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World Jewish News
Honorary Member of the World Club of Odessa Inhabitants Chairs Eilat Festival
25.02.2009
From February 22 to March 1, the Fourth International Festival of Chamber Music will be held in Eilat. Do not confuse with two other festivals of classical music (Israel Chamber Orchestra Festival and the Classics on the Red Sea – more commercial and tourist-oriented), with dozens of non-classical music events, and another two dozen very different festivals. Moreover, one of them - "Classics on the Red Sea" - will begin when a festival of chamber music has not yet finished – on February 26. In fact, it is impossible not to mix up, the more so that a lot of Russian musicians, born in the FSU and have been living in Europe for a long time already, are involved in all festivals.
The participants of the Chamber Festival are the musicians with ringing names, like all Italian music: violinists Pavel Vernikov (artistic director of the festival), Julian Rakhlin, Maxim Vengerov, composer Giya Kancheli, cellist Natalia Gutman, pianist Alexei Igudesman, the director of the festival - Leonid Rosenberg, also a violinist, who arrived in Israel in the year 1977. In total, the festival will be attended by some two dozen soloists and two orchestras – Eilat Festival Orchestra and "Il Fondamento" - an orchestra of Baroque music – Brussels ancient music ensemble. We can and should tell about all musicians, but we will start with violinist Paul Vernikov. This year, he became the artistic director of the festival and through personal connections (they are strong in the field of classical music as well), has been able to attract world-class performers. Paul Vernikov not only directs the festival, but will also hold a master class, and, of course, will participate in the concerts themselves. On February 24, he plays in Cesar Franck's piano quintet and piano sextet of Jean Français, and also performs "Carnival of Animals" by Saint-Saens. On February 25, he will participate in a concert of Giya Kancheli, and on February 28 - in the performance of Tchaikovsky's Trio.
Paul Vernikov is one of modern violin virtuosi, a star, who won a reputation over 20 years ago. He comes from the famous Odessa school named after Stolyarsky, graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, is a famous musician in Europe, winner of international competitions, professor, a brilliant world-famous teacher, teaches at the University of Vienna, a permanent soloist of the Concertgebau orchestra.
He is called a violinist of Odessa, Ukraine, Israel, but not Italy, although he has lived there for many years with an Italian wife and two sons, and directs a chamber music festival in a small Italian town of Porto Gruaro near Venice, where he also founded the school of artistic skills improvement.
He is not only a wonderful musician, but also a great storyteller with a remarkable sense of humor. During one of his visits to Odessa, Paul Vernikov was awarded a card of the Honorary Member of the World Club of Odessa Inhabitants.
He is also the organizer of the Higher Russian Academy in Porto Gruaro, where brilliantly embodies the best advantages of Russian violin school - because his teachers had been David Oistrakh and Semen Snitkovsky (also student of Oistrakh). Even while studying at the conservatory, Vernikov won many music competitions in the USSR, and also performed as soloist with orchestras in Moscow, Odessa, Kiev and Novosibirsk.
Vernikov conducts master classes and seminars throughout the world, including the National Conservatory in Paris, the «Gohshule» in Stuttgart, Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv, as well as during the Festival of Kazals in Prado (Spain).
High professionalism allows Paul Vernikov to record a lot at the recording companies RCA, Ondine, Dymanic.
He now plays the famous violin "Baron Knoop" by Pietro Guarneri (Venice, 1743), owned by the Italian Foundation Fondazione Pro Canale of Milan. This exquisite instrument of the celebrated master enjoys a bright reputation among connoisseurs and artists. Outwardly, this is a real masterpiece of art. The violin has a big format. Well-preserved is its dark-red Venetian varnish, and strength of tone and timbre are unique.
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