New Selection: Prizewinners of the 39th Busoni International Piano Competition, 1987

The Busoni Competition was founded in 1949 by Cesare Nor­dio, who was Director of the Claudio Monteverdi Conservatory in Balzano, Italy, to com­memorate the 25th anniversary of Ferruccio Busoni's death. The aim was not only to establish a piano competition of international im­portance but to promote a musical bridge between the German and Italian cultures in a region where these two cultures meet with stimulating contrasts and mutual interest, and to honor the influen­tial Italian artist Ferruccio Busoni, who had played an important role in the musical life of Germany at the beginning of the century.

Great pianists such as Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Claudio Arrau, Wilhelm Backhaus, Artur Rubinstein, Dinu Lipatti, Alfred Cortot, Edwin Fischer, Rudolf Serkin, and many others lent their enthusiastic support to Nordio's dream, as did Busoni's widow, Gerda. Now the Competition is well-known all over the world. It takes place every year at the end of August.

The Busoni Competition has helped many artists to achieve successful international careers: Alfred Brendel, Martha Argerich, Jorg Demus, Garrick Ohlsson, John Ogdon, Michael Ponti, and many others. Distinguished jury members have included Carlo Zecchi, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Robert Casadesus, Carlo Maria Giulini, Nikita Magaloff, and Michael Ponti.

Liliya Zilberstain was born April 19, 1965 in Moscow, USSR. She studied at the Moscow Music In­stitute Gnjesiny under Professor Alexander Sats, who considers her a fine interpreter with a lively temperament, a virtuosic techni­que, and an excellent sense of style. In 1987 she won First Prize in the Busoni International Piano Competition.

Valery Kuleshov was born December 15, 1962 in Tschel­jabinsk, USSR. He studied at the Gorki Conservatory under Pro­fessor Isaac Kats, who considers him one of his most gifted students. He has acquired a large and varied repertoire with a per­sonal predilection for the virtuoso literature. Kuleshov has won several national competitions in the USSR, and in 1987 won Se­cond Prize ''with special distinc­tion" in the Busoni International Piano Competition.

When Vladimir Horowitz heard the recordings of his two transcriptions played by Valery Kuleshov, he com­mented: ''I am not only delighted by his fantastic performances, but I con­gratulate him on his keen ear and great patience that were required to write out, note by note, the scores of these unpublished transcriptions by listen­ing to my recordings."

Review of Two Young Virtuosi from Russia Page 25