Eva Gevorgyan made her Sydney debut in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s International Pianists series. At only 21, her virtuosity and stage presence captivated the audience. She has already won 50 international piano competitions. Clearly this Russian-Ukrainian musician is going places.
Stage presence is important to the overall enjoyment of a concert. Eva’s is grand. Her straight golden hair reaches lower than her hips. And she’s beautiful. And she’s gracious. There’s no flamboyance, just precise, emotional, vibrant piano playing. She played from memory – no foot tapping of the digital page turner to distract.
Selection of the works played is important to the overall enjoyment of a concert, too. The opening piece was Beethoven’s Sonata No 7, followed by Beethoven’s Four Pieces for Piano, Op 119. The absolute audience favourite was the next, Ravel’s La Valse. The last work Eva presented was Schuman’s Carnaval, Op 9, consisting of 21 short vignettes, each a couple of minutes long, each different technically but similar in an uplifting mood.
The audience clapped and cheered until she returned for an encore, Listz’ La Campanella. Again, more claps and cheer until she played again.
Full marks, too, for the presenter of the pre-concert talk, Paige Guillifer. It is always a pleasure to listen to these talks and get yourself in the mood for a concert after a busy day at work.
