I had heard Jaeden play in the Wigmore Hall in London in 2022 as winner of the Santander Competition with a remarkable performance of Rachmaninov’s First Sonata and the Brahms Quintet with the Casals Quartet.

Santander 50th Anniversary Gala and a sad but joyous farewell for Paloma O’Shea

This was indeed pianistic perfection and another magnificent pianist from the Canadian school to follow suit with Kevin Chen and Bruce Liu.Jaeden on that occasion in London was following another prize winner’s concert that of Floristan winner of the Rubinstein Competition .https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2022/10/09/juan-perez-floristan-takes-london-by-storm/

The difference between the extrovert Floristan and the restrained Jaeden was made even more evident by the extraordinary Vera Martinez Mehner of the Casals Quartet.Try as I could there was such a compelling authority and conviction to all she did that for me she stole the show with a quite hypnotic stage presence in what was a remarkably unified performance of the Brahms Quintet. I had heard Jaeden again in Perugia playing in the masterclasses given by another extraordinary Canadian Angela Hewitt.Two movements of Ravel Miroirs were enough to show his absolute mastery and pianistic perfection but a hypnotic stage presence again seemed to elude him.

Angela’s generosity and infectious Song and dance inspires her illustrious students.

Jaeden has since gone on to win the Montreal competition adding yet another gold medal to his honours .They say there are not two without three and I hear Jaeden will be in Leeds next September trying for the triumvirate like Kevin Chen ! Jaeden is now mentored by Benedetto Lupo at the Rome Academy where he will graduate next summer when he will obviously be an established figure on the concert circuit ready to conquer the world’s greatest concert halls.It is interesting to note that another pianist from the remarkable class of Lupo- Gabriele Strata came second in Montreal.https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2023/03/02/gabriele-strata-in-siena-micat-in-vertice-100-a-poet-speaks/

Jaeden is a First Prize winner at the 2022 Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the 2022 Maria Canals International Music Competition. Most recently, he was awarded the First Prize, the Canon Audience Prize, and the Chamber Music Award at the 20th Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition. He is also a Grand Prize winner at the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals’ National Competition, a winner of Juilliard’s Gina Bachauer Scholarship Competition, and a Second Prize and J.S. Bach Prize winner at the OSM Competition. Jaeden is the recipient of a 2024 Borletti- Buitoni  Fellowship.Winner of the 2024 Montreal Competitionhttps://www.wfimc.org/news-media/jaeden-izik-dzurko-crowned-grand-prize-laureate-montreal#:~:text=Pianist%20Jaeden%20Izik%2DDzurko%20has,for%20his%20captivating%20stage%20charisma.

 Born in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Jaeden earned his Bachelor of Music degree at The Juilliard School with Yoheved Kaplinsky and his Master of Music degree at the University of British Columbia with Corey Hamm. He is also a former student of Ian Parker. He currently studies with Jacob Leuschner at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and Benedetto Lupo at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Today thanks to Piotr Paleczny again for his extraordinary choice of artists at the Duszniki Festival ,I heard a different Jaeden with playing of burning intensity and conviction. A remarkable young musician who has turned into a great artist.The key to this elusive gate was Ligeti!

From the very first note of the Ligeti Etude n. 5 there were etched sounds of Messiaenic sharpness like broken glass played with a prismatic sense of colour .A kaleidoscope of sounds as they reached on high with heart rending intensity.A truly astonishing range of colours of poignant meaning as the notes disappeared into the infinity that lies at the top of the keyboard .In the Etude n. 6 there was a gradual burning intensity as the melodic line built in fervour with remarkable clarity and an extraordinary sense of balance.Magical sounds and an incredible technical mastery ending in an eruption in the bass of the piano that was truly breathtaking. This young man had taken us to ‘his’ world with hypnotic commanding mastery.

