Ilia Papoian was born in St. Petersburg in 2001. He took his first piano lessons at the Saint Petersburg Children's School of Arts named after Sergei Rachmaninoff with teacher Dzhemma Sedletskaya. This was followed by studies at the Specialized High School of Music at the N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory where she studied with Olga Kurnavina. Today, the young man is already a student at this conservatory where he studies with professor Alexander Sandler, an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. When he was 20 years old, Ilia Papoian won many prestigious awards: He became the winner at the International Chopin Competition 2016 in Narva, Estonia; he won the special prize award for the best performance of a masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach at the International Tchaikovsky Youth Competition 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan, and the second prize award at the All-Russian Competition "Young Talents of Russia" in 2019 - this is just to name a few of his victories. The career of this young pianist is progressing rapidly. And that's no surprise. Indeed, Ilia took his first steps on the big stage at the pace of allegro, literally jumping up and down.

Ilia Papoian: I made my first appearance on the big stage in 2010. I was 9 years old. It was a Gala performance of winners in the Chopin Youth Competition, which took place in the Small Hall of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic. I remember I was so thrilled that when they announced me onstage, I wasn't walking to the piano, I was jumping up and down. I was overwhelmed with emotions, proud and happy to be playing in such a gorgeous and huge hall. At the time, I was playing a piece I was in love with - it was Frédéric Chopin's Waltz No. 19 in A minor.

Saint Petersburg Music House (SPMH): What helps you feel confident and relaxed on stage?
Ilia Papoian: My thoughts about music and immersing myself in it do. Of course, there is excitement on stage when you go on stage. Without it, nothing would work. But as soon as I start playing, the excitement disappears. And it is followed by the desire to convey to the listener all the emotions and feelings that the composer put into a particular composition. The creativity process completely takes over me, and perhaps it gives me freedom and confidence.

SPMH: Which contemporary pianists are your professional reference points?
Ilia Papoian: That's a hard question to answer. I would name Martha Argerich, András Schiff, Eliso Virsaladze and, of course, others. But to be honest, if I want to listen to something, I put on recordings of pianists from the previous century: Horowitz, Rachmaninoff, Stanislav Neuhaus... For me their playing is the benchmark.

SPMH: How is your concert repertoire formed?
Ilia Papoian: On the one hand, it is my desire to perform a certain composition. But there are also quite specific requirements of competitions or concerts, which I also willingly fulfill. But in general, I like to take new pieces. The main thing is to be able to convey them to the public. My enormous gratitude goes to the St. Petersburg Music House, which allows young musicians to appear on the big stage in order to gain experience and get a feel for the scene. It's really worth a lot. I would also like to express my gratitude to my teacher, Professor Alexander Sandler, for the support he gives me.

SPMH: You received a special prize award for the best performance of Johann Sebastian Bach and won the International Chopin Competition in Estonia. What in the compositions of these composers excites you most of all?
Ilia Papoian: Bach's music is for me a cosmos, a universe. I've always been fascinated by Bach's music, and I've always wanted to play it, and I've played it. But perhaps my favorite is the Goldberg Variations. When I was twelve years old, I got a CD of the Goldberg Variations performed by Glenn Gould. That's where my love for the piece came from. It is something extraordinary, just like all of Bach's music. First, it is the longest cycle of variations created in the Baroque era. Second, and this is the main feature of the cycle, the Variations comprise a variety of styles. This and the Italian style with variations of the toccata type and virtuosity that requires crossing hands. This and the French style with an abundance of melodic embellishments. The German style manifests itself in canonical imitation. As well as the Polish style and features of the gallant style. And, of course, the extraordinary beauty of the theme at the beginning and end of the work, framing a cycle of 30 variations, cannot leave anyone indifferent. I've been playing the Goldberg Variations for a long time now, but I haven't had the opportunity to take it onstage yet. I hope that someday I will be able to perform this piece for an audience.
As for Chopin, he's very close to me. Of all the works, I can perhaps single out Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, the Mazurkas, and the 24 Preludes. Chopin's works are always a beauty, a subtlety that hides a deep sadness that is close to me. Oh, I'm ready to play Chopin indefinitely.

SPMH: In the April concert in Linz*, which we hope will take place, you, as a soloist of the St. Petersburg Music House, will be performing The Seasons by Tchaikovsky, not the most difficult compositions, but requiring great skill in conveying feelings and moods.
Ilia Papoian: Sometimes it is more difficult to play a piece that is not technically difficult than a piece that is more technically difficult. The Seasons by Tchaikovsky is just one of this kind. It's not just Tchaikovsky, there are, for example, Schumann's Scenes from Childhood - seemingly childlike, but so hard to play them as to convey the feelings and moods that the composer put into them. And the name "from Childhood" does not reflect at all how challenging they are. They require a great deal of skill.

SPMH: Do you appreciate sense of humor in music? Who among the classics, in your opinion, knew how to make musical jokes?
Ilia Papoian: Of course, I do appreciate sense of humor in music. But the vast majority of musical jokes have almost nothing to do with humor as we understand it. For example, Bach's Scherzo or Rachmaninoff's Humoresque may be admired, but are unlikely to make anyone laugh. But there are pieces in which composers have used a wide variety of humorous techniques. Such as, for example, sound imitation, popular with French musicians since Baroque times. Such works include La Poule (Chicken) by Rameau, The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnaval des animaux) by Saint-Saëns, and others.

SPMH: What hobbies (besides music) can a successful young concert musician Ilia Papoian afford?
Ilia Papoian: Probably summer fishing. It's an amazing process that allows you to abstract yourself from the outside world. Fishing doesn't happen that often. It's a summer thing, and it's not every year. The last time I did it was about two years ago. It was on the Azov Sea. The biggest catch was a medium-sized mullet.

SPMH: Don't you have any desire to do some kind of musical experiment?
Ilia Papoian: Even the learning classes are never without experimentation. Any development is essentially an experiment.

Interview by Tatiana Mikhailova
 

* The concert "Russian Tuesday" scheduled on April 13 in Linz was canceled without rescheduling due to the prolongation of quarantine measures.