The winners of the Prešeren Prizes and Prešeren Fund Prizes, Slovenia’s highest accolades for achievements in the arts, have been announced. The prizes will be presented at a ceremony on 7 February, on the evening before Prešeren Day.
Writer Feri Lainšček and architect Marko Mušič each receive a Prešeren Prize for their life’s work. Prešeren Fund Prizes go to the following: poet Brane Senegačnik for the poetry collection Pogovori z nikomer [“Conversations with No One”], theatre director Tomi Janežič for the plays he has directed in theatres around Slovenia over the last three years, director and screenwriter Matjaž Ivanišin for directing and writing the feature film Oroslan, painter Sandi (Aleksander) Červek for the exhibition 1 + 1 = 11 at Ptuj City Gallery, architects Blaž Budja, Rok Jereb and Nina Majoranc for their designs for the Materinski Dom women’s refuge in Ljubljana and the office building of the Terme Čatež spa complex, and violinist Lana Trotovšek, a regular guest at the Ljubljana Festival, for her achievements as a performer over the last three years.
As Karolina Šantl Zupan noted in the prize citation: “Violinist Lana Trotovšek is a member of the younger generation of Slovene virtuoso performers … As a soloist she has given concerts with prestigious orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and the Moscow Soloists, working with top conductors (Valery Gergiev, Rafael Payare, Gianandrea Noseda) and chamber musicians of the highest calibre (Yuri Bashmet, Sergej Krylov, David Cohen, etc.). Lana Trotovšek’s solo interpretations are distinguished by a highly personal tone and a nuanced musical sensitivity. Her performances are based on a deep understanding and knowledge of different stylistic periods and clearly expressed through her individual and evocative musical storytelling.
In August 2020, at the 68th Ljubljana Festival, Lana Trotovšek performed all ten of Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano with pianist Maria Canyigueral over the course of three successive evenings. The scale of these works makes them a tremendous challenge for performers, not just because of their sheer size but also because of their technical complexity and the demands of phrasing and interpretation. Lana Trotovšek offered a thoughtful performance, showing a broad dynamic range and technical brilliance, and her authentic interpretations of the score found the right balance between the lyricism and drama of Beethoven’s music. Her other key achievements in the last few years include: a recording of works for violin and piano by composer Eduard Nápravník with pianist Ludmil Angelov, a performance of composer Deirdre Gribbin’s violin concerto Venus Blazing in Belfast, a recital evening with pianist Maria Canyigueral in London, a performance of composer Uroš Krek’s Inventiones ferales for violin and string orchestra with the Ljubljana Academy of Music Orchestra in Klagenfurt (Austria), a performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in Shanghai, a performance of Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and a performance of J. S. Bach’s Double Violin Concerto in Beirut.”
The violinist is set to appear at the Slovenian Philharmonic Hall with the Dissonance Ensemble on 25 January as part of the upcoming 5th Winter Festival.
Congratulations to all the winners!
Source: sigic.si
