Erzhan Kulibaev winner of the 2016 Enescu International Competition

in recital with Iulian Ochescu in Sibiu for the Enescu Festival.

An amazing line up of violinists at the Enescu Festival this year.

Including :Kavakos,Mutter,F.P.Zimmerman,Zuckerman,Chen, Vengerov,Bell,Repin,Tetzlaff,Znaider,Sitkovetsky,,Garrett,Capucon,Grimal,M.Barenboim Rachlin,Azoitei,Kopatchinskaja.

A wonderful tribute to that remarkable musician George Enescu the much loved mentor of Yehudi Menuhin and much more to discover besides.

It is a great tribute to a Festival that can leave space too for the names of the future.

The three winners of the 2016 Enescu Competition:Viktoria Vassilenko,piano; Zlatomir Fung,cello and Erzhan Kulibaev, violin have been given a space within a programme which in only two weeks has included some of the worlds greatest orchestras and soloists.

Tonight it was the turn of Erzhan Kulibaev having already played with The Royal Camerata in Bucharest last Saturday.

In Sibiu he could be heard in a very distinguished recital of music by Medtner,Prokofiev,Schubert,Ravel and Bizet

A recital that recalls the natural musicianship of Yehudi Menuhin .

No histrionics but just pure subtle music poured out of this young musician ably partnered by Iulian Ochescu.

Some very interesting pieces by Medtner:Two Canzonas with Dances op 43.

Unknown to me it was clear from the very first phrase that we were in the hands of a real musician .

The piano lid fully opened as our young Rumanian pianist knew how to listen carefully and was able to match the subtle sounds that Erzhan was able to find on his beautiful sounding instrument .

The first Sonata by Prokofiev was given too a very subtle performance with a great sense of the architectural shape in this long and sometimes meandering early work.

A perfect match between the two artists that had now found their ease in this rather dry hall.

If the first half had been rather subdued that was not the case after the interval.

A very beautiful performance of Schuberts Duo in A .

Such subtle phrasing from the violin throwing off  exquisite sounds into a packed auditorium that try as he did Ilulian could not quite match the rapport that Rachmaninov  had with his partner Kreisler!

However the pianist came into his own with a very fine performance of the Ravel Sonata for Violin and piano.

Rarely have I heard such liquid sounds from the piano that the violinist could comment on .

The final jazz like final played with all the verve and typical Ravelian style that brought this work to a very exciting ending.

Leading from this point onwards to some real fireworks in the form of the famous Bizet/Waxman showpiece of Carmen Fantasy.

Here Erzhan’s transcendental technique came more obviously out into the open and we could appreciate in full his total command of the instrument that had obviously lead to him taking the Enecu Competition by storm in 2016.

Now public and musicians totally at their ease they could let their hair down with two ravishing encores of Bernstein’s” Summertime” and “It ain’t necessarily so”.

A student at the Central Music School for special talent and later with Zakhar Bron in Madrid where he too now teaches .

Perfecting his studies with Pierre Amoyal at the Mozarteum in Salzburg

Erzhan Kulibaev can be heard in London at St James’s Piccadilly on the 30th November for that remarkable promoter of great young artists Canan Maxton of Talent Unlimited.

Looking forward this Friday to hearing Maxim Vengerov again after all these years.

At his debut in London at the age of only 14 (25 years ago) all the most important violinists were present for his recital at the Wigmore Hall.

Cheering to the rafters this young man from the same remarkable school of Zakhar Bron. His performance of the Carmen Fantasy was even more unbelievable than this evening.

But then he is now Yehudi Menuhin visiting Professor at my old Alma Mater in London.

It is only fitting that they should all be present in this shrine to George Enescu.