Grand piano competition conditions of the competition. II competition for young pianists Grand Piano Competition continues to accept applications 

Artistic director Grand Piano Competition Denis Matsuev explained the violation of the regulations by the fact that the level of the contestants was so high that the list of five winners of the jury was not enough.

He also noted that the difference between Grand Piano and other competitions is that it is rather not a competition, but "a festival where there can be no losers." “The final at the Grand Piano is not a fight, but a real celebratory gala of piano concerts by Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Grieg, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, after which it is really difficult to name the laureate names,” the press service of the Ministry of Culture quotes Matsuev.

Laureates of the Second Grand Piano Competition:

Ivan Bessonov (Russia), 15 years old
Roman Borisov (Russia), 15 years old
Eva Gevorkyan (Russia), 14 years old
Sergey Davydchenko (Russia), 13 years old
Alexandra Dovgan (Russia), 10 years old
Tinhong Liao (China), 14 years old
Vladislav Khandogiy (Republic of Belarus), 16 years old

Diploma winners of the Second Grand Piano Competition:

Yiguo Wang (China), 14 years old; Evgeny Evgrafov (Russia), 16 years old; Sanzharali Kopbaev (Kazakhstan), 14 years old; Valentin Malinin (Russia), 16 years old; Egor Oparin (Russia), 12 years old; Perrin-Luc Thyssen (USA), 15 years old; Yichen Yu (China), 15 years old; Chiwon Yang (Korea), 16 years old.

The laureates will receive five thousand dollars each, the graduates - one thousand each.

International Jury of the Second Grand Piano Competition:

Sergey Dorensky (Russia), Petr Palechny (Poland), Boris Petrushansky (Russia), Valery Pyasetsky (Russia), Hyunjun Chan (Republic of Korea), Martin Engström (Sweden) and Stanislav Yudenich (Russia).

The winners have been named, but the intrigue of the competition remains. Tonight, during the gala concert of laureates in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the winner of the Grand Prix will be announced - a Yamaha AvantGrand grand piano.

All finalists of the II International Grand Piano Competition for young pianists received special prizes and awards.

The contestants were given:

Certificates for participation in the projects of Denis Matsuev, Valery Gergiev, Alexander Sladkovsky, State Orchestra of Russia named after E.F. Svetlanov, the program "All-Russian Philharmonic Seasons";

Special prizes: from the Central Music School and Valery Pyasetsky, from Helikon Opera and Dmitry Bertman; from Yamaha Music, the State Orchestra of Russia named after E.F. Svetlanov and the International A.S. Pushkin;

Certificates for participation in the Verbier Festival Academy and Duszniki International Chopin Piano Festival, a certificate from the All-Russian Competition for Young Talents "Blue Bird" for participation in the Competition for Young Musicians in Edinburgh.

The Grand Piano Competition was held in Moscow from April 29 to May 5, 2018. The founders of the competition are the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Moscow Conservatory. P.I. Tchaikovsky.

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The final gala concert of the laureates, whose number increased to seven instead of five, was still a continuation of the competition for them. In the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, festive solemnity reigned along with exciting anticipation and intrigue that continued to the end - who will take the Grand Prix?

“If it were my will, I would give grand pianos to all the contestants, and the competition would close with this,” Denis Matsuev said before the start of the celebration. "The word competition is not in the first place here. We have a win-win atmosphere, no one will be offended, all 15 participants have a great prospect of touring ahead and much more for the next two years. Each of them is a" spark ", showing a brilliant form and, most importantly , freedom on stage."

The festive evening opened with a spectacular concert number. Under the "Italian Polka" by Sergei Rachmaninov danced the figures of black and white keys on the stage, "set" in motion by the fingers of Elisey Mysin and Okui Shio (Japan), laureate of the 1st Grand Piano Competition, on the piano. The audience is delighted.

