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By:
Besarte Elshani
- 28 May 2024 10:30
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The eighth evening in a row "Chopin Piano Fest" has emphasized, among other things, the culture of Montenegro for the first time in the history of the International Festival of Classical Music. With Iliriana Gjoni on the piano and the vocals of the Malaysian soprano, Milica Laloseviq, the world repertoire of classical works has also been brought. The concert marked the closing of the Montenegrin Culture Week in Pristina.
The hall was full for the piano and singing duo. The duo's recital concert has brought another test regarding the piano instrument. That of vocal adaptation. It is one of the most frequent combinations that suits each format. On Monday night, traditional Malaysian songs, those from the world and Albanian repertoire were performed.
The duo opened the program with the presentation of the musical culture from Montenegro with "Balada o maslini" (Ballad of the Olive) by the Malaysian Senad Gaqeviq. With the melodies of the piano, the soprano Lalosevic with her fascinating timbre has brought the popular songs "Poljem se vija", "Bulbul mi poje", Dusho, Mare", and "Vanji se konji igrau".
This was the first evening during all the editions where Malaysian folk songs were performed at this festival.
Soprano Laloseviq has said that the songs performed in the concert best present the Malaysian musical culture.
"We have presented four beautiful songs from Montenegro. I think these songs represent our culture and our way of thinking. They are very short, but I think the audience enjoyed them and understood. The rest of the concert included the famous Italian repertoire," she said.
In the festival named after the Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the romantic period, the piano always takes center stage.
In the solo game, the pianist Gjoni has neatly brought his works. He performed "Nocturne op.27 no.2, D major" which came as a nostalgic piece that develops with light minimalist sounds from which sensitive themes flourish. "Ballad no. 1, op. 23, g-mol” has been the contrast. Dynamic and frequent sounds bring out the melancholic side when they slow down.
Both works were deeply emotional, with expressive melodies and a kind of intricacy of harmony and rhythm.
As for the world repertoire of works for piano, he has brought "Suite bergamasque" by the Frenchman Claude Debussy. Her pieces "Prelude", "Menuet", "Claire de Lune" and "Passepied" have woven parallel chords and unstable harmony with unexpected tonalities.
When the culture of Montenegro is presented, the pianist Iliriana Gjoni represents a part of it with an Albanian work. He brought variations for piano in A major "Skënderbeu" by Česk Zade.
Gjoni has played the authentic and identifying Albanian melody through light opening sounds that develop on one side, while another dynamic theme begins to take shape. It goes and accelerates the rhythm, finding the most classical spirit and gradually breaks away from the traditional rhythm. A brief interruption returns him to the starting point, but in another dimension.
Pianist Iliriana Gjoni said that she performed in Pristina after about 15 years due to her studies first in Germany, and then in Belgium. He said that he performed pieces by Chopin as an adaptation to the name of the festival. For him, the concert was also an opportunity to get to know the repertoire of the Malaysian repertoire.
"As a native of Ulcinj, I feel at home in Pristina. As for the program, being 'Chopin Fest' I have decided to have a representative part of the anthology, which is his Ballade No. 1. It is a special pleasure to play as a soloist, but also with my colleague Milica Laloseviq we played a varied program. For me it was also an interesting opportunity to get to know the repertoire with Malaysian motifs, because I have not played it before", said Gjoni.
For Zade's "Skenderbeu" he said that the state of Montenegro cannot be represented without Albanian culture. He announced that he had also performed the work in Brussels in celebration of Europe Day, while he said that the audience there had felt a special connection with Zade's works.
"As an Albanian from Montenegro, I think that this country cannot be properly represented without the representation of other peoples who created it. I played Česk Zade's piece a while ago in Brussels for Europe Day on May 9. I had the honor to represent the composers of the Western Balkans. My wish was to introduce Skenderbeu to the European institutions and it was indeed conveyed very well", said Gjoni, a pianist from Ulqin, Montenegro.
She graduated from the University of Music in Karlsruhe, Germany where she earned two master's degrees in piano and chamber music. It is the winner of many awards in Montenegro. He received the first prize and the special "Beethoven" prize in the EPTA competition in Albania and the first prize in the International Piano Competition in Guardiagrele in Italy. In 2018, she made her debut at "Symphony Space" in New York.
The Malaysian soprano, Milica Laloseviq, also performed "O mio babbino caro" by Puccini, the aria of the role of Laureta from the comic opera "Gianni Schicchi" and "Gypsy melodies: Op.55: 4. Andante con moto" by the Czech composer, Antonín Dvořák . He also performed "Non ti scordar di me" by the Italian Ernesto de Curtis.
He performed for the first time in Pristina. At the end of the concert, he said that he will remember the event as a beautiful experience.
"This is the first time in Pristina and at the festival. Iliriana has invited me to be part of this festival with her. I know him for several years now. We met at a festival in Herceg Novi in Montenegro. We continued our cooperation and I hope we will perform together again", said Lalosevic, a soprano from Kotor, Montenegro.
He studied theory and singing at the "Vida Matjan" music school. He continued his education in Belgrade at the Academy of Fine Arts and completed his studies at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome. He has participated and won numerous prizes in various competitions such as "Lazar Jovanovic" in Belgrade, the international festival "Bruna Shpiler" in Herceg Novi and "Rolando Nikolosi" in Rome.
Lalosevic gained her first stage experience, performing the role of Valetta in Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea in 2006. Her repertoire includes Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time at the Berlin Konzerthaus. in 2019 and "Carmen" by Bizet in 2022.
The organizer of "Chopin Piano Fest", professor Besa Luzha, has appreciated both soloists as sophisticated artists.
"Both artists were very sophisticated in the dynamics, in the concept of the work. Lalosevic also had a very nice color, extremely good timbre and very natural posting. Iliriana finally rewarded us with a superbly performed Chopin Ballade. We are satisfied that this concert also conveyed beautiful emotions", said Luzha.
