Mozart’s transparency, Bruckner’s density. The inauguration of the 61st edition of the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo, tonight at 8pm, brings the young Russian pianist to the stage of the Teatro Grande Eva Gevorgyan, born in 2004, winner of over 40 international competitions, accompanied by the Stuttgarter Philarmoniker orchestra, conducted by Rémy Ballot. Consistent with the theme of the event (“Vienna skyline. Homage to Anton Bruckner”), the program presents the Concerto for piano and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart k 488 and the Fourth Symphony, known as the “Romantic” by Anton Bruckner.
Eva Gevorgyan, we start from Brescia, the city of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. What is his legacy for today’s pianists?
«When they told me that I would perform in Michelangeli’s city I was really excited. Michelangeli has always been one of my favorite pianists. My generation of musicians is very lucky because it has the opportunity to listen to a remarkable amount of recordings by great performers of the past. I love Michelangeli’s sound, his elegance, his transparency: what I also try to put into my interpretations. In particular, I love his Beethoven Concertos.”
Is it more complicated to play Mozart’s concerto k 488 or one of the great romantic piano concertos?
«They are both complicated. Let’s say that when I play Rachmaninov or Tchaikovsky, there are more notes and I find greater technical and musical difficulty. However, Mozart, but also Beethoven and Haydn, are riskier because the audience really hears every note you play.”
You are Russian: do you agree with the fact that Russian is one of the most important piano schools in history?
«There are great pianists all over the world but I feel lucky to have been born and raised in the great piano school of my country, which gave me a solid foundation. When I was studying in Moscow, I felt a very special feeling being there with so many other young musicians.”
And the Italian musical repertoire?
«I love opera and Bel canto in particular. I recently listened to Ottorino Respighi’s Piano Concerto and I was enchanted. I hope to add it to my repertoire one day.”
