The laureate of the famous Queen Elisabeth Competition pianist Denis Kozhukhin has a great impression from the cooperation with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and conductor Sergey Smbatyan. The soloist who has gained an international fame was in Yerevan in the frameworks of the ՚՚Armenia՚՚ International Music Festival, which will be held from July 2 to July 6. The pianist represented to the audience the “Travel Notebook” composed by Alexey Shor. ՚՚It was my pleasure to meet again Alexey Shor and Sergey Smbatyan, with them I had an opportunity to work in the framework of the Malta International Music Festival. In the 21 st century we have ideas about everything and it is much more difficult to surprise anyone. But it is wonderful that now there are people who think about future, as it is obvious that there is a great love towards the music and the art, and more important they think about the future of the musicians՚ new generation՚՚, – mentioned Denis Kozhukhin.
Speaking about the cooperation with Sergey Smbatyan the famous artist mentioned that they work together without any difficulties, as Sergey is a real professional, he is a devotee to his work. ՚՚The orchestra undoubtedly loves him and they have respect towards him, it is very important. Conductor-orchestra-soloist combination is a complex one, and this combination sometimes can lead to problems. Sergey, for sure has a talent to handle with it perfectly. For me, it is a great pleasure that our second cooperation was here in Armenia, as I have never been here and it is my first visit. Unfortunately, this was a short visit, but I am sure I will come back՚՚, – added the laureate of Queen Elisabeth Competition.
Speaking about Alexey Shor՚s ՚՚Travel notebook՚՚ the musician mentioned that Shor՚s music is very light for perceiving it. “It is easy to perceive both for professionals and for not musicians, even for the audience who does not attend classic concerts very often. Shor’s this work is really beautiful and easy to perceive. In my opinion, the simplicity and clearness in the art is the highest praise”,- mentioned the pianist. The pianist also mentioned that the only work from Armenian composers he performed is Babajanyan’s Violin and piano sonata, which he liked very much. He learned to play this work through the offer of his Armenian friend Zohrab Tadevosian. He played and liked it very much and with great pleasure will perform again. During the interview, the soloist also spoke about the musical competitions, especially since he spoke about Queen Elisabeth Competition which has had a great role in his life. Denis Kozhukhin is sure that taking part in the competitions is really very difficult, especially if we take into consideration that not always these competitions are fair. But in his case, he had the fortune to win in the famous competition and this victory gave new opportunities to him, although he confessed that the period he was taking part in the competition was one of the most difficult periods in his life. It is worth to mention that the pianist celebrated his birthday in Armenia. He has been celebrating his birthdays many times playing on the concerts since university. So this birthday also was not an exception. “Armenia” International Music Festival is being held from 2 to 6 July. In the frameworks of the festival, the organizers will give an opportunity to the classical music lovers to enjoy five beautiful concerts, during which outstanding and famous musicians will perform representing unique and extraordinary repertoire. The concerts of the “Armenia” International Music Festival will be headed by the artistic director and principal conductor of Armenian State Symphony Orchestra Sergey Smbatyan and the Maltese conductor Alan Chircop. “Armenia” International Music Festival is implemented by the joint efforts of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the European Foundation for Support of Culture, by the support of the Ministry of Culture of RA.
Arpi Gabrielyan
