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| Sunday, 24 February 2002 |
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Shani wins prestigious French music award by Senaka Abeyratne Twenty-five year old Shani Abeygoonaratne, the gifted Monaco-born pianist of Sri Lankan origin, is widely regarded as a member of the French musical elite, for she is now performing at the highest level. If she has earned a reputation as a virtuoso pianist, it is because of her brilliant technique and her remarkable ability to exploit the full sonorous and expressive potential of the instrument. Shani's vast repertoire (including the works of contemporary composers such as Finzi, Beffa, Kurtag and Stockhausen) has no frontier, and her rich musicality and magical touch have earned her fame in Europe. After hearing her play the Appassionata Sonata at a recital in Monaco, the well-known critic, Andre Peregyne, wrote: "This suits her well, her interpretation is feline, in this we hear the striking of claws and the sound of padded velvety paws," Another French critic, A. Busser, after hearing Shani play Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Rachmaninov and Liszt at a concert in Cannes, wrote: "The young pianist seemed to have drawn her inspiration from a magical, spring-like source. The public was under her spell, and the emotions generated were worthy of the best interpreters." The year 2001 was a phenomenal year for Shani. She won the Second Grand Prix in the Arcachon international concours and the First Prize in the music competition conducted by the NATEXIS Foundation (the largest and most prestigious music scholarship program in France), which includes a grant of three hundred thousand francs (three million rupees) and regular engagements at the leading concert halls in Paris. She added another feather to her cap by securing First Place in the final examinations of the CNSM diploma program (equivalent to a Masters Degree in the US) and obtaining the coveted Premier Prix in Unanimity. Her program for 2002 is an extremely busy one. She will be participating in four music festivals, taking master classes with Leon Fleischer, Murray Perahia and J. O'Connor, giving recitals at prestigious venues including the Salle Cortot, the Goulbekian Foundation, The Concertgebau, and the Argentan-Normandy (with sister Rika), and cutting a CD (solo piano) with Classica. Shani has also been selected by auditioning for the international concours in Cannes, Spain and Salt Lake City-Utah. In 1997 Shani brought honour to Sri Lanka by becoming the first South Asian to enter the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique (CNSM) in Paris. During the past four years, Shani has taken master classes with such great names as Paul Badura Skoda, Bruno Rigotto, Clive Britton, Leon Fleischer, and Alfred Brendel, and also performed in numerous countries, including Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Poland, India and Sri Lanka. She has also performed at the Concertgebau, has taken part in many chamber concerts and also accompanied the Golden Italian Voice, Marco Camstra, at a concert in Monaco. Recently she had the honour of being invited by the great bass-baritone Jose Van Dam to play at the Opera Comique de Paris. Shani was also the pianist in Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, performed at the Theatre des Varietes - Monaco in December 2001. Shani is not only a passionate pianist and a top-drawer performer, but also a gem of a human being. She has all the qualities that one admires in a person, including radiance, vitality, empathy, humility, high intelligence, a refined inner beauty and an endearing personality. A great future awaits this brilliant young musician, who (to quote Professor George Pludermarcher of the Paris Conservatoire) had been making spectacular progress in recent years." |
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