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 The
name of Vladimir
Besfamilnoff is synonymous with originality in the history
of accordion performance. His many years on concert tour earned
him wide critical acclaim and sincere praise from prominent artists.
The young performer's first musical steps were with his father.
Later he studied with Tkachyov at the Saratov Music School and
with Zhuromsky at the Kiev School of Music. His education includes
completing graduate and post-graduate studies at the Kiev Conservatorium
of Music "Tchaikovsky" under the guidance of the esteemed professor
Nikolay Rizol. Besfamilnoff's first musical success was winning
an inter-school competition in 1940 in the Saratov region. Thereafter
followed successes at national and international competitions
from 1956 to 1959 in Moscow, Brussels and Vienna.
Besfamilnoff won 3rd prize at the
Coupe
Mondiale (held in Brussels in 1958) and was in the team of
the first Soviet competitors competing at the Coupe. After his
performance of the test piece written by the Belgium composer
Jul Katy, Besfamilnoff received a score from the composer with
the following inscription "To the great and sensitive performer
of my music, Vladimir Besfamilnoff, with deepest admiration of
his talent, in memory of this significant day. With friendly greetings,
Jul Katy".
Soon the name of this talented musician
became famous across the USSR and abroad. Besfamilnoff then began
an active career as a soloist touring the world, television broadcasts,
archive recordings for Ukrainian radio, recordings with recording
company "Melodiya", participation in Juries of international competitions
and seminars, etc. In time his own students have received over
40 prizes at prestigious competitions. The Kampuchean Academy
of Arts honoured him with a gold medal and the title "Esteemed
Cavalier". The Russian Gnessin Academy awarded him a silver disk
for "Contribution to the art of accordion".
In Ukraine Vladimir Besfamilnoff
was the first international prize winner on the accordion, the
first accordionist to tour as a soloist, the first to perform
concertos with a symphony orchestra, chamber wind and entertainment
orchestra. As an accordion soloist he was first to be awarded
the titles "Honoured Artist of Ukraine" and "Peoples Artist of
Ukraine" by the State.
For thirty years Besfamilnoff has
taught at the National Academy of Music in Kiev (Ukraine). Many
of his students have become well-known in various countries, including
Vladimir
Zubitsky ( Italy), Tatjana
Lukic-Marx (Australia), F. Guerret and M. Bruno (France),
S. Markovich (Austria), D. Modrushan (Croatia), D. Dunne (Ireland),
S. Neshich (Germany), J. Djordjevich, G. Tirnanich, S. Perich,
N. Yankov (Yugoslavia), D. Kljajic (Bosnia), J. Dimitrijevich
(Greece), A. Mamalyga (USA), S. Ivanovich and S. Milosevich (Switzerland),
Y. Froloff (Russia), L. Trofimenko, N. Shumskiy, A Besfamilnoff,
V. Khavrun, L. Padi, S. Chumak, N. Kistenyoff (Ukraine) and many
others.
I couldn't have ever imagined that
one day I would be in a position to write about Vladimir Besfamilnoff
- my teacher and the man I have the deepest respect and admiration
for. But, here I am - writing a review on Besfamilnoff's recording
and I cannot promise that I will not be subjective as, knowing
him for the past 20 years, I have grown to highly value his musicianship
and share a warm friendship with him.
A collection of recordings recorded
between 1952 and 1990 from the Ukrainian Radio Archives, has been
released on 12 CD's. For this particular review I have chosen
Volume 12 for its extraordinary content.
Besfamilnoff has been a pioneer
in many accordion areas, one of them playing with other instruments,
symphony and chamber orchestras. On most of this recording he
performs with the pipe organ (recorded at Kiev's Hall of Chamber
and Organ Music), compositions written for two claviers by Baroque
composers and transcribed for the accordion and organ. What an
awesome combination! The beauty of the sound these two instruments
create is just stunning!
Another part of the recording are
various virtuoso transcriptions of romantic miniatures of which
Besfamilnoff is considered by his colleges to be a master of.
An important part of the successful
combination of accordion and organ is the instrument Basfamilnoff
plays. It is a unique, fully hand-made instrument (from the first
to the last screw), by famous Russian accordion builder Vasilij
Kolchin. Kolchin was considered an undisputed expert in that area,
building the instruments of ingenious construction and design.
Another area Besfamilnoff pioneered
is promoting new and unusual repertoires. It is not that well
known that Edward Grieg wrote part of the second piano for 4 of
Mozart's piano sonatas, creating unique duets where the classical
style of Mozart is combined with the romantic style of Grieg.
Throughout his career Besfamilnoff played this Sonata with pianists
and on this recording with the organist.
Besfamilnoff's performing style
is quite unique. His playing has wonderful concentration and a
power of communication that is so characteristic of his performance.
In his performance of the Baroque and Classical pieces, the clarity
of articulation and luminous phrasing were always to me a source
of unstinted admiration. His playing is classically pure and contained,
with directness, warmth and simplicity of line. In the romantic
virtuoso transcriptions, his instinctive rubato only emphasised
the vigorous strength of his rhythms in general. His interpretation
is so harmonious in every aspect, so organic and spontaneous,
that I was totally overwhelmed while listening to it. What struck
me most was the great purity of line throughout the whole performance
and of course there is this wonderful emotional sense.
Exceptional recording! *****
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