Emanuil Ivanov in Perivale
Humility, simplicity and mastery take St Mary’s by storm
I first heard Emanuil in the 2018/2019 Busoni Competition where he was awarded the Gold Medal.
His playing was remarkable for its clarity and agility rather than its depth and weight – in fact I described his Brahms ‘Handel Variations’ as a short back and sides Brahms! And he won the competition playing Saint Saens rather than Beethoven . His early training and ferocious discipline as a child in Bulgaria had given him a technical preparation that can only be acquired whilst the hand is being formed. His intelligence and musicianship of good taste was always present which is not always the case with wonderfully trained pianists from the East. It was a few years later that I heard him again in Capua ,the city of the bells, near to Naples and it was here that I was bowled over by his Beethoven op 31 n. 2 which was one of the finest from every point of view.
Read more here at Christopher Axworthy’s blog
