Zilberstein Masterclass final concert at the Chigiana
CONCERTO DEL CORSO DI PIANOFORTE
LILYA ZILBERSTEIN docente Nel corso del concerto saranno attribuite le Borse di Studio “Matilde Neri Sclavo”

Fryderyk Chopin
Żelazowa Wola 1810 – Parigi 1849
Scherzo n. 3 in do diesis minore op. 39 (1839)
Francesco Maria Navelli (Italia) Fryderyk Chopin.Some fine very solid playing maybe misjudging the very resonant acoustic of this beautiful hall in the Chigiana Academy.He gave however an architectural shape that kept the rhythmic energy from the first to the last note.Very assured playing missing the finer filigree of the cascades of shimmering sounds that accompany the great choral that appears so magically out of the exuberance of the outward octave declarations .

Barcarole 9op. 60 (1846) Giulia Toniolo (Italia).Some beautiful playing of great musicality as one would expect from the school of Maddalena De Facci ( teacher of Elia Cecino) .There was a spaciousness to her performance that allowed the music to breathe so naturally as this song born on gentle rippling waves was allowed to unfold with great beauty.A pianist who listens to herself and plays with such loving care as she coaxes such ravishing sounds in what is surely Chopin’s most perfect work.The sumptuous climax was born on the most exquisite bel canto melody that Perlemuter described as being in heaven.The final washes of sound that Ravel admired so much were played with real musicianship and the final four chords played as the very opening note had been – sounds resonating without a trace of any percussiveness.

Franz Liszt
Raiding 1811 – Bayreuth 1886
da Années de pèlerinage. Deuxième Année. Italie, S 161
V. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca (1858) Agitato assai – Adagio
Gabriel Giannotti (Italia)A very assured performance but one that made me wonder if he had ever heard the song.The opening was rather slow and do not think a singer would have thanked him for such a tepid introduction.But as soon as he reached the melodic line he played with a great sense of balance and colour with the great embellishments thrown of with the ease of a true musician.

VI. Sonetto 123 del Petrarca (1846-1849) Lento placido – Sempre lento – Più lento Louyiheng Yang (Cina)From the very first note there was a fluidity and sense of line with a natural sense of colour and flexibility.There was a clarity as the melodic line was allowed to shine with jewel like precision as she built up to the inevitable romantic climax

Johannes Brahms
Amburgo 1833 – Vienna 1897
dalle Danze ungheresi per pianoforte a quattro mani (1852) n. 1 in sol minore – Allegro molto
n. 6 in re bemolle maggiore – Vivace
n. 5 in fa diesis minore – Poco sostenuto
CHISTIAKOVA & BENOCCI PIANO DUO Diego Benocci (Italia)
Gala Chistiakova (Russia)I have heard this duo many time before and listening to their new CD I could only comment that they play as one.Husband and wife team with their own remarkable festival in nearby Grosseto their performance of Brahms illuminated this beautiful hall with all their assurance and natural musicality.It should be mentioned that Gala like la Zilberstein was trained at the Gnessin school in Moscow for talented young children (she met her husband in the class of Petrushansky in Imola.)Together with Diego they invite hundreds of young talented children to Grosseto from Russia filling every corner of their home town with music from these remarkably talented children.

https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/08/05/elia-cecino-in-grosseto-the-birth-of-an-artist/

Unfortunately I was not able to hear the entire concert and missed the following students chosen to perform in this concert which started at 9.15 and was still continuing at 10.30 when I had to leave .I did however bump into them all in the streets with a celebratory pizza around mid-night.It reminded me of my old teacher Guido Agosti whose 80th birthday concert at the Chigiana finished around 1.30!

Claude Debussy
Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1862 – Parigi 1918
dai Préludes

10. La Cathedrale engloutie (Premier livre) (1888) 8. Ondine (Deuxième livre) (1911-1912)
    Maya Oganyan (Russia)
11. 
    Aleksandr N. Skrjabin
    Mosca 1872 – 1915
    Sonata n. 9 op. 68 “Messa nera” (1912-1913)
    Bella Schütz (Francia)
12. Sergej S. Prokof’ev
    Soncovka 1891 – Mosca 1953
    dalla Sonata n. 2 in re minore op. 14 (1912) I. Allegro ma non troppo
    II. Scherzo. Allegro marcato
    Eden Lorenzen (Israele / Germania)
13. 
    Paul Hindemith
    Hanau 1895 – Francoforte 1963
    dalla Sonata n. 3 (1936) III. Mäßig schnell
    IV. Fuge. Lebhaft
    Virgilio Volante (Italia)

Sergej V. Rachmaninov
Semenovo, Velikij Novgorod 1873 – Beverly Hills 1943
Sonata n. 2 in si bemolle minore op. 36 Allegro agitato – 2a versione (1931)
Matteo Giuliani Diez (Spagna / Italia)
Non allegro – 1a versione (1913) L’istesso tempo – Allegro molto Tommaso Boggian (Italia)

Lilya Zilberstein ha iniziato lo studio del pianoforte con Ada Traub all’età di 6 anni presso la Scuola di Musica Gnesin di Mosca, per perfezionarsi con Alexandr Satz all’Istituto Gnesin (oggi Accademia) fino al 1990. Nel 1987 ha vinto il Concorso Busoni di Bolzano e ha intrapreso una intensa attività concertistica internazionale, che la vede suonare con grandissimo successo in tutto il mondo. Dal debutto a Berlino nel 1991 sotto la direzione di C. Abbado ha suonato con i più importanti direttori e le più prestigiose orchestre, incidendo un vasto repertorio per l’etichetta discografica Deutsche Grammophon. Ha svolto tournées internazionali in duo con M. Vengerov, M. Quarta e M. Argerich, con la quale nel 2009 ha festeggiato 20 anni di attività. Nel 1998 le è stato attribuito il Premio Internazionale “Accademia Musicale Chigiana”. Dal 2009 al 2013 ha insegnato alla Hochschule für Musik und Theater di Amburgo ed ha tenuto corsi alla Royal Academy di Londra, alla Musikhochschule di Weimar e in numerose Università di Corea del Sud, Taiwan e Stati Uniti. Dal 2014 insegna alla MDW-Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst a Vienna.
È docente presso l’Accademia Chigiana dal 2011.