Prague Spring International Piano Competition
Encyclopedia
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
that takes place in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
.
It is considered one of the most prestigious music competitions in the world and is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions
World Federation of International Music Competitions
The World Federation of International Music Competitions is an organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that maintains a network of the internationally recognized organisations that aim to discover the most promising young talents in classical music through public competition...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. There have been eight editions of the competition since its inaugural session in 1948.
The prize-giving ceremony takes place in the Brožík Room in the Old Town City Hall of Prague, with the mayor always traditionally attending. The competition's 9th edition will take place in May of 2011.
The competition has, since 1948, discovered dozens of outstanding musicians for all over the world. Past piano laureates include Mindru Katz
Mindru Katz
Mindru Katz was a Romanian-Israeli classical pianist.Mindru Katz was born in Bucharest in 1925. He was discovered as a child prodigy by George Enescu, and taught by Florica Musicescu. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in Bucharest in 1947, in which year he also made his debut with the...
, Pavel Štěpán
Pavel Štepán
Prof. Pavel Štěpán , was a Czech pianist. He linked up in his career with his family's musical tradition: he is the grandson of Professor Vilém Kurz, a prominent Czech piano educator, and the son of piano virtuoso and teacher Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová and musicologist/pianist Václav Štěpán...
, and Ivo Kahanek
Ivo Kahánek
Ivo Kahanek is a Czech pianist regarded as one of the most gifted Czech musicians of his generation. Renowned for his lyrical poeticism and outstanding virtuosity, he won the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2004 and gained awards at other leading international piano competitions...
. Among the first laureates in other categories other than piano are the cellists Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
and Daniil Shafran
Daniil Shafran
-Early years:Daniil Shafran was born in Petrograd in 1923. Even from before his birth he was surrounded by music. His mother and father were music students when he was born. His father, Boris Shafran, went on to be principal cellist of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and his mother, Frida...
, and the Smetana Quartet
Smetana Quartet
The Smetana Quartet was a Czech string quartet that was in existence from 1945 to 1989.- Personnel :1st violin* Václav Neumann , from 1943 to 1945* Jaroslav Rybenský, from 1945 to 1947* Jiří Novák , since 19472nd violin...
.
The Prague Spring Competition is now among the most widely recognized internationally, not only because it has discovered a respectable number of artists for the rest of the world (more past laureates include James Galway
James Galway
- External links : IMGArtists.com 15 September 2008. AllAboutJazz.com 5 August 2008.*...
, Natalia Gutman
Natalia Gutman
Natalia Gutman is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted to the Moscow Conservatory, where she was taught by Rostropovich, amongst others....
, Natalia Shakhovskaya
Natalia Shakhovskaya
Natalia Shakhovskaya is a Russian cellist. She studied cello at the Gnessin School of Music and later at the Moscow Conservatory under the tutorship of S. Kosolupov...
, Jan Panenka
Jan Panenka
Jan Panenka was a Czech pianist. He recorded many of Beethoven's works, and he played for many years with the Suk Trio.- Life :...
, Michel Becquet
Michel Becquet
Michel Becquet is a French trombonist and professor at the Conservatoire de Lyon.-Life:From a young age he played piano and horn, taught by his father, a professional horn player, until he turned to the trombone, aged 10...
, Philippe Cuper
Philippe Cuper
Philippe Cuper is a French clarinetist, born in Lille on April 25, 1957.He is considered to be one of the best representatives of the current French clarinet school.- Studies :...
, Dagmar Pecková
Dagmar Pecková
Dagmar Pecková is a Czech operatic mezzo-soprano.Born in the Medlešice district of Chrudim, Pecková studied singing at the Prague Conservatory. She then became part of the young artist's program at the Semperoper in Dresden in 1985. After two years in the program she was made a principal artist...
, and Štefan Margita
Štefan Margita
Štefan Margita is a Slovak opera singer who has had an active international career since 1981. He began his career singing mostly roles from the lyric tenor repertoire but in recent years he has tackled a number of dramatic tenor roles...
), but also because it was a founding member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) in Geneva. Though the WFIMC is made up of hundreds of competition organizations, few of them hold a competition for several categories of instruments every year as Prague Spring Competition does.
