Xenia: You are the founder and the president director of the Nikolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition, and the founder and president of the International Competition of the Conservatoire Russe Alexandre Scriabine in Paris.
Tell us how they function now, as already well established and respected international piano competitions.
Igor: First of all, I would like to mention that those competitions are not traditional ones.
For traditional competitions one needs substantial funds to begin with. The whole process is very complex and too complicated for my taste. Then there are categories, age limit, etc.
The competitions I founded have been inspired by something that happened to me while giving one of my master classes in Switzerland.
I met one 28 years old pianist there; he possessed a rare kind of almost hypnotic talent, something I seldom had an opportunity to encounter. However, he participated in several competitions in the past but never won anything. Being so discouraged, he stopped playing. He started to play again when he was 27. He went to another competition; just to be discarded at the very beginning.
I said to myself - I will create a ‘competition’ for him, so that he and people like him could participate and their talent get recognised. So, he then participated in my first competition and won his first prize ! (big smile of satisfaction)
That incident was the first impulse to create my competitions.
The other reason is that I wanted to give a chance to pianists of all ages.
My competitions have no traditional categories to start with. Actually, there are 3 categories, but they are more like – debutants (everyone who played piano for at least 4 years), intermediate, and advanced. It is like, you are 50 years old and you want to start playing piano, and then play it for 4 year - you can participate in my competitions.
Xenia: This sounds wonderful – giving everyone a chance.
Igor: Yes, the competitions I created pose very few restrictions. There are people to whom life was not fair, who have been forced to stop playing for different reasons, very often financial or health reasons, but when their circumstances change and they start playing again, they should be given a chance, regardless of their age.
The oldest contestant I had so far was 72 years old ! One very sweet and talented lady (smile).
Xenia: How amazing is that ! It is exactly what I believe should be the future of competitions (which, as they are now, I wholeheartedly dislike).
Igor: Now, if we speak about young competitors, they all get something in my competitions. Either 1st, 2nd or 3rd prize. Only very few don’t get anything.
Then, there is the other competition that I have created - Nikolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition - I created it because Rubinstein was a founder of the Moscow State Conservatory ‘P. I. Tchaikovsky’. He gave so much to the music world and humanity, enthusiastically promoting music here in Paris his whole life, where he lived and died, however got very little recognition and very little was done after his passing to remember him and all his achievements.
So, I created this competition to somehow right that wrong in the best possible way I could, adding also Tchaikovsky to the list of obligatory piano composers for all categories, e.g. his Variations, Scherzi, etc.
Xenia: Very interesting ! I didn’t know all this about your competitions, and I believe many didn’t know either.
Igor: What is extremely difficult for me is to organise concerts for laureates. It is very complicated process that requires different set of skills and resources that I sadly don't have.
Xenia: Igor, what you have done is admirable, and what is most important it is showing us that competitions could be so much different from what we experienced so far, giving more people a chance to express their love for piano and music in more relaxing and encouraging settings.
To be continued ...
INTERVIEWS WITH MASTERS: Igor Lazko Part I: Intro
INTERVIEWS WITH MASTERS: Igor Lazko Part II: Belgrade Years
INTERVIEWS WITH MASTERS: Igor Lazko Part IV: Plans For The Future And A Message To Young Pianists
Excellent interview!