Cliburn 2009: May 22 - June 7
Print
E-Mail
tool name
closeTuesday, May. 19, 2009
Cliburn Confidential: Ilya Rashkovskiy
A series of conversations with the Cliburn competitors
Ilya Rashkovskiy
(pronounced Ill-ya rash-kohv-ski)
Nationality: Russian
Born: Irkutsk, Russia
Lives: Hanover, Germany
Age: 24
As this is your second time at the competition, your approach will differ: "Because I think I’ll be much more concentrated on the program than I was before. I also think that, in general, I will be better prepared than before the first time."
Prodigious beginnings: "I started really getting serious about the piano at the age of 5. I gave my first formal mini-recital at 6 years old — when I played some Russian folk songs and then a piece by Schumann. And then, will never forget that at age 8, I played a Haydn concerto with a full orchestra — all in my hometown of Irkutsk."
That Russian part of you that you bring to the music: "I plan on playing a lot of Russian pieces in my program. While I don’t have the opinion that Russians can play those pieces better than other nationalities, I still believe that because I know the country so well that inspired so many of those works, maybe it just comes a little bit easier to a Russian to play that Russian music."
When not playing the piano: "Well, I recently got married, so when I’m not practicing the piano, I want to spend time with my wife. We love to meet friends and go on long walks."
Pre-concert ritual: "First of all, I like to arrive well in advance of my playing and then I absolutely need to be alone. I don’t really like to talk to anyone. Some players can read books before going onstage but I just need to be alone. Sometimes, just before going onstage, I try to get in my head me playing the very beginning of the piece."
Favorite food: "There is nothing I really cannot eat, though I’m no real gourmet. I enjoy Asian food. I suppose my favorite Russian thing to have would be a blini served with a light cheese cream. I have to admit I really don’t like caviar — Russian or otherwise."
If you could travel back in time, the classical musician or musical event you would most like to visit: "It must have been around the beginning of the 20th century when a concert took place in Amsterdam and Rachmaninoff played piano and Gustav Mahler was the conductor — now that’s a concert I would like to have attended. Also, as long as I’m dreaming, I would really love to go back and listen to Chopin play Beethoven."
A win at the Cliburn would mean: "If I happen to get one of the big prizes, it will give me such a boost of big energy and push towards such a brand new level of performance. I would so look forward to playing a whole set of really serious concerts and always be in the best form. In short, it would make for a big move forward in my playing and career."
— Andrew Marton
Bass Hall
Online exclusive Follow the Star-Telegram’s coverage of the Cliburn at dfw.com/cliburn and on Twitter @dfwdotcom.
Have you attended the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for many years? Do you have specific, special memories of performances, competitors or funny things that happened? We’d like to read about them and consider them for publication online or in print. Send them to: "Cliburn memories," Features Department, Star-Telegram, Box 1870, Fort Worth, TX 76101, or e-mail them to sallmon@star-telegram.com with "Cliburn memories" in the subject line. Be sure to include your name, age, city of residence, e-mail address and daytime phone number. Deadline for submissions is Monday.
DFW.com is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impractical for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since DFW.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not DFW.com.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators; we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