The original prize included a cash award and an opportunity to perform in the closing concert of the Prague Spring Festival as soloist with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
The Česká filharmonie is a symphony orchestra based in Prague and is the best-known and most respected orchestra in the Czech Republic.- History :...
, but now also includes concert appearances in the following venues and festivals: Ticino Musica International Gathering of Young Musicians, International Festival Mitte Europa, EuroArt Praha International Music Festival, Young Prague International Music Festival, Young Stage Festival as part of the cycle Czech Culture Festivities, Treasures of Broumov Festival, and the Central European Festival of Concert Art in Žilina.
The competition also gives the opportunity of paid performances as part of the subscription series in the 2011–2012 season for winners of one of the main prizes with the following orchestras: Czech Chamber Music Society of the Czech Philharmonic, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra in Zlín, Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra in Pardubice, Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc, Antonín Dvořák Memorial at Vysoká u Příbrami, Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, and North Czech Philharmonic Teplice.
The range of paid concert performances at international festivals and subscription series, which are offered to the laureates, is also broad. For competitors the chance to perform at the next Prague Spring Festival is also a major reason to enter the competition.
History
The idea of organizing an international music competition as part of the famous Prague Spring Festival came from Rafael Kubelík
Rafael Kubelík
Rafael Jeroným Kubelík was a Czech conductor and composer.-Early life:Kubelík was born in Býchory, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, today's Czech Republic. He was the sixth child of the Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelík, whom the younger Kubelík described as "a kind of god to me." His mother was a Hungarian...
and members of the Czech Philharmonic in 1946. That same year, the rules of the Jan Kubelík
Jan Kubelík
Jan Kubelík was a Czech violinist and composer.-Biography:He was born in Michle . His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after discovering the talent of Jan, who was aged five at the time, arranged for him to study with Karel Weber and...
Violin Competition were drawn up, and the first competition was held in May 1947 as part of the Prague Spring. The honorary chairman of the competition was Jan Masaryk
Jan Masaryk
Jan Garrigue Masaryk was a Czech diplomat and politician and Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1940 to 1948.- Early life :...
, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The first piano competition was celebrated in 1948 and, until recently, it also carried the name of Bedřich Smetana Prize.
Members of the jury in the piano competition have included: Raoul Koczalski, Rudolf Firkusny
Rudolf Firkusny
- Life :Born in Moravian Napajedla, Firkušný started his musical studies with the composers Leoš Janáček and Josef Suk, and the pianist Vilém Kurz. Later he studied with Alfred Cortot and Artur Schnabel. He began performing on the continent of Europe in the 1920s, and made his debuts in London in...
, Lazar Berman
Lazar Berman
Lazar Naumovich Berman was a Soviet Russian classical pianist. As a technician, Berman was extraordinary in terms of sheer evenness, control, and rhythmic panache, yet he always channeled his considerable craft toward musical ends....
, Lev Oborin
Lev Oborin
Lev Nikolayevich Oborin was a Russian pianist. He was the winner of the first International Chopin Piano Competition in 1927.The family moved a lot during his early childhood. When they settled down in Moscow in 1914, he was sent to music school. He studied with Yelena Gnessin, a pupil of...
, Pál Kadosa
Pál Kadosa
Pál Kadosa was a piano teacher and Hungarian composer of the post-Bartók generation. His early style was influenced by Hungarian folklore while his later works were more toward Hindemith and expressively forceful idioms. He was born in Léva. He studied at the national Hungarian Royal Academy...
, Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová
Ilona Štepánová-Kurzová
Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová was a Czech concert pianist and piano teacher, a professor at the Prague Academy of Arts. Her students included Ivan Moravec. Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová was the mother of pianist Pavel Štěpán.- Biography :Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová belongs to notable representatives of the Czech...
, Guido Agosti
Guido Agosti
Guido Agosti was an Italian pianist and piano teacher.Agosti was born in Forlì in 1901. He studied piano with Ferruccio Busoni, Bruno Mugellini and Filippo Ivaldi, earning his diploma at age 13. He studied counterpoint under Benvenuti and literature at Bologna University. He commenced his...
, Eugene List
Eugene List
Eugene List was an American concert pianist and teacher.-Early life:Eugene List was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spent his formative years in Los Angeles, California where his father Louis List was a language teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District and his mother, Rose, a...
