Rachmaninov, Symphonie No.2
The Rock. Allegro molto
Nina Svetlanova:
"I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have shown
interest in the Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition,
and in particular all genuine music lovers, our future candidates,
and the many organisations which have supported the establishment
of the Competition.
The 20th century was a period of extraordinary cultural development
and has left a legacy in which the world will take pride for countless
years ahead. Life however goes on, and our generation must now give
serious thought to the future, especially as nature, after giving
so generously, usually requires time to build up new energy for future
creativity. As we already see, there are relatively few individuals
of major stature able to inspire the world of theatre, composition,
music and art. The prominent figures and eminent professionals of
the cultural scene must discover and support young talents who will
set to work for the young generation and bring new creative vision
in many areas.
The current situation regarding musical competitions is extremely
diverse. While there are a number of major piano, singing and violin
competitions, there are far fewer conducting competitions. Our new
Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition not only aims
to identify and discover talent, but also and above all to enable
the winners to conduct symphony orchestras around the world. This
will give young talents access to performing art at the highest level.
Every country has eminent performers in whom it takes pride, but only
a small number of them have become part of the world’s cultural
heritage. There are very few such individuals. The name of Evgeny
Svetlanov, after whom the Competition has been named, stands alongside
that of great conductors such as Arturo Toscanini, Wilhelm Furtwängler,
Herbert Von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein.
We hope that our musical event will enjoy a long life, under the patronage
of the renowned musicians in its Honorary Members’ Committee:
Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ricardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Henri Duthilleux,
Myung-Whun Chung and Evgeny Kissin. The composer René Koering,
the Competition’s Artistic Director, was a close friend of Evgeny
Svetlanov. René Koering was for many years the Director of
the Radio France orchestras and remains the Director of the Radio
France Music Festival in Montpellier, where Evgeny Svetlanov often
performed with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra.
I am deeply grateful to all the prominent individuals who will be
members of the Jury of our Competition. I am particularly indebted
to Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy who has agreed to be the President of
our first Competition despite his extremely busy schedule.
We are all delighted that our Competition will be held in Luxembourg,
which will be named the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2007. Evgeny
Svetlanov was particularly fond of this country, and after each tour
looked forward to his future visits to Luxembourg. I am very happy
that his return to this wonderful country is associated with the International
Conducting Competition which bears his name. "
Introduction
