ASIA and EUROPE REVIEWS

After-competition reviews


...The pair from Bulgaria delighted and fascinated the audience so much so that I wished more members were present to hear their wonderful performance. I hope that we Japanese will also endeavor to strive to follow in their steps so as to enthrall the audience as well as themselves..."

Yukitoshi Ogawa, News Bulletin #27 Tokyo
Artistic Director of the International Piano
Duo Association, Professor of Piano in Osaka
Japan, March 1998


"...Toshev-Stoyanova had a technique that stood unrivalled, as well as possessing a knack for piano duo...They showed a masterly hand in interpreting Poulenc's Capriccio, which harmonized well with their technique, enthralling the audience..."

Hikaru Sasaki, News Bulletin #27, International Piano Duo
Association, Tokyo, Japan, March 1998


"...Toshev & Stoyanova are two very professional musicians. They performed the 'Dances of Andaluzia' perfectly. It was not a surprise that these young Bulgarian musicians received the Buchli Fest-Meijer prize..."

Nieuwsbald Van Het Noorden newspaper
Holland, August 1998


"...the artistic merits of this ensemble - a unified breath, homogeneity, sense of style and artistic proportion, sophisticated sound culture combined with precise technique, imagination, clear individuality, and original interpretation... "

Arie Vardi, Professor of Piano, Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater
(College of Music and Drama) Hannover, Germany, July 2001


"...The Piano Duo Vely Stoyanova and Ilia Toshev were rightfully entitled to the prize, owing to their excellent performance..."

Gronings Daglad newspaper
Holland, August 1998


"...The winning team was a very young pair from Bulgaria, a beautiful girl with golden hair, and a nice young man who seemed to exude music from his whole body..."

Fumiko Iwatsu, News Bulletin #27
International Piano Duo Association
Tokyo, Japan, March 1998