Jeunes Etoiles VII 

Illia Ovcharenko, Piano
Prize Laureate 2022 Honens International Piano Competition (Calgary, Canada)

This concert was recorded live on 26 August in the Gstaad Chapel and broadcast on 28 August, 7.30 pm.

What a wonder to hear this young artist today in the hallowed festival founded by Yehudi Menuhin one of greatest and most generous of musicians of our time.Many of us have been following this young man as he appeared on the competition circuit where his extraordinary unique gifts were apparent to those great performing artists who were called to jury service.Two in particular have been helping him over the past few years knowing that comparative performances of the competition circuit are not for artists of the calibre of this young man.He does not fit into the standard pattern of the many other wonderfully trained young pianists in a world where the standard of piano playing has never been so prolific .Through the Circus aspect of the competition we are though able to hear all these wonderfully trained young pianists streamed on channels worldwide and very occasionally one can see a spark of genius that might,given the right conditions and time,mature into one of the very few truly great interpretative artists of our day.Perahia,after all was guided not only by Serkin but also Horowitz.Zimerman was taken under the wing of Artur Rubinstein- two of the greatest artists of our day.The Competition by its very nature has to have a winner to satisfy the sponsor and the public where the excitement generated by the race aspect is a reality that brings enthusiasm and participation into an art form that is always in a minority compared to other sporting occasions.But could one compare Da Vinci with Michelangelo – Art cannot be judged on such simplistic terms as beauty is in the eye of the beholder and is not the number of times a ball has been kicked into a net!

Illia today played a short programme of Bach/Busoni,Chopin,Schumann and Scarlatti .To discover a real artist it just takes two notes – how the first note is struck or caressed and how it is joined to the second .Illia gave us many more than two notes in an outpouring of music that I have rarely heard played with such poignant meaning and self identification .It held me literally spell bound where there was only music as the world momentarily was held at bay.A timeless outpouring of music making that I can only remember from Rubinstein in his Indian summer as he held us in his spell seated at a comfortable armchair unfolding magic that just flowed from his fingers with such golden sounds.

It was just a matter of time before Illia would be recognised as an artist of quite extraordinary sensitivity with a musicianship that could bring the music alive and where every note had a meaning in a musical conversation that could comunicate the very essence of the composer in his moment of creation.Hats off to the Honens competition that has recognised this young artist and is helping nurture his artistry whilst sharing his quite unique gifts with audiences worldwide.A three year programme where the artistry of Illia is able to flower and be appreciated by a world that is in desperate need of quality not quantity.

It was the same magic that I heard today as the music turned full circle starting with Bach’s choral prelude in the masterly recreation of Busoni and ending with the same meditative beauty an hour later with a simple Scarlatti Sonata played with the same intensity and kaleidoscopic sense of colour.It was truly the opening and closing of a magic casket of jewels.The Busoni (truly a recreation of JSB) showed immediately Illia’s extraordinary sense of balance as he convinced us that this old Steinway was the most beautiful instrument in the world.( was not that the same aspiration and challenge that stimulated Richter).The glorious melodic line was allowed to sing supported but unimpeded by a sumptuous insistent bass with a kaleidoscope of colour that was never sentimental as the true meaning was deep inside each note.Bach’s radiant outpouring of a true believer and a coda that did not want to say goodbye but left us utterly humbled and thankful we had lived to experience such fervent ecstasy.

There was a menacing clarity to the opening of the B flat minor Scherzo where the clockwork precision of Illias fingers gave such meaning to the seemingly innocent triplet figures ( similar in many ways to the demonic opening of the Liszt Sonata with an articulation of extraordinary technical mastery).Leading to one of the most poignant melodic outpourings on a continuous wave of voluptuous beauty.Played with mastery as the contrasts became ever more apparent .Simplicity and purity of innocent beauty of refined elegance with the luminosity of sound contrasting with the deeply meditative tenor line.Clarity and purity of sounds as climax built upon climax taking on more significance each time until bursting into the most dynamically passionate outpouring.A work where Illia lived the drama with self identification as the characters revealed themselves with such heartfelt immediacy.

