Alexander Zinovievich Bonduryansky |
Alexander Bonduriansky
This pianist is well known to lovers of chamber instrumental music. For many years now he has been performing as part of the Moscow Trio, which has gained wide popularity both in our country and abroad. It is Bonduryansky who is its permanent participant; now the pianist’s partners are violinist V. Ivanov and cellist M. Utkin. Obviously, the artist could successfully advance along the usual “solo road”, however, he decided to devote himself primarily to ensemble music making and achieved significant conquests along this path. Of course, he made a significant contribution to the competitive success of the chamber ensemble, which received the second prize at the competition in Munich (1969), the first at the Belgrade competition (1973), and finally, the gold medal at the Musical May festival in Bordeaux (1976). A whole sea of remarkable chamber music sounded in the interpretation of the Moscow Trio – ensembles of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and many other composers. And the reviews always emphasize the magnificent skill of the performer of the piano part. “Alexander Bonduryansky is a pianist who combines brilliant virtuosity with a clearly expressed conductor-volitional beginning,” writes L. Vladimirov in the Musical Life magazine. The critic N. Mikhailova also agrees with him. Pointing to the scale of Bonduryansky’s playing, she emphasizes that it is he who plays the role of a kind of director in the trio, uniting, coordinating the intentions of this living musical organism. Naturally, specific artistic tasks to a certain extent affect the functions of the ensemble members, however, a certain dominant of their performing style is always preserved.
After graduating from the Chisinau Institute of Arts in 1967, the young pianist took postgraduate studies at the Moscow Conservatory. Its leader, D. A. Bashkirov, noted in 1975: “During the time after graduating from the postgraduate course of the Moscow Conservatory, the artist has been continuously growing. His pianism is becoming more and more multifaceted, the sound of the instrument, previously somewhat leveled, is more interesting and multicolored. He seems to cement the ensemble with his will, sense of form, accuracy of thinking.
Despite the extremely active touring activity of the Moscow Trio, Bonduryansky, although not very often, performs with solo programs. Thus, reviewing the pianist’s Schubert evening, L. Zhivov points out both the excellent virtuoso qualities of the musician and his rich sound palette. Assessing Bonduryansky’s interpretation of the famous fantasy “Wanderer”, the critic emphasizes: “This work requires pianistic scope, great strength of emotions, and a clear sense of form from the performer. Bonduryansky showed a mature understanding of the innovative spirit of fantasy, boldly emphasizing register finds, inventive elements of piano virtuosity, and most importantly, managed to find a single core in the diverse musical content of this romantic composition. These qualities are also characteristic of other best performing achievements of the artist in the classical and modern repertoire.
Grigoriev L., Platek Ya., 1990
