VIEWING THE ARTS

by Adrian Bryttan

Horowitz Competition promotes Ukraine

Near 2 a.m. on an April morning in 1999, 14-year-old Daniel Shleyenkov huddled together with other anxious teenagers in Kyiv's Philharmonic Hall. At this late hour all of the musicians were still waiting for the jury to finish its deliberations and announce the finalists for the third Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists. Other contestants who were convinced they had placed well enough to be selected had confidently gone to sleep long ago. And, sadly, the dejected souls who felt they performed poorly during the preliminary rounds had also retired to their dormitory beds. The remainder anxiously held on to the hope that they might yet reach the finals.

In fact, Daniel was awarded third prize in the intermediate age group and performed in the Kyiv Opera Theater several days later. As a result of this competition, he traveled to the United States to perform in Boston, Washington and New York's Merkin Hall. There he was heard by Alexander Slobodyanik, who offered his help to the gifted young boy. Currently Daniel is not only a devoted pupil but also resides with Mr. Slobodyanik and his wife, Larysa Krupa. Last year I had worked together with the young pianist in preparation for his performance of the solo part in Stravinsky's "Petrushka." Today Daniel speaks fluent Ukrainian (his parents are both Belarusian composers) and is enjoying growing up in America. A senior in high school, he has already attracted the close attention of several major conservatories.

This is one of several success stories involving young people who have taken part in the Horowitz Piano Competitions since their initiation in 1995. Held every two years, this worldwide contest now offers a new category - the "Horowitz-Debut" for competitors age 14 and younger.

Ukrainian-born Canadian pianist Ireneus Zuk was one of the distinguished international artists invited to judge this youngest group in Kyiv last November. Dr. Zuk has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout North America, Europe and the Far East and as part of a piano duo with his sister, Luba Zuk, professor of music at McGill University. Presently he is chair of the keyboard area and director of the School of Music at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

Dr. Zuk described a tiny young boy in the "Horowitz-Debut" division who had to play standing upright in order to reach the pedals. One of this year's principal sponsors, the McDonald's Ukraine company treated the contestants to an excursion and party. This made one contestant from Kerch, Crimea, very happy because her mother had promised the youngster that, once in Kyiv, she could sample the fast food delights in the big city.

In the words of Dr. Zuk, "they're really just kids ... but they play like artists." He observed that over half of the attentive audiences were also young children. This year Dr. Zuk was asked to judge the Eckhardt-Gramatte National Competition in Canada and the Ibla Grand Prize International Piano Competition in Sicily. According to Dr. Zuk, the organization in Kyiv was first-rate, and the musical preparation fully comparable to the highest international level. At present there are numerous competitions for young pianists throughout the world. There is every hope that in the near future the relatively recent Horowitz Competition will be officially accredited by the World Federation of International Music Competitions in Geneva, Switzerland.

It all started when a sensational discovery was made a few years ago in the Gliere Musical School archives in Kyiv. A birth certificate was found proving that Vladimir Horowitz, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, was actually born in Kyiv in 1903 and not in Russia in 1904 as had been previously believed. Nearly all the Horowitz family had studied at the Kyiv Music School ("Uchylysche") and Horowitz's sister Regina later settled in Kharkiv and taught for 50 years. She established a school of "Horowitz piano playing," which now, in its second generation, still produces numerous contest winners throughout the world. Thus the Gliere School together with the Kyiv Municipal Administration and the Ministry of Culture launched this competition in memory of Vladimir Horowitz. Composer Ivan Karabyts has also been one of the principal organizers.

This year the contestants came from Canada, the United States, Japan, Finland, Germany, England, South Korea, Romania, Russia, Belarus and, of course, Ukraine. Liudmyla Kuchma, wife of Ukraine's president, writes in the brochure that one of the goals of the Horowitz Competition is to unite talented youth from all around the world. Each applicant performs varied programs for several rounds of competition. But yet another very important benefit evolves from the repertoire requirements. All of the four age groups (the oldest goes up to 33) must prepare a composition by a Ukrainian composer. Since many of the jury members and teachers come from different countries, this plays a substantial role in establishing Ukrainian music on the international scene.

The talent and abilities of the young contestants are not limited to performing. Dr. Zuk related how one of the first winners from Kharkiv deciphered several Horowitz transcriptions of Liszt compositions from recordings and published them for the first time. Two hundred and sixty-five young musicians from 24 countries took part in the first three competitions. The winners not only received medals and cash awards of up to $2,000, but also performed in concert tours in Ukraine, the United States and many other countries in Europe and Asia.

