Blog #49. Concert in Minsk

I was really happy to be able to find time during my concert tour through Germany to come to Belarus for a day. As Alexander Blok said, " And endless battle! We only dream of peace ", so I decided to use my day off to perform a recital in Minsk. I once again was absolutely amazed by this country, this public. The concert, which was held in the Palace of the Republic, with an audience of 3,000 people, became incredibly strong and vivid impression of the day. Actually, I should say that Belarus is striking in its purity, hospitality and the amazing kindness of the people who live here, and today the atmosphere at the concert, despite the enormity of the hall and the presence of 3,000 people, was quite extraordinary, fascinating. "Understanding" silence during rests (and it is very rare and very expensive experience for any performer) struck me in the heart, because the audience here is just great in all respects: dear, sensitive, intelligent and very thoughtful. Particularly poignant these “understanding pauses” are heard in the works of Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, which I played this evening. I'm really happy that I came here. And once again I thought that I should visit Belarus more often and start to do interesting projects, primarily associated with the young generation of musicians.

I'm very happy for one of the most talented pianists of the young generation, Belarusian Vladislav Khandogiy, which won first prize in my contest in Astana. It is really an outstanding personality. When he played in Astana, the jury unanimously awarded him the first prize, because, despite his young age (he was only 13 years old) he is a very mature musician and has, let’s say, “musician’s gut”. I have already invited him to my festivals, and his example made me think about perspectives of holding in Belarus one of my projects.

And he is now doing great at the competition "the Nutcracker", he reached the finals, where he will play on 9th of December. Let's wish him luck! 

I was very pleased to visit Minsk, today my German tour continues, but the concert there, meeting with the Belarusian audience were infinitely touching, emotional and romantic.