Nikolai Vuković in a Recital of his Piano Music - 3rd April 2013

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• published: 11 Jun 2013
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Nikolai Vuković in a Recital of his Piano Music -- 3rd April 2013 at Sala Isouard, Manoel Theatre, Valletta, Malta. Programme • Impromptu in E-flat major 0:34 • Scherzetto in C minor 6:42 • Għal Dejjem -- Pisani-Vuković (Arrangement of Nikolai Vuković on the song entitled 'Għal Dejjem' meaning 'Forever', by Francis Xavier Pisani) 13:03 • Prelude 18:24 and Concert Study in G minor, Opus 2 21:45 • Romance in F-sharp major, Opus 4 No. 1 28:08 • Three Waltzes, Opus 3 (No. 1 in B-flat minor 33:44, No. 2 in A-flat major 38:10, No. 3 in C-sharp minor 44:07) (In this recital, Nikolai Vuković is the composer, performer and piano tuner) Nikolai Vuković -- A Biography Nikolai Vuković is a self-taught pianist, composer, concert piano tuner and concert harpsichord tuner. He was born in Malta on the 2nd of April, 1978 to a musical family. Nikolai too showed a natural inclination to music but it was only at the age of ten that his grandmother, the late Hilda Vuković, a soprano and pianist, gave him the opportunity to study piano. Being a very exacting person, she taught Nikolai the basics in his piano studies, but, due to the irregularity of lessons, after less than a year he went in search of another piano teacher. Remarkably, in only his first year of playing the piano, Nikolai composed his very first piece -- a tango in C major in ternary form with a C minor middle section. Nikolai moved on to another piano teacher but the lessons were not successful and he decided to teach himself. He would spend countless hours at the piano, trying to figure out for himself the answers to the endless and mind-boggling questions regarding the interpretation of music and piano technique. Against all odds, it is in this long period that Nikolai learnt a major part of his repertoire and thoroughly absorbed the language of music: harmony, melody and form, just as a newborn absorbs a language solely through listening to its parents. In 2009, Nikolai met Dr Ibrahim Souss who was to become his greatest musical inspiration. Dr Souss was a highly-regarded concert pianist, who studied at the École Normal de Music in Paris with the founder -- the legendary concert pianist Alfred Cortot, amongst other greats. Dr Souss shared a lot of knowledge and skill that had been passed onto him by the great Cortot, with Nikolai. The Prelude and Concert Study, Opus 2 are dedicated to Dr Souss. In 2010 and 2011, Nikolai took masterclasses with concert pianist Prof. Yuri Didenko, professor at the Moscow State Conservatory and a pupil of the great Victor Merzhanov. Throughout his career, Nikolai has befriended some of the foremost local musicians and music educators, including pianists, Alexei Galea and Sofia Narmania; music psychologist and educator, Lynne Fenech; and Australian concert pianist, Robert Weatherburn to whom the Three Waltzes, Opus 3 are dedicated. These and others significantly helped to mould Nikolai and make him into the artist he is today. Nikolai has also taught himself piano tuning and servicing. He has been tuning and servicing pianos for the past eighteen years and his ever-growing experience, skill, unmatched meticulousness and unrelenting urge to learn has made him one of Malta's leading piano and harpsichord tuner and technicians. He is also the resident tuner at Teatru Manoel -- the national theatre of Malta, and tunes pianos and harpsichords for many local and world-known artists at international events and concerts. Today, Nikolai continues to add to his many compositions. His style evidently does not evolve from the modernism of the 20th century and his 21st century contemporaries, but has been likened to that of late-Chopin, Liszt and early Scriabin. His music is instilled primarily with a Russian sensibility whilst the influence of Romantic and Impressionistic composers is also to be noted.