Nowhere was Illias ability to make each note speak with such eloquence than in Chopin’s last Nocturne .It was played with ravishing sound and a magical sense of balance that gave a poignant meaning to every phrase he shaped.All played with a deeply felt meaning of nobility and aristocratic beauty that could ravish and seduce the senses with unbelievable colour and radiance.

The same unusual contrast as the Scherzo he brought to the Polonaise Héroique.Clarity contrasted with luminosity as he truly lived the drama.Military but also very much dance too .Cavalry that I have never heard stampede in such formation across the ground as the cry to call to arms was heralded above with searing intense breath control.Dissolving into a deep meditation of subtle melodic meanderings as colours gradually appeared from within building to the final great outpouring of heartfelt significance.The door slammed shut by Illia with terrifying finality and total conviction with the audience by now totally mesmerised by the artistry and stories of this young master.

Little could they imagine what wonders were to be in store for them with Schumann’s Kreisleriana.One of the finest most convincing performances I can ever remember hearing poured from Illia’s fingers.Eusebius and Florestan playfully sparred only to be entwined in their own unique sound world to which Illia today had the key.A total mastery not only of the technical difficulties but of the fleeting changes of character from the sublime to the ridiculous.An opening of passion and exhilaration but played with poetic understanding as the harmonies entwined to reveal a central episode that unwound with radiance and simplicity.A barely noticeable flexibility of tempo that like a singer taking a breath could bring meaning to the most innocent of phrases.A wondrous sense of legato to the second movement was interrupted by the absolute clarity of the first intermezzo and the gradual unfolding of the second,descending always into a timeless sense of phrasing and colour.The bucolic humour he brought to the third contrasted with the streams of melody the poured across the keyboard from all directions on a wave of voluptuous sounds where the beauty of the tenor doubling of the melodic line was truly wondrous and that I will never forget.The beautiful duet in the fourth movement as the tenor and soprano voices converse and entwine in a musical conversation with clashing pungent harmonies that gave even more meaning to this deeply felt message.There was the capricious fun of the fifth movement as it burst into song with freedom and flexibility.Florestan and Eusebius entwined as they arrived together united in a culmination of lyrical outpourings.Deep meditation and delicacy of the sixth and what a wonder to allow the tenor voice to dominate as the soprano commented from afar so timidly and untiringly as finally they burst into song together.The seventh usually a ‘tour de force’ for piano players was allowed to pour with such ease from Illias fingers where even the usual pianistic high jinx of splitting the hands was not necessary from this superbly discreet virtuoso.An end of poignant simplicity and beauty as the gentle final dance was set on its weary way.A web of delicate sounds interrupted by ever more passionate episodes but it was like someone reminiscing at the end of a long journey as this gentle web of sounds disappeared into the distance at the bottom of the keyboard.An ending reminiscent in many ways of Davidsbundler where exhausted Florestan and Eusebius lay entwined and united from a long journey of adventure and wondrous beauty.

Scarlatti as an encore bringing us full circle and the end of a truly memorable experience.

The list of awards the 21-year-old Ukrainian pianist has received is truly impressive … and Illia Ovcharenko has not yet left the benches of the Hochschule in Hanover, where he is currently perfecting his skills with Arie Vardi, former teacher of Yefim Bronfman, and Francesco Piemontesi! In the wake of his generously endowed victory at the Honens Competition in Calgary, Canada, which provided him with three years of high-level support for the start of his career, he is now touring the stages of the world, and his summer route takes him to Gstaad. For his first concert at Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy, Ovcharenko has conceived a Bach/Busoni-Chopin-Schumann recital programme through which he can unfold all facets of his great talent.

Illia Ovcharenko in Duszniki A great artist with a heart of gold