Virtuoso support for young talents
Doğan Hızlan, 15.01.2012

What did Orhan Veli Kanık say?

“My childish heart is free from worries.” Today, you should do what that line suggests.
Take a break from the worries of the day, put the CD titled ‘’Young Musicians on World Stages with Güher & Süher Pekinel’’(*) in your CD player, then listen and relax.

Afterwards decide for yourself how well the virtuosos of tomorrow can play.
You can also watch the DVD and truly see the passion and enthusiasm on the faces of these young performers.

It takes a lot of work to become a virtuoso.

In the album booklet, Güher & Süher Pekinel wrote an article titled Why young performers and why chamber music? In it, they describe the basic idea and goal of the project. Let’s hear what they have to say:  “The goal for organizing a project with young talent is to enable musical performers who have been professionally trained to compete on the world stage with their own unique identity. In addition to being inspired by the energy we share, the goal is to create every possible opportunity for our scholars to work with the best musicians and pedagogues so that they can not only participate in the best orchestras and become academic staff in the top conservatories in Turkey, but also start an international career. (…)

We focused on chamber music groups in the concert programs that we have prepared. Chamber music requires the performer to be an accomplished and knowledgeable soloist in every way. Even more importantly, chamber music opens the door for the musician to add their own style and instantly share the music they create with the other musicians, thus enabling the musicians to reach their intellectual and musical peak.”

This article is followed by articles written by Burhan Karahan and Oya Narin.

The project began in 2010 with the purpose of training world-class musicians in Turkey.
The goal of the project is to bring in well-known, internationally acclaimed teachers and musicians to train unusually talented young musicians who we will soon hear about on the world stage.

Who are the young performers?
I will only give their names here, because the album includes a short bio for each of them: Eren Aydoğan, Dorukhan Doruk, Veriko Tchumburidze, Elvin Hoxha, Yunus Tuncalı, Kıvanç Tire, Yusuf Çelik, Ege Banaz and Yağızcan Keskin.

Which composers did they perform?
S. Rachmaninoff, P. de Sarasate, M. Ravel, G. Tartini, G. Cassado, F. Mendelssohn, R. Schumann and W. Lutoslawski.
The album also features the biographies of Güher & Süher Pekinel and Efdal Altun. You should definitely read what the young performers have to say about music and their careers.

* * *

The last piece that I listened to on this CD was W. Lutoslawski’s Paganini Variations.
The way they played it took me back to when I heard Güher & Süher Pekinel play this composition many years ago at a concert at the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum.
Sometimes I still listen to the ‘’long play’’ that was released by Deutsche Grammophon.
Süher Pekinel added a note to this memory of mine: “We have not played Rachmaninoff or Bartok for years. We are letting it age and improve inside us. We will include them in the repertoire of our upcoming concerts.”

I don’t think there could be better news than that.

(*) CD+DVD album released by Lila Müzik.