Málaga Competition Announces Winner
Congratulations Bogdan Dugalic: The young pianist from Belgrade won the First Prize of the 2025 Málaga International Piano Competition. The jury was presided by Sergei Babayan and gave the Mozarteum student of Pavel Gililov the latest in his many prizes after a remarkable performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in the final round. Congratulations also to Second Prize winner Elžbieta Liepa Dvarionaité Third Prize winner Nikita Lukinov.
The final round on Sunday 15 June in Málaga on the Spanish Costa del Sol concluded a competition of high level and several solo recitals by Lucas Debargue and jury president Sergei Babayan who, before the competition, mesmerized the audience with his stunning programme called SONGS.
Before the opening round, Sergei Babayan sat down with La Opinión de Málaga to discuss perfectionism, the love & hate relationship with an instrument, competitions, and the quest for the impossible in art. Here is an excerpt from their conversation:
…What do you think where the classical piano world is at right now? Is it enjoying a good future?
Our times are not any different than the past. High caliber artistry and talent are a rarity. While the technical level of pianists today is much higher than with those sixty years ago, musical personalities of the highest level will always be rare diamonds. Some of the most famous competitions in the world, in their 60 plus years of history, only have one Radu Lupu as a winner who belongs in that category. Other famous competitions have existed for 75 years or so, and Martha Argerich is the one name of all the prizewinners that will be remembered forever. I do not believe that we are facing any kind of pianistic crisis. Great talent will be born, but it will always be that rare diamond.
In many of his interviews, Paco de Lucía, an absolute perfectionist, often confessed his complicated relationship with his instrument, which he adored but, because of his high self-demand, he couldn't help it, feeling like it was abusing him. "I hate the guitar. It's like a love-hate relationship, it's killing me. How I wish I could find something that would allow me to stop playing! Or at least play like the Brazilians, so relaxed." For those of us who aren't virtuosos, such levels of personal commitment to an instrument sound almost masochistic. What is your emotional, physical relationship with the piano? I hope it's less problematic!
It is amazing that you mention Paco de Lucia! I will never forget the impact it had when young Gidon Kremer brought a video tape of Paco de Lucia to the Soviet Union on one of his trips to the Soviet Union. We were mesmerized. Never had I heard an artist who was so completely absorbed by this union with his instrument – he and his guitar seemed to be one. Of all the artists, of all instruments, to this day I would say that he was in the most perfect union with this instrument, and I do understand that this level of perfection comes with great sacrifice. As my teaching grandfather Heinrich Neuhaus used to put it: As pianists, we have to aim for the impossible, so that we can achieve the possible. Now, as a performing pianist, I have the privilege to travel around the world and come to meet new instruments every week of course. Getting to know them, understanding what we can do together, where their particular strengths are, is a bit like getting to know a person. I invest countless hours in this process, before I am prepared to perform on a given instrument. Many of these instruments have become very good friends, some I want to meet again and again, others not so much. That is life.
What has music given you and what has it taken away from you, dedicating yourself to it with such a level of commitment?
Music is my life. Being a performing artist comes with some sacrifice, that is true. As artists we travel a lot and sometimes have the opportunity to come to an immensely beautiful place like Málaga, but have no time at all to enjoy it, because we practice and play and work all the time, and then go straight to the airport. But then, on the other hand, we are so enriched by the genius of the works of Bach and Schubert and Rachmaninoff and Brahms and all this vast treasure of mankind that is music and that we can dive into every day. And we are permanently enriched by the artistic conversation with other artists.
After all these years dedicated entirely to music, to performing it, teaching it, analyzing it... What do you still not know about it, what is its mystery?
We are all humble servants of the greatest masters in musical creation and the learning and seeking to understand never stops. The world of music is so fascinating because it is full of wonders, of enigmas and discoveries. One of the greatest of them all that I could cite as an example is certainly the mystery of melody – with all musicological study, and all the creative power of AI, we seem to fail miserably in understanding what a good melody is and how to come with it. My current recital programme deals with nothing else but that particular question.
Read the full interview (in Spanish) here.