The awarding of 15 participants, which preceded the last "spurt" of the seven laureates, was long and thorough. First of all, all the guys received a certificate for participation in the project of the founder and artistic director of the competition, Denis Matsuev. "The American Thyssen will not escape the fate of plunging into Baikal after the Russian bath," Matsuev promised. He has to go to the festival "Stars on Baikal". Evgeny Evgrafov was awarded the opportunity to perform in the All-Russian Philharmonic Seasons program. Malinin, among other things, got a special prize from the Central Music School and Valery Pyasetsky - participation in the concert of the festival "A tutta forza" with professional video and audio recording.

Photo: facebook.com/International Grand Piano Competition

Twelve-year-old Yegor Oparin - the favorite of the competition, although he did not become a laureate, but only a diploma winner, received enviable awards, including a personal scholarship from Matsuev and a debut concert in Tokyo at the Yamaha Concert Hall. Sergey Girshenko, accompanist of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra named after Svetlanov, a wonderful orchestra that accompanied the participants in the second round, presented a cash prize (500 euros) to Oparin, who had won his musical heart.

Awards, concert invitations, gifts, prizes rained down on the winners. Valery Gergiev, Alexander Sladkovsky, Moscow Philharmonic Society Svetlanova invited them all to their projects. Roman Borisov also received a flattering invitation to participate in the Academy of the famous Verbier Festival. The All-Russian competition "Blue Bird" joined the proposals from Matsuev, the Philharmonic and the Central Music School, presenting its certificate to Ivan Bessonov for participation in the "classical" Eurovision concert on 23.08 in Edinburgh. To the four positions of Eva Gevorgyan's invitations, Helikon-Opera and Dmitry Bertman added the opportunity to perform on the theater stage of the white-columned hall of Princess Shakhovskaya.

Photo: facebook.com/International Grand Piano Competition

The generosity of gifts, which are primarily designed for the perspective of the demanded concert and touring life of the Grand Piano Competition participants, reflects one of the main goals of Denis Matsuev's project. He repeatedly emphasized that the meaning of the existence of a pianist is the stage, the audience and the uniqueness of the moment of the performer's concert performance. This competition is also unique in its undeniable assistance to young musicians.

The competition is designed to nurture talented youth at the level of Russian and international concert venues. But first, the children are cherished by their teachers. Many grateful words sounded during the evening addressed to them. Sergei Osipenko, Serezha Davydchenko's teacher, Sergei Girshenko, the first violin of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra named after Svetlanova, presented a cash award with the words: "Serezha's manner of playing, the positioning of Serezha's hands resembled the great pianist Tatyana Nikolaeva." Indeed, the whole appearance of Davydchenko was like a continuation of the piano. The organic and natural fit to the pianist's keyboard gave him excellent command of the sound in the cantilena, chords and passages. Sergey Davydchenko and Yichen Yu (China) were awarded the Audience Choice Award based on the results of Internet voting. Sergey was presented with a certificate for a professional photo session, and a smiling Chinese guy received a deluxe edition of P.I. Tchaikovsky: two editions, clavier and scores with comments by the author himself.

Photo: facebook.com/International Grand Piano Competition

The decision to award the Grand Prix was a collegiate decision of all members of the jury, which, after the performance of the final (by drawing the last number) participant Alexandra Dovgan, decorously retired from the voting hall.

As in all competitive auditions of the first and second rounds, it was incredibly difficult for the jury to compare and choose the best of the guys, who are already the best. All differently bright, dissimilar individuals, technically not just well-equipped and skilled, but virtuosic in the true sense of the word - valiant, boldly and courageously defeating any "hands-on" heaps of technical difficulties.

Photo: facebook.com/International Grand Piano Competition

Finally, after a demonstration in every sense of the performance of the "playing coach" of the artistic director of Grand Piano Matsuev with maestro Valery Gergiev at the control of the GASSO. Svetlanov, Denis Leonidovich announced the cherished name. Of the seven applicants - Roman Borisov, Vladislav Khandogiy, Sergey Davydchenko, Tinhong Liao, Ivan Bessonov, Eva Gevorgyan, Alexandra Dovgan - the honorable and respected jury chose Dovgan.

