Passion triumphed at the gala organized on the occasion of the 6th edition of the international four-hand piano competition, under the auspices of the LIONS Club of Monaco, on December 15th at the Hôtel Hermitage.
In the presence of more than 130 people, including the mayor of Monaco, Mr. Georges Marsan, representatives of other Lions Clubs, the Rotary Club, the Association Amitié sans frontières, and the Zonta Club – the evening began with melodies from pianist Vlad Ferrari until the guests were seated for dinner.
After a speech by the head of Protocol of the Lions Club of Monaco, Victor Messeca, a welcome from President Pierre Brière and the director of the Rainier III Music Academy, Christian Tourniaire, the competition, (supported by the Edmond de Rothschild Bank and organized in collaboration with the Monaco City Hall), gave way to music with the highlight of this edition: the performance by the duo – consisting of Alexei Dimitriadis (Russian) and Yanis Farrugia (French) – who were not selected for the finals but touched the jury with their youth, freshness, and spontaneity, being two students from the Monaco Music Academy.
The evening did not fail to surprise the guests who were able to discover the talent of two finalist couples, one Polish and the other Japanese, to the notes of the excerpt from the “Folkloric Concert” “for four-hand piano and orchestra, a work by contemporary Anglo-Australian composer John Carmichael. To accompany the pianists, the remarkable Soloists of Monte Carlo under the direction of Jean Louis Dedieu.
The high-quality interpretation, the nuances inspired by Ravel, and the exciting technical execution by Anna Wielgus and Grzegorz Nowak allowed them to win the Jury Prize, while the duo Keiko Kawabata and Ryosuke Yanase charmed the audience, awarding them the public’s prize.
“Our professor told us about this competition some time ago, and even though we had never played together, we spent the last three months training with very difficult scores. It’s incredible for us to have been able to win this important prize. We thank the Lions Club, the Monaco Music Academy, and the Edmond de Rothschild Bank Monaco for allowing us to be here,” declared Anna, 23 years old. The Japanese couple, already recognized for their concerts worldwide, was also visibly very happy.
The evening ended with Mr. Daniel Przedborsky presenting Victor Messeca and Christian Tourniaire with a work created by the artist Mateo Mornar.
The next day, Sunday, December 16th, the young finalists from other categories gathered at the Rainier III Auditorium of the Monaco Music Academy and, after the tests, the jury awarded the various Edmond de Rothschild Monaco Prizes to the winners.