, Pavel Štěpán
Pavel Štepán
Prof. Pavel Štěpán , was a Czech pianist. He linked up in his career with his family's musical tradition: he is the grandson of Professor Vilém Kurz, a prominent Czech piano educator, and the son of piano virtuoso and teacher Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová and musicologist/pianist Václav Štěpán...
, Jerzy Zurawlew
Jerzy Zurawlew
Jerzy Żurawlew was a Polish pianist, conductor, and professor at the Warsaw conservatory. He studied with Aleksander Michałowski, and was a favourite pupil. He was the founder of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, at Warsaw in 1927.- Source :*J...
, Jan Ekier
Jan Ekier
Jan Ekier is a Polish pianist and composer widely known for his authoritative edition of Chopin's music for the Polish National Edition. He was born in Kraków, Poland...
, Jacques Février
Jacques Février
Jacques Février was a French pianist and teacher.Jacques Février was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the son of the composer Henry Février. He studied with Édouard Risler and Marguerite Long at the Paris Conservatoire, taking a premier prix in 1921...
, Vera Gornostayeva
Vera Gornostayeva
Vera Gornostayeva is a Russian pianist and pedagogue.Emeritus Artist of the Russian Federation, Gornostaeva is a graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where her teacher was the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus....
, Jacob Lateiner
Jacob Lateiner
Jacob Lateiner, was a Cuban-American pianist. He was actually born on March 31, 1928, but his father did not get around to registering his birth until May 31 the same year.He was the brother of violinist Isidor Lateiner....
, Josef Palenicek
Josef Pálenícek
Josef Páleníček was a Czech piano virtuoso and composer.- Biography :...
, Fanny Waterman
Fanny Waterman
Dame Fanny Waterman, DBE is a piano teacher, and the founder, Chairman and Artistic Director of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. She is also president of the Harrogate International Music Fesitval.-Life:...
, and Barbara Hesse-Bukowska
Barbara Hesse-Bukowska
Barbara Hesse-Bukowska is a Polish pianist. She graduated from Warsaw's State Higher School of Music in June 1949, and took part a few months later in the first postwar edition of the International Chopin Piano Competition, winning the 2nd prize...
.
Winners
Complete list of winners- 1st Edition - 1948 First Prize: Emi (Emmy) Béhar/Bernard Flavigny (tied)
- 2nd Edition - 1951 First Prize: Gleb AxelrodGleb AxelrodGleb Borisovich Axelrod was a Russian pianist.He was a disciple of Grigory Ginzburg. Axelrod won, ex-aequo with Marina Slesaryeva, the II piano edition of the Prague Spring Festival Competition . In 1955 he obtained a 4th prize at the Concours Long-Thibaud, and two years later he was awarded the...
/Marina Slesaryeva (tied)
- 3rd Edition - 1957 First Prize: Anton GinsburgAnton GinsburgAnton Ginsburg is a Russian pianist.A disciple of Heinrich Neuhaus, he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1953. Four years later he won the Smetana Competition in Prague...
/Zdenek HnatZdenek HnátZdeněk Hnát is a Czech classical pianist, known especially for his interpretations of Czech music and chamber music.Hnat was born in Liberec, Czech Republic. He studied piano with Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová in Prague, and Heinrich Neuhaus...
/Alexei Stavronsky (tied)
- 4th Edition - 1963 First Prize: Roumiana Atanassova
- 5th Edition - 1973 First Prize: Valery Vishnevsky
- 6th Edition - 1988 First Prize: Sergey Tarasov (musician)Sergey Tarasov (musician)Sergey Tarasov is a Russian pianist.He was awarded 2nd prizes at the 1995 Ferruccio Busoni and Arthur Rubinstein competitions before winning the 1996 Sydney International Piano Competition. In 1988 he also won the 7th Prague Spring International Piano Competition...
- 7th Edition - 1998 First Prize: Martin Kasik
- 8th Edition - 2004 First Prize: Ivo KahanekIvo KahánekIvo Kahanek is a Czech pianist regarded as one of the most gifted Czech musicians of his generation. Renowned for his lyrical poeticism and outstanding virtuosity, he won the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2004 and gained awards at other leading international piano competitions...
- 9th Edition - 2011 First Prize: