we moved the schedule of the Ninth Competition (having coordinated it in advance with the Federation) with a certain purpose. Above all, the reason is that out of the vast number of football fans, according to UEFA, about five percent are admirers of classical music. So, we need to create the conditions for them to satisfy their need. It should not be forgotten that during the competition the doors of the National Philharmonic Society are open for visitors. Besides, the school year will end earlier than usually, so we can provide the contestants with the classrooms of the Gliere Kyiv Institute of Music with grand pianos for classes. Of course, there will be hardships with moving about the city, the transport and the high prices in the hotels. But the Ministry of Culture and Chief Administration of Culture of the KMDA actively helps us to overcome these difficulties. So I think the Horowitz Competition will take place on a high level, and most importantly, new stars, talented musicians, will emerge.”
