Eliso Virsaladze plays Mozart

Mozart - Rondo Alla Turca (Turkish March)
*********************

By Olga Fyodorova
One day, in the spring of 1962, the phone started ringing in the Moscow apartment of Conservatory Professor Yakov Zak. "Yes? Where are they calling from? Tbilisi? Put them through, please!" It's got to be Professor Anastasiya Virsaladze, - Professor thought, - and this woman is too no nonsense to call just to chat about trifles! It's got to be something real important. "Hello, Anastasiya, I knew it was you! Want to show me one of your students? Any time! I know how good they are and would be happy to take up any one of them. You give them such great piano training that one needn't bother teaching them the right technique and can move right on to high class! Who's she? How old? Nineteen? So young! You want her to take part in the Tchaikovsky competition?! ... Well, well... And what's her name? Virsaladze?! One of your namesakes or a relative? Your granddaughter?! Bring her in, I will audition her, I promise. A deal? Come over, both of you, I'll be waiting..." Professor Zak was immediately impressed by young Eliso's playing and even more than that, by her poetic soul, elegant, aristocratic finesse and mature playing manner. Several months later the 19-year-old Eliso Virsaladze won the third prize at the Tchaikovsky competition -- a real coup de force for such a young pianist. "Her playing is so amazingly harmonious and poetic," went one such account, "her command of the instrument is absolutely amazing and her sound palette would make many more experienced players envious..." Eliso Virsaladze was born into an artistic family in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Her grandmother Anastasia, one of the republic's best known music teachers, set the tone as an excellent musician and a wise and bighearted woman. Eliso started playing in competitions early on. Starting out winning a number of regional ones she then moved on to win bronze at the 1961 competition of young performers and later finished third participating in the prestigious Tchaikovsky international competition in Moscow. Several years later she triumphed at the Schumann international competition at Zwickau, Germany. Her childhood penchant for romantically-tinged music eventually made her one of the world's best performers of Schubert, Chopin and, above all, Schumann... Graduating from the Tbilisi Conservatory, Eliso Virsaladze continued her education doing postgraduate work at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of her good old friend Professor Yakov Zak who was carefully honing her exceptional skills... Tight-lipped and introverted, Eliso still proved a perfect friend and stage partner well-known colleagues really loved to play with. Always sensitive and attentive to her partner's ways, Eliso enjoyed ensemble playing and each her concert with the famous Borodin string quartet was a celebration... Her partnership with the brilliant cellist Natalya Gutman has also been a head-spinning success... Partnering with the Borodon string quartet, Natalya Gutman and others, Eliso Virsaladze played at top-notch European chamber music festivals, including the December Nights festival in Moscow organized by the late pianist Svyatoslav Richter. Playing with the formidable Richter was a great honor and responsibility and Eliso still retains warm and tender memories of those unforgettable moments... Svyatoslav Richter is gone now but his December Nights festival lives on and Eliso Virsaladze always makes sure to be there... Eliso is a world-renowned pianist playing at the world's most prestigious venues, teaching at the Moscow Conservatory, giving master classes around the world, and making excellent recordings... Once, years back, her grandmother told her: "If you want to achieve much, never hurry. You should feel as if you had all the time in the world. Only a free person has time for everything..." That's exactly what Eliso Virsaladze, a brilliant pianist, a beautiful woman and an extremely talented person, has been doing all her life...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• eliso
• virsaladze
• mozart
• turkish
• rondo
• piano

[beethoven4ever]

Dear Truecrypt, if you are still accepting "fan requests", may i please ask for more Virsaladze? Her simple and yet profound musicality is quite addictive.

I hope all is well.

[truecrypt]

I'd love to but... you know - there are certain issues with contemporary performers. I'll see what we can do though... ;)

[toliebi]

Great job! It's the first time I hear rondo alla Turca played in moderato and it feels awesome. I'm proud she is from Georgia!:)

[pianopera]

"If you want to achieve much, never hurry. You should feel as if you had all the time in the world. Only a free person has time for everything..."

Just quoting the words of her grandmother, and she sure takes all the time in this Mozart! I would like to hear her play in concert...

[Gorrddo]

if you have clicked on dislike button on purpose then you must be an idiot

[SofoQutaisi]

Eliso Virsaladze is Georgian!!!!!

[lizakopelman]

Elisso Virsaladze is one of the best interpreters of Mozart !

[janvandoedelpuk]

@lashaberi but russian pianoschool

[lashaberi]

@janvandoedelpuk she is not Russian, she is Georgian!

[janvandoedelpuk]

A russian playing Mozart. And not just to show versatility. A rare combination.

this is first class Mozart playing.

[satemsh]

@Pierinopasquotti she's not russian she is Georgian!

[Pierinopasquotti]

La musica di Mozart è oro e la grande maestra russa Elisso Virsaladze la indora ancora di più.

[aomf58]

Totally amazing!

Can't stop listening it.

[marhomist]

Superior performance!

Thanks to Truecrypt for uploading!