Maestro Dylla elegantly tells Mitrovica through the guitar
Marcin Dylla (47) opened the concert with "Capricco Diabolico op. 85” by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and has been a powerful introduction to dissecting his style and techniques. The concert at the City Museum in Mitrovica was the first for him in Kosovo
Marcin Dylla is not just a performer. He unfolds stories through the instrument, and the guitar in his hands seems inadequate. The opening of the fifth edition of "Mitrovica Guitar Days" with the Polish classical guitar maestro was a hit on the mark. The prestigious American "The Washington Post" has described him as "among the most talented guitarists on the planet" and as soon as he starts playing, such a description does not leave much room for comment. Tuesday night's concert at the City Museum was a sensational journey through sound
With the first touch of the strings - after a deep breath as a concentration technique - the magic of the guitar sounds starts to spread in waves throughout the space of the Mitrovica City Museum. His name speaks volumes: Marcin Dylla. The opening of the fifth edition of "Mitrovica Guitar Days" with the Polish classical guitar maestro, was a hit on the mark. The prestigious American "The Washington Post" has described him as "among the most talented guitarists on the planet" and as soon as he starts playing, such a description does not leave much room for comment. Before starting the performance, there was a prayer for the audience: no one should shoot and everyone should enjoy the concert as he himself wanted to enjoy it. The public has obeyed as it has enabled this rare phenomenon, as the critics call it, to take it with them on a boundless musical journey. Pink lights illuminated the colorful space was the musical journey with this popular stage musician.
Dylla (47) opened the concert with "Capricco Diabolico op. 85” by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and has been a powerful introduction to dissecting his style and techniques. He is not just a performer. He unfolds stories through the instrument, and the guitar in his hands seems insufficient. Before each work in the repertoire, he warned the audience what to expect. It continued with "Sonata no. 34" by Silvius Leopold Weiss and also "Sonata op 23" by Wenzel Thomas Matiangas, which starts quietly but intensifies with a kind of harmony of parallel melodies where each note requires its own precision. The bass playing is like a separate work but neatly interwoven with the solo part. With the next work, he crossed a century in music literature.
"Cinco Piezas" by Astor Piazzola, the modern composer, inevitable in the repertoire of guitarists, is a work that requires maximum sensitivity in interpretation. Dylla's playing on the neck of the guitar seems like a finger dance in the five-part work that calls for different playing techniques. One of them is hitting the strings with the right hand. Dylla is a master in any technique and proof of this is not only a concert like this, but also his biography.
He has nearly twenty awards in the most prestigious competitions around the world from 1997 to 2007, when he received the Gold Medal at the "Guitar Foundation of America International Competition" in Los Angeles, known as the most prestigious guitar competition in the world.
He came to Kosovo for the first time, and a great impression was left by the quiet audience who listened attentively the whole time.
"It's the first time in Kosovo, even though I know wonderful guitarists from Kosovo, one of them is also my student in Germany, and I knew about the people, I knew how sensitive they are musically, and I expected what would happen tonight. Very nice, quiet audience and listening very attentively and also giving me pleasure to enjoy even the softest sound of the guitar", said Dylla, currently professor of guitar at Katowice Academy of Music in Poland and Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster in Germany, where one of his students from Kosovo is Ermal Kabashi.
His concert at the opening of "Mitrovica Guitar Days" is not the only reason for his arrival in Kosovo. He will also meet with those who intend his journey. Masterclasses have also started since Thursday.
"There are somewhere ten or twelve guitarists who will play for me and it's always fun to meet new people and discuss things that can be done better, it's really specific, if someone is not a guitarist they don't enjoy it, but for us to the others mean a lot", said Dylla.
Before starting the performance, there was a prayer for the audience: no one shoot and everyone enjoy the concert as he himself wanted to enjoy it. The public has obeyed, as it has enabled this rare phenomenon, as the critics call it, to take it on a boundless musical journey.
Marcin Dylla, born in Poland, took his first guitar lessons at the Ruda Slaska Conservatory of Music in Poland. From 1995 to 2000 he studied at the Academy of Music in Katowice with Adi Eanda Palacz and later completed his studies at Music Academies in Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. After Mitrovica, Dylla has a long journey through other festivals, in Europe and the USA, but he has said that he will return to Kosovo.
"It is always a problem to combine obligations with other festivals, but I will come back here anyway. I will go to Italy, I will play in Milan, in Verona, in Bulgaria, I have several concerts in the USA this year and I will finish in Germany before Christmas and then I will rest a little", he said.
During the concert in Mitrovica, he did not fail to give advice to young musicians not to see music as a profession to earn from it.
"To not see music as a profession, because usually when you want to have a serious profession, sometimes you are disappointed because the profit comes much later, even later than when you finish your studies, at the moment when you really love what you do and combine it with some professional activities to earn money and make music then it can become your profession in the future. So, be patient and dedicate all your time to music", said Dylla.
Among the audience at the concert of the guitarist who was awarded the "Golden Guitar" music critic award at the Seventh International Guitar Convention in Alessandria, there were those who considered him an idol.
"We are very happy that Erhan has invited Marcin Dylla. I've been listening to Marcin since I was a child and we've always had him as a kind of idol and we're very happy that he came to Mitrovica and together we'll hold master classes", said guitarist Drilon Çoçaj.
And the organizers of the Guitar Festival in Mitrovica are very pleased that everything went as they planned.
"Tonight is very embarrassing for us as organizers, but seeing when the audience is coming, people are eagerly waiting for the concert to start, the artist on stage is seeing that everything is worth it and there are moments of relaxation for us too when it goes everything as we expected maybe even better. We are very happy that the public has also come, has been educated and reached the level where they are welcoming and respecting classical music artists as much as possible, because we know that classical music is very specific", said the coordinator of "KosovaArs" Anisa Sudoholli-Mujka.
It has also shown the public's interest in the whole festival, but also in the concert of the Italian Aniellio Desiderio, who is considered a phenomenon in Italy. "The interest is for the whole festival, on the 21st there will be a concert by the Italian artist Aniellio Desiderio, the public is looking forward to his concert", said Sudoholli-Mujka about the guitarist who returns to Mitrovica.
The fifth edition comes with four concerts. The sounds of the guitar in Mitrovica will prevail until September 24. The program also includes the concert of Agron Pen's trio and the duo from Turkey, which adds color to the festival.
