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Q&A International Piano meets Boris Giltburg GUSOV SASHA but I did not grow up with his music and ‘discovering’ his genius has been one of my biggest musical joys of recent years. Who were your principal teachers? I would name two: Arie Vardi and my mum. My mum was my first teacher (against her will – I had to pester her for weeks until she agreed to give me lessons) and she remains to this day my most trusted critic. Arie was my teacher for 14 years and I can trace back to him almost everything I learned of sound production, phrasing, approach to the musical text and to interpretation, programme construction and so on. Beyond your teachers, who have been the biggest musical influences on you? So many! But to name my biggest heroes, I am deeply in love with the interpretations of Arthur Rubinstein, Emil Gilels, Wilhelm Kempff, David Oistrakh, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Mariss Jansons and Wilhelm Furtwängler. If you could take just one recording to a desert island, what would it be? Depending on the day it would be either a full set of Beethoven’s string quartets or a full set of Bach’s cantatas, both endlessly deep and varied, and encapsulating so many human lifetimes as to last me, well, a lifetime … What was your most recent musical discovery? Vaughan Williams’s Second Symphony (A London Symphony) – I heard it several times on a recent tour and fell in love with it completely ; I was humming it for days. It was also interesting to discover an earlier version of the symphony, recorded by Richard Hickox and the LSO (Chandos): much darker and more expansive. What was the last thing you were practising? Mozart’s D minor Concerto, K466, and a selection of Chopin’s nocturnes – new works for upcoming concerts. Chopin in particular is a composer I ’m intensely exploring at the moment; it may sound unlikely, Which solo piece would you most love to learn but haven’t yet got around to playing? Almost anything by Bach! Bach is my favourite composer as a listener, but I have barely played any of his works myself. I resolutely decided to rectify this and will learn both books of The Well-Tempered Clavier over the coming year for performances in 2026. Which piano concertos should be heard in concert more often? Rachmaninov’s First Concerto – I honestly can’t understand why it’s not more loved by audiences and promoters. It has some of Rachmaninov’s most beautiful melodies, brilliant writing for both piano and orchestra, a clear structure, a highly effective ending … On paper it has all the ingredients of a perennial favourite, yet both in Rachmaninov’s lifetime and today it remains the least performed of his concertos. Let’s change that! Which composers are the most underrated or wrongly neglected? I think the answer might depend on where we are. Growing up in Russia and Israel, I knew next to nothing of the works of Vaughan Williams, Britten and Elgar, whereas in the UK the works of Nikolay Medtner – music I grew up with – are a rarity. Medtner, in truth, remains mostly unknown in much of the world, so ‘wrongly neglected’ may well apply to him. What are the major works you’re playing over the coming months? Rachmaninov’s First, Third and Fourth Concertos, as well as his cycle of 24 Preludes. Beethoven’s Fifth Concerto and Mozart’s D minor. Brahms’s three piano quartets (the next project with my closest musical friends, the Pavel Haas Quartet). A large selection of Chopin’s solo works. And in the autumn I will begin recording the complete works of Maurice Ravel as well as perform Beethoven’s 32 sonatas in concert. Do you have a personal favourite of your own recordings? If I might be allowed to choose two – the Shostakovich concertos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko, and the complete Dvorˇák trios with Veronika Jaru˚šková and Peter Jaru˚šek. In both cases I couldn’t have asked for more brilliant, passionate and inspiring partners, and I ’m very proud of the results. The Shostakovich album also contains my arrangement of his Eighth String Quartet for piano solo, so there’s an additional personal connection. Do you have any concert memories that especially stand out? A memory from last year stands out: I was playing Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C sharp minor as an encore and during the last bars, where Rachmaninov imitates a series of receding bell tolls, the bell of a nearby church started striking the hour – in the right key and in nearly perfect timing with the piano. It was both eerie and cool in the extreme. 6 Summer 2024 International Piano www.international-piano.com
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NEWS NOTES Major label moves There have been three high-profile pianist signings in recent months. Deutsche Grammophon announced the exclusive signing of Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, known as Nobu. Born blind, Nobu started playing on a toy piano at the age of two and made his recital debut at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall at the age of 12, since when he has had a significant following in Japan. He made it to the semi-finals of the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2005, but first came to more widespread attention when he won the Van Cliburn Competition in 2009. Nobu’s first recording for DG will feature Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and will be released in 2025. Sony Classical has announced two pianist signings. The first of these is Hayato Sumino, who is Japanese-born but New-Yorkbased. Sumino has a huge following on social media, where he goes by the name ‘Cateen’, with more than 1.5 million followers. But some may remember him from his progress to the semi-final stage of the 2021 International Chopin Competition. Jed Distler, who was writing a daily blog on the competition for the Gramophone website, described Sumino as ‘a genuinely accomplished pianist. He also holds a master’s degree in science and engineering from the University of Tokyo. In other words, he’s serious, as his rocksolid performance of Chopin’s Second Ballade this morning amply demonstrated.’ Sony Classical describes Sumino’s style as ‘one that successfully melds all of his musical passions drawn from the worlds of classical, jazz, film music, post-classical and electronica.’ His first album, scheduled for release this autumn, will feature music by, among others, Bach, Fauré, Purcell, Sakamoto and Sumino himself. Jeneba Kanneh-Mason has signed to Sony Classical J O H A N N A B E R G H O R N Sony’s second exclusive signing is of the British pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason. The partnership will begin with the recording of her debut recital album, to be released in 2025, which will feature a varied programme of works by Chopin, Debussy and Scriabin, as well as music by Margaret Bonds, Florence Price and William Grant Still. Kanneh-Mason has previously recorded Price’s Concerto in One Movement with Chineke! (released on Decca in 2023), a work she performed at the BBC Proms in 2021. She was a finalist in the 2018 BBC Young Musician at the age of 16. Competitors announced for Leeds The Leeds International Piano Competition has unveiled the 24 pianists who will be advancing to the Second Round of this year’s competition. These participants, aged between 20 and 29, took part in the First Round held across six global centres in April, and now compete for their chance to win the top prize: the Waterman Gold Medal, prestigious concert engagements, international tours, a recording deal and management opportunities, and a cash prize of £30,000. In September, these 24 pianists will perform a 40-minute solo recital at the Great Hall of the University of Leeds. From there, 10 participants will be selected to move on to the Semi-Finals, where they will perform solo and chamber work with Tom Poster and Elena Urioste’s Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective. The Final, on 20 and 21 September, will allow five pianists to perform their chosen concertos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Domingo Hindoyan. Giorgi Gigashvili wins Terence Judd-Hallé Award The 23-year-old Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili has received the Terence Judd-Hallé Award, given annually to a member of the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists programme. As well as a cash prize of £7000, the link with the Hallé orchestra also brings a solo recital and concerto performance at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. Gigashvili’s debut album, ‘Meeting my Shadow’, was released on Alpha as part of the label’s ‘Piano Stories’ series. www.international-piano.com International Piano Summer 2024 7

