The 14th edition of "Chopin Piano Fest" closes

The concert marathon was this year's edition of the international classical music festival "Chopin Piano Fest". As a whole, it was a mosaic of world and Albanian masterpieces. Stars of the world stage have come together in the 14th edition from May 9 to June 9. Such was the pianist Giovanni Bellucci, who is considered one of the ten best pianists in the world. His presence was the culmination of the call for art infrastructure. The mayor of Pristina, Përparim Rama, has continued the annual chorus of promises. This time he said that the festival will be able to show the edition of two years later in a dignified hall.

The closing concert with maestro Bellucci was the highlight of this year's festival. He was one of the many artists who stepped on the floor of the hall not only modestly, but also without any conditions. The festival has left a taste and echo until the next edition. With it, the curtain of "Chopin Piano Fest" has fallen.

He managed challenging tasks easily. There is no questioning the musicality and virtuosity of the laureate pianist of the "Masters Piano" World Competition in Monte Carlo. It is just one of Bellucci's successes in his career as a pianist. From his country as one of the main sources of classical music, in Pristina the third time at the festival he found without a point of progress in conditions. Except they got worse.

"This is the third time I have come, but each time has been different. Tonight I saw new faces in the hall, the program was different. It's also different, since it was cooler here in the past, while today it's the complete opposite in the hall, the conditions are different".

There is talk of such a hall in which even the air conditioners do not work. The pianist has left the stage of the Amphitheater of the University Library since the first work. He returned to the second without the skirt he was wearing. In the second part of the concert, he had to change his shirt.

At the end of each piece, more than designing the work, he used it to wipe his sweaty face. The open doors of the hall have sometimes interfered with the playing of the virtuoso pianist who has stepped on the most prestigious stages of the world. This is just one part of the image of Sunday's concert.

Pianist Bellucci was at the ninth edition of "Chopin Piano Fest" in 2018 where he performed with the Kosovo Philharmonic and the following year with a recital concert.

He opened the concert with "Fantasia e Fuga sul nome BACH" and "Leggenda n.2: San Francesco di Paola che cammina sulle onde" by Franz Liszt, which were very serious and virtuosic works. Such were all the works of the repertoire chosen by Bellucci in general.

He has honored the figure of the Italian composer Busoni with one of his works to mark the 100th anniversary of his death. In general, Liszt's works that he performed in Pristina were extremely difficult technically and in expressive quality. Emotional depth has been the main figure in these works.

Bellucci said that he would definitely play works by Chopin at the festival that bears the composer's name. He considered interesting the program in which Chopin and Liszt were included as two opposite characters in terms of their compositions.

"They are great pianists in musical history. Chopin admired him, they were close friends but after some events they broke up. Maybe because Liszt was a much different personality and Chopin was much more sensitive, but also a more open character. Their music is quite different, although they explore piano virtuosity. It was very interesting for me to do both together in the program".

The pianist, who is considered one of the most influential pianists of our time, also said that the works of the two composers also speak of the pain of leaving the country.

"It was very important to connect the feelings of missing the country. I have set pieces by authors who have lived abroad such as Liszt's - 'Le mal du pays' which is a kind of depression due to being away from home. Liszt and Chopin suffered from this feeling."

Giovanni Bellucci has been invited to play in some of the most famous auditoriums, traditional theaters and some of the biggest world music festivals. Among them are: "Hollywood Bowl" where he had his American debut in front of an audience of 18 thousand people, "Washington Performing Arts Society" in Newport, "Yokohama" in Singapore, "Sydney Opera House", "Teatro alla Scala" in Milan , "Teatro Carlo Felice" in Genoa, "Teatro Bellini" in Catania, the Opera of Rome and in all Parisian concert halls.

According to him, "virtuosity is a way to bring new feelings, the program was difficult to interpret. But music is at the center and the soul of these outstanding personalities must be explored".

The artistic director of the festival, Lejla Pula, said that the closing night of the festival was magnificent, bringing the virtuosity of world stages.

"It was a concert with technically difficult works, musically, with a completely unique sound image that it brought. It is very special in the interpretation of the works of Liszt, Chopin, Wagner, of romanticism. He is the stylistic master of these works. We also had a work by the Italian Busoni, who this year marks the hundredth anniversary of his death".

He said about the festival that it was a mission that served cultural diplomacy, bringing well-known figures of the music scene from Thailand, Slovakia, Romania and Russia.

The organizer of the festival, professor Besa Luzha, said that another edition took place under improvised conditions.

"Unfortunately, with improper conditions, we are also closing this edition with improvised conditions. "Unfortunately, the air conditioners have been broken for a week and despite the efforts of the staff, it has been impossible to fix them at least in the next three weeks."

An award was given to the mayor of Pristina, Përparim Rama, as she said, to remind him and speed up the work with the concert hall. And Rama's answer was that "there are enough spaces in Pristina to show creativity".

"I know that they invited me to this closing night to make me feel guilty about this. I mentioned last year that we are working with big and fast steps, with everything we have in our hands to transform the building of 'Gërmia' into an art museum and a concert hall. It's just that we have started to transform it".

He called the festival a symphony with virtuoso musicians.

On the last night of the festival, the prize for the best young pianist was also awarded. Eleonida Elezaj has been declared the winner of the competition of young musicians.

From May 9 to June 9, "Chopin Piano Fest" gripped the capital with the spirit of classical works.