Full House in Bellapais on 12 October 2014

By Heidi Trautmann

Months of work, lessons and exercises for hours, again and again to repeat a passage that does not come right yet, tears of despair, no time for friends, that is the normal day of a piano student…..but then comes the moment when they have to prove, when the budding musicians have to prove that all of it was worth it. Now, they still have their teacher at their side to encourage them when it means: Go on stage, it is your turn!

These were the words I said when I announced the concert and I think it is legitimate to repeat them because they are valid the more when you have seen the students enter onto the stage one by one, starting with the youngest one Suna Alsançak, who just had won a first prize in her age group in Bulgaria. When you watched her and her small hands dance over the keys, her head held high proudly, the self-assuredness and earnestness she showed when she bowed to the audience…

The others were Azra Say Ötün, Sonya Ben, Nursel Hançer, Helin Hersek, Gökçen Mertoğlu, Ilke Aslım, Batu Özgün, Onur Zaifoğlu, Yaroslaw Kwiatkowski, Miriam Marancos, Ipek Zorba, Erol Emmioğlu, Emine Husren.

In the first part of the concert the less experienced with shorter tuition time with Rauf Kasimov, some new faces I have seen for the first time, but OH all showed the deep respect for music and how well they have practiced. It is so important to start at young age when your mind and heart can still be formed in the hands of an expert. There is an old saying in the German language: ‘Was Hänschen nicht lernt, lernt Hans nimmermehr’, meaning ‘A tree must be bent while it is young’.  Music tuition forms the character because the young person must learn discipline and these kids who continue for years throughout their childhood for the love of music have my high respect.

That is one of the reasons the Cyprus Piano Recitals given by the Rauf Kasimov equip have won a fan audience. The house was full. Serdar Denktaş, the Minister of Tourism, Economy, Education, Culture and Sports came to attend the concert, but left before the second part started. What a pity!

In the second part of the concert we heard the advanced students, students we have been following up for years now, on the threshold of adulthood; Ipek Zorba said with pride that she will study medicine besides the piano, Miriam Marancos aims to study acting and Erol Emmioglu will finally go to the Conservatoire in the coming year. I had not the chance to talk to the others but there is some serious talent among them all.

I congratulated and thanked Rauf Kasimov after the concert when he gave me his cold hand, utter exhaustion in his face; he has shared the high concentration and tension with his students. The concert was well organised thanks to the support by the students’ parents and friends of the cause.

Our best wishes go with them, the Rauf Kasimov Equip.