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By Olga Fyodorova
The year 1967… The Stadlers’ apartment in Leningrad. The head of the
family, violinist with the local philharmonic orchestra, comes back home
to see his 5-year-old son in tears.
“What happened, Seryozha?”
“Mom was mad at me again... She was trying to make me play the piano
and I hate doing that!”
“Why?”
“Because the grand piano is black, like a dragon! It looks huge and
terrible! Stands on three legs, it’s got no eyes, only one big mouth. Take
a look inside and you’ll see all these terrible teeth there, all in a line!”
“What are you talking about!? These are keys, not teeth! They give
out such beautiful sounds each time Mom presses them, remember?”
“Yes, Mommy does it right, but I don’t!”
“Look, you’re such a musically endowed boy, you really are… How come
you don’t like playing music? I just can’t believe it!”
“I do, but I don’t like the grand piano. What about violin, like
the one you play? It has such a soft, tender voice; you just want
to hear it again and again… Dad, talk to Mommy, please! I swear, I’ll work
hard, listen to what you tell me, stop horsing around and will someday
become a great violinist, I promise! You and Mom will be sitting in the
audience, listening to me and feeling proud it’s your son playing there!”
Sergei Stadler was lucky to have studied with the best teachers around,
whether he was going to school, the Conservatory or studying as a postgraduate
student. David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Viktor Tretyakov, Boris Gutnikov,
great musicians all… As a 14-year-old boy, Sergei won his first competition
with the gold medal of the Concertino international contest in Prague.
Three years later he won the Grand Prix of the Marguerite Long
and Jacques Thibaud festival in Paris and the following year became a winner
of the Sibelius competition in Helsinki, Finland. At the age of 20, Sergei
triumphed winning the gold medal of the prestigious Tchaikovsky competition
in Moscow…
His performance there caused a big stir, setting the musical community
abuzz and making the up and coming musician a welcome guest at the world’s
very best concert venues…
On a fast track to stardom, Sergei Stadler was now busy touring the
whole world playing with leading symphony orchestras and partnering on
stage with Valery Gergiyev, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Mazur, Mariss Jansons
and other top conductors, and doing chamber music collaborations with leading
pianists such as Barry Douglas, Yevgeny Kisin, Mikhail Pletnev and Peter
Donahoe whom he befriended during the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow.
His best-loved stage partner, however, was his sister Yuliya who, being
her brother’s biggest fan, was always quick on the uptake of his ideas
and style…
Reviewers everywhere unanimously extolled Sergei’s talent. One of
them even called Stadler the Russian Paganini.
Niccolo Paganini had long been one of Sergei’s best-loved composers.
Mesmerized by the great Italian’s finger twisting flash early on, Stadler
was literally fixated on of playing all of Paganini’s 24 capriccios in
a single night – a technically bewildering task only the very best could
handle…
Sergei Stadler was only 22 when he finally made this longtime dream
come true, playing all the 24 capriccios in just a single concert, first
in Leningrad and then in the Conservatory Big Hall in Moscow. The success
exceeded all expectations, people applauded like mad and Sergei, exhausted
but happy, kept coming out again and again and, in the end, even managed
to play an encore!
Sergei Stadler was working hard offering ever-new programs. Infatuated
by the pristine clarity of the Old Masters, he easily emulated the refined
elegance of Mozart just like he did the hot-rodded emotionality of Beethoven…
An all-round musician, Stadler reveled in the high-flying passions of Romanticism
and sensuous vibe of Impressionist music…
Before very long he realized, however, that the violin repertoire
had its limits and, having played just about everything that had ever been
written for his instrument, he was now eager to venture into new areas…
It was then and there that he felt a sudden urge to conduct. Very
serious about his newfound talent, Sergei started working hard conducting
concerts with two other violinists and having no problem whatsoever providing
solid accompaniments for any lead performer playing a concert for violin
with orchestra.
Always expanding his conductor’s repertoire, Sergei Stadler was now
regularly partnering on stage with the Hermitage Orchestra and leading
an opera studio at the conservatory. His recordings of “Tosca” by
Puccini, “The Queen of Spades” by Tchaikovsky, the “Trojans” by Berlioz
and Verdi’s Requiem all brought major international awards.
Sergei Sradler’s infatuation with conducting did not prevent him
getting on with playing the violin though. An international celebrity now,
Stadler was a welcome guest at the prestigious festivals in Salzburg, Athens,
Vienna, Istanbul, Boston, Prague, Helsinki, Provence, and Majorca. He organized
his own festivals, among other places, in the city of Perm in the Urals
where dozens of excellent musicians are regularly invited to play.
In his hometown of St. Petersburg Sergei Stadler has held the absolutely
unparalleled “Paganini’s Violin at the Hermitage” festival whose centerpiece
was the violin once owned and played by the legendary Italian composer
and virtuoso that was especially brought for the occasion from Genoa. The
violin was played in open concerts for the first time since the death of
its genious owner…
Shortly after that hugely successful event, he was asked to become
the musical director at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg where he
launched the now famous Music at the Hermitage festival…
Violin playing, conducting, teaching, participating in festivals
and recording sessions are all part and parcel of Sergei Stadler’s
40 year stage career. As usual, he is bubbling with new ideas and
basking in love and admiration of his family, friends and numerous fans…
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