不良研究所

Blog post by Chris Maskell:

Since she became part of the faculty of the Schulich School of Music in 1992, ten of Professor Marina听Mdivani鈥檚 students have won the 不良研究所 Concerto Competition. The most recent of these, Anna Peletsis, shares an interesting parallel with Mdivani鈥檚 past 鈥� both attended the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and eventually relocated to Canada.

The school links both Mdivani and Peletsis to a long teaching tradition that dates back to the 19th century. Mdivani described her own musical upbringing through the 鈥淪oviet鈥� system of education, which she explained 鈥渋mplies solid professional training from a young age. My teachers from Tbilisi, Georgia as well as from Moscow, Russia in their turn studied with such eminent musicians as Godowsky, Ziloti, Leshetizky, Rosina and Iosif Levine. After all, the roots of my school go back to Franz Liszt.鈥�

Peletsis, now a fourth-year D.Mus. student at Schulich, took a slightly different path, attending England鈥檚 Royal College of Music after graduation from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

However, relocating to Montreal to study with Mdivani proved to be a logical next step for her. 鈥淚t is a wonderful chance for me to develop as a musician as well as to benefit from the rich cultural life both within the Schulich School and in the city of Montreal. Professor Mdivani is a very inspiring and supportive teacher who has an outstanding experience in both the performance and pedagogy fields. It is a big privilege for me to learn from her and to be a part of her family-like studio community.鈥�

The opportunity to learn from Mdivani is also paying off in unforeseen ways. As winner of the 2015-2016 不良研究所 Concerto Competition, Peletsis is set to perform Aram Khachaturian鈥檚 Piano Concerto in D-flat Major with the 不良研究所 Symphony Orchestra (MGSO) this weekend, and as it happens, her teacher knew the composer on a first-name basis. 鈥淧rof. Mdivani knew a number of eminent composers of the 20th century personally, including Aram Khachaturian, and she worked closely with the composer himself. Therefore I was lucky to get her advice on the style and interpretation of the concerto.鈥�

Considerable preparation for also allowed Peletsis to share some parting insights into the concerto鈥檚 construction and historical background. 鈥淭he concerto has the Armenian folk spirit as well as some modernistic features in its rhythmic organization. Also I believe that the fact that it was written in 1936 in Soviet Russia under Stalin dictatorship bears a certain socio-cultural influence, so that one can hear moments of darkness and horror in its extensive cadenzas.鈥�

鈥淭he orchestration is also quite imaginative, involving a rare timbre of flexatone in the second movement which gives it a very special flavour. Overall I find the concerto鈥檚 colour and emotional palette very rich, and I feel very excited to perform this piece with MGSO under Maestro Hauser.鈥�

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