Ukranian pianist Antonii Baryshevskyi hopes that the one thing his music is remembered for is touching souls. His lifelong dream has always been to travel all over the world performing at the highest level, and this pianist is doing just that, with the culmination of his six-year journey with Messaien’s momentous two-hour cycle called Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus.

On December 10, he shared a performance of this work in celebration of Messaien’s 110th birthday at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. Antonii has been a solist for this orchestra since 2012.

"I am more interested in music, in which there is an expression, saturation of timbre and temperament," Antonii previously said.

Two Albums

This project wasn’t the only thing on the agenda for the 2014 winner of the Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition.

He recently released two albums featuring music very dear to him. The first CD is dedicated to choral works by Lili Boulanger. Marie-Juliette Olga "Lili" Boulanger was a French composer and the first female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize. This work is a finalist in the 2019 Jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA).

“The fact that her charming impressionistic music has been severely ignored served to motivate me through this project,” he said.

The second CD consisted of a few orchestral pieces and a piano concerto by Dimitri Shostakovich. The work contains piano, trumpet and string orchestra, including Romain Leleu on trumpet and the Brandenburg State Orchestra under the baton of Howard Griffiths.

“The music in this CD communicates the spirit of the young Soviet Union through the lens of the youthful and bold Shostakovich,” Antonii said.

Life

For Antonii, everyday life is very interesting. He is constantly inspired through poetry, film and photography, as well as the writings of Derek Alton Walcott. He also loves to travel to a seaside destination when he gets a break from performing.

“I experience a powerful evolutional connection while swimming in the sea—it is like returning to archaic times when people were fishes,” Antonii said.

Though three musicians who have inspired his artistry include Richter, Sofronitsky, Rachmaninov, his favorite album ever released is “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd.

To learn more about Antonii, visit his website and Facebook page.