Frederic Chopin famously said: "You need to practice on the best instrument, but play on any." The instrument should help the pianist reach the unattainable.

Once upon a time, after winning the XI International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998, Yamaha presented a grand piano to contestant Denis Matsuev. From that moment on, he became the face of the company and, according to the pianist, "a member of the Yamaha family" for 20 years.

Photo: facebook.com/International Grand Piano Competition

Sasha Dovgan, who deserved the Grand Prix, received many invitations to projects, was also rewarded with a ticket to the International Festival. Chopin in Dushniki (Poland). And Alexander Alexandrovich Pushkin, a descendant of the great poet, personally presented a special prize from the International Pushkin Foundation.

“The most important thing is for the guys to grow professionally and understand that every morning starts from scratch. It will always be like this. I do it every day. In the evening there is a concert, and the next day everything is all over again,” said Denis Matsuev.

Alexander Malofeev, participant of the 1st International Competition for Young Pianists Grand Piano Competition, told why winning the competition is not the main thing, how to choose the right program for performance, and why the language of music is universal.

- Sasha, did you choose the works for the competition on your own or consulted with the teacher?

- I choose the program together with Elena Vladimirovna Berezkina. We take into account not only the rules of the competition, but also the tactics of my further development.

Usually we take works that we expect to present to the audience in the next season. Thus, it turns out that competition is a certain driving force for me. For example, I recently learned Rachmaninov's second sonata. And I have been playing Mephisto Waltz for quite a long time. I think he even suffers from it.

– Do you play only your favorite pieces or do you and your teacher develop a special strategy for winning?

– My favorite work is always the one I am currently working on. And now it is Rachmaninov's Second Sonata.

The teacher and I did not develop any strategy for winning, because for me the competition is just a stage in personal development. Today I just wanted to play great music for the jury, for the audience, for myself.

Are you aiming to win?

“It's definitely nice to win. But the composition of this particular competition is so strong that, in my opinion, all participants deserve good prizes, great scenes and the best producers. The word "victory" in such a collective race is very relative.

I think it will be very difficult for the jury to single out someone. If suddenly I am not in the top five winners, I will not be upset. Worthy musicians will remain with me beyond this line.

- How does it happen that, playing music strictly according to the notes, you still manage to bring something of yourself into a well-known composition?

– Of course, the main thing is always the composer. What he created is holy. However, the notes that are written on paper are not yet music. You have to invest yourself in the work so that it comes to life. And then in every sound you can capture a piece of yourself.

– You know that there are many foreign masters in the jury of the Grand Piano Competition. In your opinion, their perception of music and the grading system should be different from the Russian manner?

– I am sure that the language of music is universal. Therefore, if I play well, then everyone will understand this: both the audience and the jury. I would like the musical text to become for me the material through which I could talk with my audience.

– Did you already know the guys before the start of this event?

- Of course! I was well acquainted with many of them, we used to communicate and even performed together on the same stage.

Is there a tense atmosphere in your team right now? You are competing with each other.

- No, we have good, friendly relations, because, as Denis Leonidovich says, first of all, the festival. And the main thing here is not to win, but to be able to please yourself and the viewer.

– At such a young age, you already have so many achievements! I know that you have participated in many competitions in Russia and abroad. As a serious musician, do you have to travel a lot?

– Quite right! Much and often. And this sometimes upsets me, because travel does not cancel the course of the educational process. When I leave, I still have a class, a piano and many hours of classes waiting for me.

– That is, travel is more of a forced necessity for you? Or do you still enjoy it?

– Of course, I get great pleasure! When I go on stage, I forget all the difficulties that I had to overcome for this. And then I just enjoy the game.

– Do you have a couple of days left to explore the city, see the sights?

- Always different. It often happens that I am too busy preparing and rehearsing. For example, when a solo tour appears suddenly. Although sometimes, the festival program is designed in such a way that participants can relax and see the sights, like Denis Leonidovich in "Stars on Baikal".

Do you often feel like you don't have enough free time?

- Probably, if I had free time, I would prefer to work out more.

You are confident on stage. This is an experience?

– Yes, the concert experience gradually brings confidence, but the element of excitement still remains. I think it's completely natural to get excited during the game. Here's what not to do, so it's afraid! And the excitement helps me gather at the right moment.

- And what is the most important moment of the performance for you?

- The excitement is present just before going on stage. But it passes. During the game, there is no longer a trace of him, there is only me and the piano.

– You are not distracted by the audience, remain immersed in your music?

- First of all, I play for the audience. And for me, the most important thing is that the audience get fresh and vivid impressions.

- Please tell me about your mother. Do you feel her support now?

- Of course, without it in any way. I am very supported by my mother and my teacher during the competition. For me, as for any person, it is very important to receive the warmth and love of loved ones.

How did it happen that you got into music?

- Very simply, my mother took me to a music school as a child. And then I realized that I was interested. I really got carried away.

Did Mom foresee this course of events?

“At first it was really just a hobby. I know that my mother did not want me to become a professional musician. But when the situation turned around, she actually took the place of my personal secretary. Therefore, the role of mother in my work is simply invaluable!

Have you ever imagined that your life could turn out differently?

– No, today I no longer see my life without music. It's all for me.

Interviewed by Yana Abu-Zeid.

“The competition is not a concert” – this is how I had to persuade myself during the auditions of the first round of the Grand Piano Competition. When the participants came one by one to the stage of the Rachmaninov Hall - an even greater challenge, an even more difficult program, even fewer years - then the piano gradually began to seem like just an apparatus for producing decibels. Golden insides under an open lid - and from there forte, fortissimo, forte fortissimo, the load on the eardrums turned out to be serious. By no means do I want to reproach the highly gifted young pianists with this: such a sound picture is dictated primarily by the situation itself. The guys went out to compete, virtuosity is a natural field of competition and an integral part of high-class pianism, and without decibels it does not happen. In addition, Neuhaus wrote at one time: “... the most difficult, purely pianistic task: to play for a very long time, very strongly and quickly. A real elemental virtuoso instinctively “pounces” on this difficulty from his youth - and overcomes it successfully ... that is why we so often hear from young virtuosos who will be great pianists exaggerations in tempo and strength. There is no reason to doubt that the definition of "true elemental virtuoso" applies to all participants without exception (given that the ability to play in the top technical league since the time of Neuhaus is getting younger and younger): without being a born virtuoso, it is impossible to play like that even at that age. In relation to the general average level, the game of these guys (each of them!) Is like a five-thousander mountain peak above the plain, but when they pass in front of you one after another, then virtuosity begins to be taken for granted, becomes the background, and on this background, the rumor begins to want something else. It seems that anyone who simply plays quietly, warmly and humanely will be a hero. And here you remember that the competition is not a concert.

But what if you take it and specifically forget that this is a competition? Virtuosity, which in this competition is nothing more than an entrance ticket, to be taken out of brackets? What will be the sound picture? Here we come to listen to music, music is beauty. What did we hear?

We heard a lot of lean, dense, round - what is called, "quality" sound. There is a lot of such phrasing, which could be finer if, while one hand plays a beautiful melody, the attention of the players would not be pulled over by strings of small notes from the other, so that it was often noticeable that a technical difficulty dictated a phrase, although it should have been vice versa. But this is only a special case of the situation when the player did not cover the whole texture with his hearing: he heard and controlled, for example, in two-voice, only one voice. Man strives for wholeness. It makes an infinitely captivating impression when a pianist owns everything at his fingertips and is responsible for each, precisely every note: since the piano texture is almost always polyphonic, it sounds as if before our eyes someone is creating a new universe in the entire its fullness, and this is only a pale description of the pleasure that the merging together of different, clearly distinguishable voices brings to the ear - and this pleasure is so strong that it seems to meet some fundamental and difficult to define human need. I can say that in the Rachmaninov Hall (I am writing about the first round, because I attended it in person) I often only had to dream about it. There was a lot of left hand, climbing into the right and making it difficult to hear the upper voice, because of this stereoscopicity disappeared and began to sound flat. Lots of second and third beats carelessly sticking out of waltz accompaniment. A lot of indifference to the registers and their colors. The absence of the fifth finger in heavy chords, when it sinks, the melodic line disappears. All this is what distinguishes the sound picture from the ideal, the lack of sound control. Every now and then there was a temptation to attribute them to age, until at one fine moment a boy came out and played a Haydn sonata in such a way that, according to one of his acquaintances, it was as if the stereo was turned on after the mono. Valentin Malinin.

I am personally very sorry that he remained kind of in the shadows and little is said about him, while at this competition he proved himself to be one of the most mature musicians in terms of meaningfulness and mastery of sound. This is the case when a person comes out, and it’s as if another piano is being rolled out for him - sonorous, varied, with volume in sound. And at the same time, he is the same natural-born elemental virtuoso of powerful temperament: during his “Flight of the Bumblebee”, sometimes the ground left under his feet, and Liszt’s concerto for the finale looks like the most natural choice here. I hope that the luminaries in the sky will still rise for him as they should and that he has many well-deserved victories ahead of him.

Listening to such a game, one involuntarily thinks that the mastery of sound does not fall on the young pianist from the sky: someone must teach him to listen, first of all. Listen and hear what comes out from under the fingers. Yes, in the final analysis it is a craft, but it is a craft that, in its highest manifestations, merges with art, creating the unique beauty of the piano sound. And although Valentin Malinin’s truly unique beauty is still in the future, the prerequisites are very good: the ability to hear everything is still not given to everyone, and the possibilities of even the best teacher to teach this are not unlimited.

In general, these competitions of young musicians are an amazing thing: precisely because the game of the participants is, as it were, an alloy, it contains both the individuality of the participant himself and the reflection of the personality of his teacher, standing behind him invisibly. In order to instill a non-trivial understanding of music in a student, one must have this understanding oneself, and often, listening to an exciting game, one thinks with bated breath what interesting musicians the teachers sitting modestly in the hall should be. There is nothing more touching than the union of two people in pursuit of beauty and artistic truth, even if one of them is small and the other is an adult. Sometimes these unions have their finest hour, as happened at Sasha Dovgan's competitive performances.

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I don’t know how this girl’s life will turn out in the future, how she will play later - for sure something will come, something will leave, but what we have heard these days is truly unparalleled in the sense of wholeness and naturalness in everything. Chopin's impromptu fantasy was like a gust of wind. It was as if something flowed freely in one stream, all at once and completely, and in its sincerity made such an impression that when compared with the recording of a recent Grammy Award winner, it remains to be seen who I (personally I) prefer. Of course, comparisons are not a completely honest device, but when you listen to this, strange thoughts come from no one knows where: that for Chopin it is sometimes better to be a ten-year-old girl than an uncle with a beard, weighed down by the need to live up to expectations. Adults cannot play it simply, it is necessary to invent something over the defiant beauty of music. The child does not have to, and the music blossomed as if by itself, in a natural way.

“Drunk it,” disgruntled voices were heard. No, it didn't. Yes, it was very fast. But few even adult pianists are able to achieve in these passages such a combination of unity and separation, and even so that it produces such an angelic impression of the absence of effort. Well, yes, a few fleas in the reprise, not without it, but - the last magnificent touch - a desperate scream at the end, like a seagull, before the very farewell D-flat major, like in the setting sun - who is it? Who heard that, Sasha Dovgan or Mira Marchenko? Whoever it was, and the breath at that moment caught in surprise. Everything is heard in Bach's chorale, and the subject of special tenderness is that when the actual theme of the chorale enters, the other voice is not lost - the one with which the work began, it remains as bright and articulate as at the beginning, but besides, there is something that, it seems, cannot be taught - a feeling of forward movement, an easy step. And of course, no "two or three" stuck out of Sasha Dovgan's accompaniment in Chopin's waltz, and there was also an unexpectedly listened bass line - another joy to the heart. How strange to see that the most impressive musician - in a real, adult account - turned out to be the smallest girl in this competition. You can still describe all the findings and all the interesting things for a long time - for example, in the Suite of the unfamiliar Bortkiewicz, who obeyed with unflagging attention, but everything will not fit into the article, and in words, in the end, it is difficult to convey the ever-increasing feeling of surprise and joy that accompanied her the game.

