Tomislav Bajnov
The concert was initiated by the Organ Hall in cooperation with the Goethe-Zentrum and the Tomislav Bajnov Ensemble itself. “The idea was to show the Chisinau public an unusual format of piano music – playing on one or more pianos in six and eight hands – commented Corina Girla, director of the Goethe-Zentrum. – “Baynov Piano Ensemble” performs in Chisinau for the first time in such a composition, and for the city it is really a rare opportunity to hear such an ensemble “live”, not only on recordings. Baynov Ensemble is one of the few professional ensembles in the world that specializes in music for several pianos and “many hands” – from six hands at one instrument to eight pianos and thirty-two hands”.
“The uniqueness of the concert is that two quartets performed,” says Inna Khatipova. – And eight hands were played by teachers of the conservatory more than ten years ago. The Moldavian ensemble was gathered on the occasion of this concert in order to create a dialog between musicians from the two countries. The proposal to involve local pianists came from the Bainov Ensemble. The ensemble itself could have played in two sections – it has a huge repertoire. But precisely because it promotes ensemble playing, I wanted to attract more performers.
Participating in this kind of project first and foremost enriches the sound, the pianist admits. “When the sounds of two, at least, instruments merge into a single whole, it’s incredibly mesmerizing. All the effects, scale, nuances are amplified. Secondly – co-creation: completely different musicians come together, each with their own sense of sound, time and taste. And everyone has to adjust to each other, make concessions, listen to how the other plays. And the third point is mutual enrichment.
And where do “multi-armed” bands find sheet music? “For example, there is a popular website IMSLP, where a lot of sheet music is collected,” Khatipova explains. – Usually these are arrangements from opera music, symphonic music – that is, it is the orchestral sound that musicians are trying to reproduce with the help of a large group of pianists”.
In 1997, Tomislav Bainov launched a project offering courses and master classes in six- and eight-handed piano playing. His academic work and lectures are aimed at preserving and revitalizing the ancient traditions of multi-hand piano performance. He currently has 400 works written for six hands. Bainov is president of the only “International Six-Handed Piano Competition” in Germany. Tomislav Bainov is the founder and chairman of the “Association for the Promotion of Piano Playing in Several Hands”. Thanks to his initiative, radio programs, mainly with music for six hands, interviews and reviews of works are regularly broadcast in Germany, Bulgaria, Canada, Japan and Slovakia.
Baynov’s creative activities span all five continents and include numerous solo, chamber and orchestral recitals (42 piano concertos in his repertoire), 20 CD recordings as well as radio and television recordings in Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Austria, South Africa, Australia, Canada, Korea and Chile.
