LAWRENCE A. JOHNSON CLASSICAL MUSIC WRITER. South Florida Sun - Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: May 13, 2005
Catching up with Alexander Gavrylyuk is not an easy task.
The 20-year-old Ukrainian pianist resides in Australia and between a peripatetic schedule and the 14-hour time difference, finding a mutually agreeable time for even a brief chat is a challenge.
"It's fine now," Gavrylyuk said, in an early-morning call Sydney time. "I'm still jet-lagged from Israel, but it's OK to talk.
"The trip to Tel Aviv was certainly worth it, for it was there last month that Gavrylyuk took first prize at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition.
Gavrylyuk will open the Discovery Series of the Miami International Piano Festival tonight at the Lincoln Theatre with a program that will replicate several works that impressed the judges in Israel. The pianist's ambitious program will offer Haydn's Sonata in B minor, Brahms' Paganini Variations, Scriabin's Sonata No. 5 and Prokofiev's Sonata No. 6.
Brahms' massive set of variations is a work that has gone somewhat out of fashion. Cast in two large sections on the 24th Caprice theme that inspired Rachmaninoff and others, Brahms' Paganini Variations explores an astonishing range of emotions and expressive depths. In addition, it's one of the most technically demanding works in the keyboard repertoire, and music that fascinates the pianist.
"I truly think that every variation is an image that needs to be created in the artist's interpretation," Gavrylyuk said. "I don't think it is possible to play these variations without real interpretive finish and each variation having its own character. It's like an actor having an image in his head of the first act before he comes on stage and then he can actually transfer into that personality completely. That's exactly what I'm trying to do."
Russian music also figures prominently in tonight's opening program with the highly contrasted sonatas of Scriabin and Prokofiev, both of which are close to Gavrylyuk's heart.
"Scriabin is absolutely one of my favorite composers," the pianist said. "The sonatas are really something extraordinary. With this music, you must really be able to capture the audience with a sound that is not of this world -- if it's possible to do that! The music is very Eastern and deals with hidden, very strong emotions."
Whereas the Scriabin Sonata is all perfumed mystery and sensuality, Prokofiev's sonata is imbued with the violence and devastation of World War II.
"It's a wartime piece and it's full of images of the terrible things that happened," Gavrylyuk said. "The beginning of the sonata is like a Nazi march with an unstoppable force. It has so many different images and so many things you can create with varieties of sound."
Gavrylyuk taught himself the Sixth Sonata, an intense but rewarding experience that continues to provide a personal link to the piece and Prokofiev's world. "I just have a lot of enthusiasm for this sonata," Gavrylyuk said. "I think out of the whole program, this sonata requires the most imagination. It was an incredible time when I was learning this; I remember practicing all through the night I was so excited by it."
Gavrylyuk will open the Miami International Piano Festival at 8:15 tonight at the Lincoln Theatre, 541 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach. Tickets are $15, $30 and $50.
The festival will continue with Leon McCawley Saturday night performing Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Corelli, and music of Scarlatti, Mozart and Schumann. Geoffrey Norris, Rachmaninoff scholar and chief music critic of London's Daily Telegraph, will precede Saturday's concert with a 7 p.m. lecture on the Corelli Variations.
Schumann will also figure, along with Bach, in Martin Stadfeld's program on Sunday. The eclectic Discovery Series will present jazz pianist Bill Charlap on May 20 and close May 22 with a program of Liszt fireworks for piano and orchestra featuring Kemal Gekic, Ilya Itin and Francesco Libetta. Series tickets are $200, with individual concerts at $15, $30 and $50. All main events take place at 8:15 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre. Call 877-877-7677 or go online to miamipianofest.com.