Everything paled in comparison to such intense masterly performances even though there was a refined musicianship of intelligence and mastery in everything he did.A technical and musical perfection that was quite remarkable as has been proven on the Competition circuit with the prospect of a great artist that awaits us in the wings which is an exciting prospect indeed.

Schumann’s Sonata op 11 is a great tone poem of refined elegance and beauty but it needs the burning intensity of an Annie Fischer to make it breathe with the dynamism and drive where the two personalities of Schumann can live together under one roof. It is a Sonata that needs a great architectural sense of shape to stop it being a collection of beautiful episodes.Jaeden is a remarkable musician of great intelligence and it is exactly this great arc that he was able to construct from the improvised beauty of the opening to the tumultuous orchestral finale.The opening had been played with great freedom and an extraordinary sensibility with a flexibility sustained by a sumptuously sonorous bass.Phrasing with the same sensibility as a singer until the entry of the impish left hand with it’s capricious sly entry as the chase was on.There was poignant nostalgia as the melodic line was allowed to wallow in an oasis of beauty interrupted only by the sinister entry of the left hand with its brooding interruptions.There were some exquisite embellishments too of sensitive artistry as the music moved inexorably forward.

Ravishing beauty of the slow movement – Aria- with a glowing melodic line played with great sensitivity and a wonderful sense of balance with comments from the bass of poignant beauty as the Aria remains suspended in thin air.Interrupted by the scherzo with scintillating lightness and drive with a beautiful sound world and great sense of style.Bursting into song ‘Alla burla ma pomposo’ with the dramatic beauty of the recitativi just missing the burning intensity that Jaeden had brought to his wondrous world of Ligeti.The Finale had a dynamic drive allied to a ravishing beauty where Florestan and Eusebius were at last united as the gradual build up to the final tumultuous ending was masterly controlled.

Ravel Miroirs was given a masterly performance of precision and delicacy .’Moths’ that were wisps of fleeting beauty with the whispered beauty of the ‘Saddest of Birds’ played with quite extraordinary control.A beautiful breathtaking fluidity to the ‘Boat on the Ocean’ with the magical apparition after the storm I have never heard played with such perfection missing only the depth of sound that I have only ever heard from Perlemuter. ‘Alborada’ was breathtaking in command and colour with double thirds thrown off with a mastery that I have rarely witnessed and where driving rhythms of animal excitement ignited the atmosphere as the bells were gently heard tolling in the distance.An ending of pure magic suspended in air as the notes were allowed to melt into the distance from where they had first appeared.

Chopin’s First Scherzo was given a fearless performance of poetic mastery.The ‘molto più lento’ I have rarely heard played more beautifully.Some hidden inner counterpoints in the ‘agitato’ that followed gave great depth to the streams of notes that ignited the atmosphere as we moved inexorably to the brilliance of the coda that was played with breathtaking audacity.

Two encores were offered by this remarkable young man with a standing ovation from many admirers would could appreciate the refined perfection of an artist headed for the heights.The second encore was a passionate outpouring of Romantic fervour with Scriabin’s early D sharp minor study .The first was a work of clockwork precision and extraordinary technical prowess and I could not even guess who the composer might be! Perhaps Jayden can tell us ?

Maestro Lupo has come to the rescue telling us it was Medtner Fairy Tale op 26 n. 2!

The Piano Sonata No. 1 in F♯ minor, Op. 11, was composed from 1833 to 1835. Schumann published it anonymously as “Pianoforte Sonata, dedicated to Clara by Florestan and Eusebius”.The Aria is based on his earlier Lied setting, “An Anna” or “Nicht im Thale”.Schumann later told his wife, Clara , that the sonata was “a solitary outcry for you from my heart … in which your theme appears in every possible.

1. Un poco adagio – Allegro vivace
2. Aria: Senza passione, ma espressivo
3. Scherzo : Allegrissimo (F♯ minor) – Intermezzo : Lento. Alla burla, ma pomposo – Tempo I
4. Finale: Allegro un poco maestoso.