Tchaikovsky Competition sets first records

A record number of entries from around the world has been submitted to one of the most prestigious and influential music contests - the 14th International Tchaikovsky Competition, held once every four years in the Russian capital.

­Among the countries vying to take part in one of the major events in the global music community for more than 50 years are Russia, America, South Korea, Japan and China.

The Organizing Committee for the 2011 competition is chaired by one of the world’s most towering classical musicians, Maestro Valery Gergiev, general director and artistic director of St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Gergiev has described the Tchaikovsky Competition as a “great event, steeped in the rich heritage of our Russian musical culture.”

“We have done our utmost to establish conditions that will enable young musicians to perform at their best. We have sought out jury members who are both ideally qualified and admirably unbiased; we have selected a repertoire that will allow young musicians to reveal their talents to the full; we have secured the best orchestras and conductors, and the most renowned concert halls in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In doing all this, we have consistently thought first and foremost of the competitors. And after the competition, I am personally committed to introducing the laureates to the world in concerts that I will conduct in Russia, Europe and America,” the conductor explained.

Among the jury members this year are some of the top performers of the world, as well as a number of past Tchaikovsky Competition winners, such as the legendary Van Cliburn, who caused a sensation when he won back in 1958, in the inaugural Tchaikovsky Piano Competition.

The piano strand this time around will be judged by, among others, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Barry Douglas (both former Tchaikovsky Competition winners), Michel Beroff, Yefim Bronfman and Nelson Freire.

The judges for the violin category include Anne-Sophie Mutter, Leonidas Kavakos, Maksim Vengerov and Nikolaj Znaider.

The cello competition will be appraised by such luminaries as Mario Brunello (winner in 1986), Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum, Antonio Meneses and Clive Gillinson (former orchestral cellist and now Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall).

For the vocal section, the line-up includes, among others, Elena Obraztsova (winner in 1970) and Plcido Domingo, who will act as Honorary Chairman of the competition.

Among past winners of the competition are pianists Van Cliburn, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Grigory Sokolov and Boris Berezovsky; violinists Gidon Kremer and Vladimir Spivakov; cellists Antonio Meneses, Natalia Gutman and Mario Brunello; and singers Evgeny Nesterenko, Paata Burchuladze, Elena Obraztsova and Deborah Voigt.