27 November 2000

Badisches Tagblatt

Visitors from Russia - conductor Pavel Sorokin and pianist Yuri Rozum - delighted the Baden-Baden Philharmonia audience.

Traditions of the Town are Alive in the Sounds of Music

By Karen Streich

Back in the 19th century visitors from Russia were very interested in German resort town of Baden-Baden. They came here to enjoy the beautiful scenery and make good use of its thermal springs. Today Baden-Baden enjoys about 2000 visitors a year.

The Principal conductor of Baden-Baden Philharmonia Werner Stiefel, who recently visited Moscow where he was invited to conduct the State Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, included works by Russian composers in the programme of the concert at Weinbrennersaal with the conductor of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre Pavel Sorokin and pianist Yuri Rozum.

Yuri Rozum delighted the audience by his amazing musicality and virtuosity. Rachmaninov’s 2nd piano concerto was the highest point of the music evening. In close contact with the conductor and the orchestra, showing a unique technique with dynamic scales going from pianissimo to fortissimo, from soft sounds to powerful and assertive, Yuri A. Rozum gave his listeners an opportunity to float in the sea of sounds of a really Russian feeling.

The finale of the concerto demands from a soloist ideal strong and powerful sounding, which was demonstrated by the pianist. At a dynamic and even racing pace Yuri Rozum convincingly expressed composer’s mixture of emotions by storming chords. The public exploded in applause shouting “bravo” and there was no end to it.

To say good-by to the audience Yuri Rozum played Rachnaminov’s Prelude and a piece by Tchaikovsky as encores.

Brilliant performance of Russian music. (…)