But how can one explain that 37 of the first 65 finalists were from Ukraine? I put this question to Mr. Slobodyanik. Known to audiences around the world as one of the great pianists of today, he has enjoyed a prodigious career spanning over three decades and has appeared with many of the world's most renowned conductors and orchestras. Born in Kyiv, he began his music studies in Lviv, continuing in the Moscow Conservatory. In 1997 he was an honored guest at the Horowitz Competition.

Mr. Slobodyanik pointed to the intensive discipline that has generated the phenomenal success of the Kharkiv teachers. The students are drilled so thoroughly that they can play impeccably at any time and in any situation, even if awakened in the middle of the night. Mr. Slobodyanik called this the "kamikaze" approach. The emphasis is on absolute technical security and virtuosity. Other major music schools in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Donetsk also introduce children to this concentrated regimen at a very early age. (Daniel Shleyenko, who first studied in Belarus, remembers traveling to a different competition practically every month.)

This philosophy of hard work and total dedication has also produced the exceptional gymnasts and ballet dancers in that part of the world. Many young pianists are gambling that their careers will get a jump start once they win a competition. They see at the end of the rainbow an opportunity to break out into the world or at least to buy a car for the family.

For many years, high quality music instruction at about 7 rubles a month was very affordable and accessible to everyone. And at a time when there were only two or three TV channels, the day's programming invariably closed with a classical selection. The vast public might not have appreciated every last nicety and nuance, but they certainly recognized that this must be something important. Thus, the classical arts acquired an aura of prestige in many countries of the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine.

Mr. Slobodyanik also expressed some observations about competitions in general. According to him, sometimes the more profound and genuine artist is not awarded first prize and becomes widely recognized only after time. Winning does not guarantee a career and, in fact, many successful performers such as Daniel Barenboim and Evgeny Kissin did not get their start this way. Almost two centuries ago, Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin, the greatest virtuosos of their day, did not need to win contests.

But there is also a wider significance for this competition. Attention is focused not only upon Horowitz as a great musician and his influence upon young artists, but also upon a most unique aspect: Horowitz and so many other Jewish musicians, singers, painters and all genres of creative talents were born and thrived in Ukraine. The list is imposing: violinists Jascha Heifetz, David Oistrakh, Nathan Milstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Mischa Elman, Leonid Kogan, cellist Emanuel Feuerman, pianists Emil Gilels and Emanuel Ax, bass Alexander Kipnis, author Sholem Aleichem and many others. It is fascinating that such a concentration of artists whose influence is felt to this day all seemed to come from one region.

One explanation for such fertile centers of Jewish artistic activity like Odesa is that the Russian government had limited the right of Jewish residence to areas within the Pale of Settlement. In 1917 about 60 percent of all Jews under Russian rule lived in Ukraine. An interesting case in point is the recent rededication of the Great Synagogue in Kyiv. It had been closed by the Communist regime in 1926, turned into a theater, and was finally returned to the Jewish community in 1992 by independent Ukraine's first president, Leonid Kravchuk.

In Ukraine where there has been so much strife, anger and, yes, hatred, it is noteworthy that so many of its people - Jews and Ukrainians alike - have so much in common. Yaakov Bleich, chief rabbi of Ukraine, sent a message for Leonid Kuchma's 1999 inauguration, praising the attention given to problems and issues that have meaning for the Jewish community of Ukraine: "Your notable achievement is inter-ethnic and inter-confessional peace and agreement in Ukraine ... The Jews of Ukraine obtained the ability to revive their national life, their religion and culture only in an independent Ukraine. Once again, synagogues are being built in Ukraine, doors are being opened to Jewish schools, theaters, cultural centers ..."

If Albert Einstein can be identified as a German physicist, why shouldn't Vladimir Horowitz and other great artists be identified as Ukrainian musicians? This international contest for young pianists is a wonderful opportunity to communicate with people joined by their love of classical music. After all, musicians have no language barriers and can always understand each other. The fruitful benefits from connections inspired by such a competition dedicated to the memory of Horowitz will extend much further than immediately apparent.

Adrian Bryttan's e-mail address is [email protected].

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 15, 2001, No. 28, Vol. LXIX

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