patrikpen: A Renewed International Chigiana Price in Music and Vision 18 luglio

A Renewed International Chigiana Prize

GIUSEPPE PENNISI was in Siena
for the Chigiana Award concert

Over the last two years, I have chronicled how, after a period of decline, one of the finest European musical institutions, Accademia Chigiana in Siena, is progressively starting a new life, under the guidance of its president, Professor Marcello Clarichi, and of its musical director Nicola Sani. (See 'A Long Musical Summer', 28 July 2015 and 'Old and New', 28 July 2016.) The Accademia Chigiana was founded by Count Luigi Luciano Saracini in 1932 with the purpose of developing advanced training in young musicians by the world's best conductors and instrumentalists. Its trainees were international, admitted via a competition, and from 1982 until 2010, the Chigiana was awarded to the best of them.

After World War II, financing had been provided largely by an important bank — Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) — considered to be the world's most ancient. Things turned sour a few years ago as MPS finances were saddled with bad non-performing loans. Now, in order to rescue MPS, seventy per cent of its capital is held by the Italian Treasury. The Chigiana Academy has been gradually transformed over the last two years. It holds a two month International Festival and Music Academy with concerts — sixty this summer — given by both the world famous instructors and by the trainees. It is worth recalling that among others, the Prize was awarded to Gidon Kremer, Peter Serkin, Evgeny Kissin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Andreas Schiff and many other famous names. Quite a few of them consider it as the stepping stone to their careers, and gratefully return to Siena in the summer, on a no fee basis, as instructors to younger musicians, and to provide them with advice and references.

This year, thanks to a generous grant by Tuscany Rotary Club, the International Chigiana Prize had been re-established, but with new modalities: an international jury, wide publicity, auditions held in New York, Brussels and Moscow, and a final concert with the two finalists on 7 July 2017 at the elegant Teatro dei Rinnovati in Siena. In the pit, Orchestra Toscana was conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer. I was in the audience.

Teatro dei Rinnovati, Siena, Italy on 7 July 2017. Photo © 2017 Roberto Testi

The finalists were Dutch cellist Ella van Poucke and Russian pianist Arseny Tarasevisch-Nikolaev. The concert was framed by two Prokofiev pieces: one indicative of his young style — his 1917 Classical Symphony, fifteen minutes of rigorous classicism, and a clear rebellion against Zdanov's 'socialist realism'. The other, a sonata for cello and piano, was composed in 1949, after his return to Russia in 1936 following about twenty years in France, the United States and Belgium. The second piece was 6 Moments Musicaux by 23-year-old Rachmaninov. This is his first important composition, where he shows how to build bridges between diverging themes. Schumann's Concerto in A minor for cello and orchestra is a clear expression of the last tormented years of the composer's life. Grieg's monumental Piano Concerto in A minor is an important passage toward late Romanticism.

Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev performing with l'Orchestra della Toscana in Siena on 7 July 2017. Photo © 2017 Roberto Testi

The selection of the concert's content was with its final purpose in mind: the award. In the first Prokofiev piece, the pianist and the cellist confronted each other. In the two central pieces, the confrontation was respectively between pianist and orchestra and between cellist and orchestra. Finally, Prokofiev's Classical Symphony gave the panel discussion time in one of the theatre's rooms, to vote and decide on the awards.

Both soloists are top notch, as well as Alexander Malofeev, piano and Miriam Prandi, cello, who had gained third and fourth places. Ella van Poucke was awarded the golden star, Arseny Tarasevisch-Nikolaev the silver star. Right then and there, they were offered contracts for concerts in Italy and abroad (including the Arab world).

From the left: President Marcello Clarichi, Pierangelo Conte, Ella Van Poucke, Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev and (far right) Alessandro Vignani from the Tuscany Rotary Club. Photo © 2017 Roberto Testi. Click on the image for higher resolution

A long life to Ella and Arsany, to the Chigiana Award, to the Tuscany Rotary Club, to Marcello Clarichi and to Nicola Sani.

The evening started at 7:30 pm with a light dinner. We went happy to our hotels at nearly 1am with a certitude: good music always wins over bad banking.