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Let those whom I didn’t mention forgive me, forgive the fans of the wonderful Seryozha Davydchenko - others have already written about him and will write more, but Sasha made such an impression that simply cannot be kept silent, especially since voices are already heard saying that she was “dragged ”, and about the Grand Prix, they say, it was clear in advance. Personally, I don’t know anything about this, but even if we assume that this is so, then for once the one who was “dragged” turned out to be worthy of it, and such a situation is not easy to endure, I understand. It is difficult to comment on performances with the orchestra when you listen to the broadcast. The efforts of the sound engineers were noticeable there, and everything sounded evenly and as if from afar - probably in order to “clean up” the orchestra a little, which showed at the opening of the competition that it can sometimes crush even such an experienced and powerful player as Matsuev. But even there, when it is impossible to judge with certainty about the sound side, there remains the pleasure of phrasing in Mendelssohn's concerto, elegant, whimsical and at the same time natural, like breathing. Natural talent, already acquired skill, clarity of attitude, sincere belief in what you are doing - all this merged with Sasha Dovgan into an amazing unity, which, perhaps, together with this moment in time will never happen again, and we, together with millions of Internet -viewers were convinced that geeks, miracle children, really exist.

Coincidentally or not, that Mira Marchenko's students made such an indelible impression on me? Probably, not. There are musical priorities, in the end, which may or may not coincide with someone - it must have coincided with me, and the concert nevertheless stood out from the competition for me. Music is beauty, this is its strength. Thanks to those who don't let this be forgotten.

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From April 29 to May 5, 2018, the II International Competition for Young Pianists Grand Piano Competition will be held in Moscow. Continuing the traditions of the Russian piano school, the competition helps to support young performers at the initial stage of their creative path, expand and strengthen international creative ties, and improve the level of professional training at the piano departments of the Children's Music School and the Music School.

The idea of ​​creating the competition belongs to pianist Denis Matsuev, chairman of the organizing committee and artistic director of the Grand Piano Competition. “Two years have flown by unnoticed, and already this spring Moscow will once again host the Grand Piano Competition,” he said. - Laureates of the last competition every day prove that they received their awards for a reason. I really hope that this year the competition will expand its geography even more and give the music world even more new talented sparks.”

The competition will take place on the stages of the Bolshoi and Rachmaninov halls of the Moscow Conservatory, as well as in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic. The State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia named after E.F. Svetlanov will perform with the contestants under the baton of the People's Artist of Russia Alexander Sladkovsky.

The performances of young pianists will be evaluated by an international jury, which includes Sergey Dorensky (Russia), Petr Palechny (Poland), Boris Petrushansky (Russia), Valery Pyasetsky (Russia), Hyunjun Chan (Republic of Korea), Martin Engström (Sweden) and Stanislav Yudenich (Russia).

Conditions of the competition At the II International Grand Piano Competition, young pianists (up to 16 years of age inclusive) will compete in two rounds. Participants will be determined by the jury through video selection. The uniqueness of the competition lies in the fact that all those who passed the qualifying round take part in both rounds, getting the opportunity to perform both with a solo program and accompanied by a symphony orchestra.

Prize Fund The title of laureate of the II International Grand Piano Competition for Young Pianists and a $5,000 prize will go to five participants at once. The competition will not award first, second and third prizes. One of the five most worthy will become the owner of the Grand Prix - the Yamaha AvantGrand piano. Ten winners of the competition will receive a prize of $1,000. In addition, 1000 dollars will be awarded to teachers of the contestants who won the title of laureate of the competition.

The official website of the Grand Piano Competition - grandpianocompetition.com/en.