Symphony and Great Musicians

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Valery Afanassiev

Hiroshi Arimori

Henri Barda

Alexander Gadjiev

Valery Afanassiev

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A great piano master from Russia. Occasionally called a wizard, a contemplative pianist, etc., Afanassiev is one of the greatest pianists of our time. His profound and intelligent interpretation of German and Austrian classical and romantic repertoire, including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms, is peerless and unparalleled. His extremely slow tempi and distinctive tone tend to attract attention, but we should listen with an open mind to his performances that would fundamentally redefine the meaning of piano playing. He studied piano under Gilels at the Moscow Conservatory, and won first prize at the Leipzig Bach International Competition in 1969 and the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in 1972. In 1974, he gained political asylum in the West and now lives in the suburbs of Brussels. In addition to his piano playing, he is a writer of novels, poems, and reviews in three languages (Russian, English, and French).

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Hiroshi Arimori

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As one of Japan's foremost pianists, Arimori, with his dazzling pianism and moving expression, captures the heart of listeners. He has made it his life's work to perform and study Russian piano works including those by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Kabalevsky, and is currently recording the CDs of complete solo piano works of Kabalevsky and Rachmaninoff. He won the special prize at the Chopin International Piano Competition in 1990, the fourth prize at the 5th Sydney International Piano Competition in 1992, and a prize in the piano section at the 10th Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1994. As a professor at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, he is also active in teaching younger students. He has also performed with many orchestras and instrumentalists, including a European tour in 2004 as a member of the Saito Kinen Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa.

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Henri Barda

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Born in Cairo, Egypt, Barda moved to Paris at the age of 16, where he graduated at the top of his class in piano and chamber music from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. He then studied at the Juilliard School in New York for four years on a full scholarship, graduating at the top of his class in 1971 and receiving the John Elskin Award. He also served as pianist for the Paris Opera Ballet. He has never aimed for mass popularity, but has maintained a stubbornly sincere attitude toward music. Because of the limited opportunities to hear his performance, he is sometimes called "the mysterious pianist" and is well known to those in the know. In other words, he is a performer for the discerning ear. As a pedagogue, he has served as a professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and the Ecole Normale in Paris, and has trained many outstanding pianists. Since his first visit to Japan in 1981, he has enchanted Japanese audiences with his outstanding performances. He received the Frederic Chopin Disc Award (Warsaw, 1990) for his CD of Chopin's "Three Sonatas”.

Alexander Gadjiev

Profile

It is still fresh in our minds that Alexander Gadjiev won the second prize and the prize for the best performance of a sonata at the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2021. Born in Gorizia, near the border between Italy and Slovenia, and trained by his father, a master piano teacher from Azerbaijan, Gadjiev won first prizes in such major competitions as the 9th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 2015, the 2018 World Piano Masters in Monte Carlo, and the 2021 Sydney International Piano Competition. He also served as a BBC New Generation Artist from 2019-2022. His meticulous interpretations born of deep intellectual insight, delicate and beautiful piano tone, and flowing rhythmic sense and singing tones attract audiences around the world. He is one of the most remarkable young pianists in the world, and we need to pay close attention to him as a future leader in the world of piano music.

Movie

The interview took place at Symphony Salon Tokyo on July 6, 2022.

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Interview recorded @ Symphony Salon Tokyo in September 2021.

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