*What brought you to music?
I started playing piano when I was 4 years old. I am not sure if it was my decision or my mother’s. She was my first teacher and my only teacher until I was 18 years old. I guess she just wanted to see if I had any talent.
*Why did you choose the piano and what made you want to practice it?
Piano was the only instrument we had at home. Except for my father’s drums set and a guitar, which I still don't like. And also, the piano was the instrument, whose sound could be heard constantly at home because my mother was playing all the time. I guess I just got used to it and wanted to play it myself.
*What was your first musical shock?
I am not sure I remember. Maybe I was too shocked…
*Who is/are the musician that has always inspired you?
Horowitz, Gould, Cziffra...
*Who is your most valuable teacher and why?
As I mentioned, my mother was always my teacher. She would sit next to me for hours everyday and practice scales and everything with me and I started to appreciate all that work, done with me, when I was a little older. Near my mother is of course my other teacher - Sultana Markovska. A lot can be said about her, but she was one of Vera Gornostaeva’s students, and later - an assistant, in Moscow. With her, we would practice just a single bar for 3 hours and I am surely very lucky to have met her.
*Do you play chamber music?
Yes, I do. I play very often with my wife, who is a violinst, as well as my manager. We have a big repertoire, mainly sonatas and each time we get a chance to play in a concert, we are glad to do so. I have a lot of experience playing with with other instruments, too.
*What competitions have you participated at?
During my education in Bulgaria, I played at every possible competition and I always won. Since I am in Vienna, I have only won 1 competition in New York and tried several others - like Busoni (Bolzano), Liszt (Bayreuth), Maria Canals (Barcelona) but I have came to believe that you can not be truly yourself when you compete. Just when you play concerts or play at home. And music should be about being yourself.
Questions by Gaëlle Le Gallic
Studio 106 of Radio France