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Q&A

International Piano meets

Boris Giltburg

GUSOV

SASHA

but I did not grow up with his music and ‘discovering’ his genius has been one of my biggest musical joys of recent years.

Who were your principal teachers? I would name two: Arie Vardi and my mum. My mum was my first teacher (against her will – I had to pester her for weeks until she agreed to give me lessons) and she remains to this day my most trusted critic. Arie was my teacher for 14 years and I can trace back to him almost everything I learned of sound production, phrasing, approach to the musical text and to interpretation, programme construction and so on.

Beyond your teachers, who have been the biggest musical influences on you? So many! But to name my biggest heroes, I am deeply in love with the interpretations of Arthur Rubinstein, Emil Gilels, Wilhelm Kempff, David Oistrakh, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Mariss Jansons and Wilhelm Furtwängler.

If you could take just one recording to a desert island, what would it be?

Depending on the day it would be either a full set of Beethoven’s string quartets or a full set of Bach’s cantatas, both endlessly deep and varied, and encapsulating so many human lifetimes as to last me, well, a lifetime …

What was your most recent musical discovery? Vaughan Williams’s Second Symphony (A London Symphony) – I heard it several times on a recent tour and fell in love with it completely ; I was humming it for days. It was also interesting to discover an earlier version of the symphony, recorded by Richard Hickox and the LSO (Chandos): much darker and more expansive.

What was the last thing you were practising? Mozart’s D minor Concerto, K466, and a selection of Chopin’s nocturnes – new works for upcoming concerts. Chopin in particular is a composer I ’m intensely exploring at the moment; it may sound unlikely,

Which solo piece would you most love to learn but haven’t yet got around to playing? Almost anything by Bach! Bach is my favourite composer as a listener, but I have barely played any of his works myself. I resolutely decided to rectify this and will learn both books of The Well-Tempered Clavier over the coming year for performances in 2026.

Which piano concertos should be heard in concert more often? Rachmaninov’s First Concerto – I honestly can’t understand why it’s not more loved by audiences and promoters. It has some of Rachmaninov’s most beautiful melodies, brilliant writing for both piano and orchestra, a clear structure, a highly effective ending … On paper it has all the ingredients of a perennial favourite, yet both in Rachmaninov’s lifetime and today it remains the least performed of his concertos. Let’s change that!

Which composers are the most underrated or wrongly neglected? I think the answer might depend on where we are. Growing up in Russia and Israel, I knew next to nothing of the works of Vaughan Williams, Britten and Elgar, whereas in the UK the works of Nikolay Medtner – music I grew up with – are a rarity. Medtner, in truth, remains mostly unknown in much of the world, so ‘wrongly neglected’ may well apply to him.

What are the major works you’re playing over the coming months? Rachmaninov’s First, Third and Fourth Concertos, as well as his cycle of 24 Preludes. Beethoven’s Fifth Concerto and Mozart’s D minor. Brahms’s three piano quartets (the next project with my closest musical friends, the Pavel Haas Quartet). A large selection of Chopin’s solo works. And in the autumn I will begin recording the complete works of Maurice Ravel as well as perform Beethoven’s 32 sonatas in concert.

Do you have a personal favourite of your own recordings? If I might be allowed to choose two – the Shostakovich concertos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko, and the complete Dvorˇák trios with Veronika Jaru˚šková and Peter Jaru˚šek. In both cases I couldn’t have asked for more brilliant, passionate and inspiring partners, and I ’m very proud of the results. The Shostakovich album also contains my arrangement of his Eighth String Quartet for piano solo, so there’s an additional personal connection.

Do you have any concert memories that especially stand out? A memory from last year stands out: I was playing Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C sharp minor as an encore and during the last bars, where Rachmaninov imitates a series of receding bell tolls, the bell of a nearby church started striking the hour – in the right key and in nearly perfect timing with the piano. It was both eerie and cool in the extreme.

6 Summer 2024 International Piano www.international-piano.com

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