REVIEWS OF THE XII VIANNA DA MOTTA INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPETITION
It has now been over 7 months since The XII Vianna da Motta International Competition was held in Macau, June 15-July 5, 1997 and the foundation has received several articles and reviews from press that covered the competition. The following is a selection of quotes regarding prizewinners and the competition itself.
“(Tao Chang’s Liszt B minor Sonata) in the final solo round...showed an impressive range of color and a positively ferocious intensity.”
“Jill Lawson reveal(ed) great promise at the age of 22 in an explosive Bartok Im Frein and an especially sparkling finale of the Saint-Saëns Second Piano Concerto.” -Shirley Fleming, American Record Guide

“The 12th edition of the competition had exemplar organization.”
“Chang was able to instill in his interpretation (of Rachmaninov’s 2nd) a balance between technique and expression on one hand and restraint and enthusiasm on the other.” -Bernardo Mariano, Music in Macau

"(Conductor Leon Gee)... proved a sensitive, supportive, listening accompanist..." -Michael White, The Sunday Independent, London

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MASTER, VIANNA DA MOTTA
Vianna da Motta lived from 1868 until 1948 and he was an artist of fundamental importance in the realm of modern piano performance. As Franz Liszt’s last major pupil, he helped found a new tradition of piano playing which was both brilliant and yet tempered. Known throughout Europe as a great performer and teacher, he eventually resided in Berlin, where he shared with the Italian Ferruccio Busoni, a leadership among the talented group of pianists who settled there after the death of Liszt. Among them were D’Albert, Carreño, Hofmann, Rachmaninoff, Rosenthal, Schnabel, and Scriabin.

Forced to leave Berlin because of World War I, da Motta eventually took a position in Geneva where he taught the Conservatory’s class of virtuosity; a class over which Liszt had presided in previous years.

Although highly regarded by those who knew his performance and teaching, da Motta is not widely known to this generation because he rarely toured out of Portugal after the war and left precious few recordings.  Through the great success of the Vianna da Motta International Piano Competitions, the Foundation hopes to continue the legacy of such great artistry and pedagogy which was known in the man Vianna da Motta.

NEWS AND ACTIVITES REGARDING FORMER PRIZEWINNERS OF PAST VIANNA DA MOTTA COMPETITIONS
An ongoing feature of the newsletter will be infomation about former prizewinners of past Vianna da Motta Competitions. Many of the “alumni” from the past competitions enjoy prestigious careers in performance and teaching. Here is the news for this issue:    

TEOFILS BIKIS (tied for 1st prize, 1975)
Since sharing the First Prize in the VII Vianna da Motta Competition, Mr. Bikis has been very active in both teaching and performing situations. Within the past 3 years he has given solo recitals and masterclasses in Finland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic and he has performed with The Riga Philharmonic Orchestra. He has taken part in the juries for several international piano competitions including Jazeps Vitols (Latvia), Ilmari Hainikainena (Finland) and Ciurlionis (Lithuania). He has had several pupils honored as prizewinners in these competitions and also in The Antonin Dvorak International Piano Competition. Mr. Bikis has the distinction of holding the current office of President of The Latvian Branch of the European Piano Teachers Association. Teofils Bikis continues his teaching as a professor of piano at The Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, Latvia since 1989 and he has been Chair of the Piano Department since 1993.

GERARDO RIBEIRO (tied for 1st prize-Violin, 1973)
Although the competition’s history has been primarily for piano, there have been 2 occasions when Violin was involved: In 1991, when the event had 2 factions of competition for Piano and Violin respectively, and 1973 when the competition was exclusively for Violin. The shared First Prize Winner of this competition, the XI edition, was Gerardo Ribeiro, who shared this prize with Ida Kavafian.

In 1998, Mr. Ribeiro will be performing recitals in Chicago and various regions in Portugal and concerts with orchestra will take place at Northwestern University in Illinois; Lisbon, Portugal; and Memphis, Tennessee. He will also be giving master classes during trips to Evanston and Lisbon.

NAUM SHTARKMAN (1st prize, 1957)
Naum Shtarkman who was the First Prize Winner of the very first Vianna da Motta Competition in 1957 recently celebrated his 70th birthday and in so doing was giving concerts during the 1997-98 season in Moscow. He also played in Portugal in August 1997 and in May 1998 he will be giving a series of concerts in Japan. In addition to his performances, Mr. Shtarkman has recorded 3 CDs in America of works of Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven.

NEW INFORMATION ABOUT VMF RECORDS, THE VIANNA DA MOTTA MUSIC FOUNDATION RECORD LABEL
The Newest CD Release: SEQUEIRA COSTA Live at Bulgaria Hall
VMF, the label of The Vianna da Motta Foundation has been very active of late. A brand new CD has just been released in January of 1998 by Sequeira Costa entitled “Live at Bulgaria Hall”. This exquisite performance was recorded live by Classic FM Radio in a recital given by Sequeira Costa at Bulgaria Hall in Sofia, Bulgaria in April 1996. This disc includes works by Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel, Albeniz, Moskowsky and Rachmaninov and captures the excitement of a live performance.

Sequeira Costa is also in the process of recording the complete cycle of The 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas. This is a significant project which will be a future VMF release.

Also beginning with this newsletter, the VMF label is pleased to announce that orders can be made directly to the foundation for any CD in the catalog. Watch for several other new CD additions to the catalog in the coming months, as there are many projects in the works.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT ISSUE:

• Updates about the performance activities of Tao Chang, The First Prize Winner of The XII Vianna da Motta International Music Competition

• Continuing information concerning the VMF label, including planned CD releases of prizewinners

• News about the planning stages of The XIII Vianna da Motta International Music Competition to be held in 1999.
  
• Background regarding the archives of the Foundation.
  
• Updates about other former prizewinners of past Vianna da Motta Music Competitions including Vladimir Krainev, William DeVan and Ida Kavafian.
  

Until next time, Best Wishes from The Vianna da Motta International Music Foundation