
"He has a barnstorming virtuoso technique in the familiar
"take-no-prisoners" Soviet tradition. He easily commands many of the
attributes that distinguish his school of playing: the huge, colorful
sonority that never becomes forced or brittle; the penchant for
heart-on-sleeve lyrical expressiveness,"
- New York Concert Review
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…superbly prepared technically and plays with engaging warmth and
emotional directness.
The Baltimore Sun
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…Einstein said, “Paganni represented virtuosity,
Chopin transcended it:” in yesterday’s concert, Svoysky interpreted the
composer’s genius very skillfully… A critic once said of Chopin’s Etudes,
“Those who have twisted fingers may cure them by practicing these Etudes,
but those who have not should not play them, at least not unless they have
a surgeon handy.” Vladimir Svoysky had neither twisted fingers nor a
doctor at yesterday afternoon’s concert, but he had firm control of the
Etudes in the concert that featured Beethoven, Schumann and Rachmaninov as
well. (12/10/90)
Molly Bell
The Richmond News Leader
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He is such a phenomenal pianist - It's
just a privilege to be on stage with him.
Oscar Felieu
Artistic Director of Savannah Performing Art Center
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In an order established by lot, each finalist
conducted the work of his choice. Opening this final stage of competition
was Vladimir Svoysky, formerly musical director of the Krasnoyarsky
Symphony in Russia, who selected the Shostakovich “Festive Overture” to
conduct. From the first sounds of the opening brass fanfare, it was
evident that Mr. Svoysky was in full command of the orchestra which
responded crisply to his controlled, polished conducting style. After the
broad opening, he set an exceptionally brisk tempo for the main part of
the work which dazzled with its flashing scales, snappy accompaniment
figures and brilliant burst of orchestral color.
…the announcement of the final decision of the
judges…that the winner of the Janet Hoeschler Award was Vladimir Svoysky.
(8/9/82)
A Review by David
Kraehenbuehl
Great River Festival of Arts, Wisconsin
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The office of Cultural Affairs continues to get
compliments for your spectacular performance…The virtuosity and Russian
flavor…were superb. (12/6/93)
…You have a passion for life and feeling that comes
through so beautifully in your music…What a fantastic performance!...
(9/29/94)
Christian C. Goodell
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
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Music critic Molly Bell of the Richmond News Leader
wrote on Mr. Svoysky’s piano recital:
“Svoysky met the challenge of playing…
(‘Etudes’ by Chopin) … The dizzying whirls of keys and making them
coherent, colorful pictures of sound… The program ended with three
Preludes of Rachmaninov from Op. 23… The dark mood and Russian flavor were
at times magnificent, …and the demanding mixture of lyricism and technical
prowess, especially at the end of such a strenuous program, proved
Svoysky’s stamina as well as spirit.”
Molly Bell
Richmond News Leader
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The Villages™ Daily Sun
Monday, December 6, 1999
Rare talent resides in pianist Svoysky
By Glenda Sanders
Daily Sun
The Villages – Beyond technical
excellence, beyond even passion and the driving will to produce music,
there is a quality that cannot be bought, taught or achieved. That quality
is talent – talent that not only enables a musician to produce music, but
compels him to.
Such talent is rare, and rarer still is
the coupling of that talent with an environment that nurtures it to full
potential.
Villagers bore witness to
such a talent Sunday evening at the Church on the Square when Vladimir
Svoysky sat down at the piano to play Beethoven. Later he would move from
the works of Beethoven, which he described as “classical and dramatic” to
the “lyrical and romantic” compositions of his fellow countrymen
Rachmaninoff.
Fate blessed countless
audiences by putting a raw talent like Svoysky into the household of a
professional violinist, his father. Had he been the son of a banker, he
would doubtless have discovered music, but probably would not have the
immersion in it that enabled him to become so much a part of the music
that he is performing.
Svoysky began studying piano
around 8 years old, but he was a conductor even earlier.
“My orchestra was my
sisters,” he said. Their instruments were makeshift toys that produced
sounds that fell below the expectations of this budding conductor, so he
beat them with his makeshift baton. His sisters ran to their mother
crying. She, in turn, demanded to know young Vladimir was mistreating
them.
“Because they play the wrong
music,” he told her.
He conducts symphonies and
operas as well as playing piano in concert.
Numerous standing ovations
and a pregnant pause between the end of an emotional rendering of the
first movement of Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 and the applause bespoke
the audience’s appreciation of his performance.
As villager Jean Hurbart put
it, “Such talent – and it’s not even New York.”
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