Viktor Vidović

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Viktor Vidović (b. 1973) is a Croatian guitarist.

[edit] Early years

Born in Karlovac, Croatia, Viktor Vidović came from a well-known musical family, whose influence on his achievements was very big.

At 12, he had his first solo concert. At 13, he took very convincing first places at competitions in Croatia and the former Yugoslavia, coming far in front of rivals the generations above him. At 14 he enrolled in the Geneva Conservatory, in the class of Brazilian guitarist Maria Livia Sao Marcos, under whose guidance he took the first place at CIEM, the International Competition of Musical Artists in Geneva, becoming the youngest winner in the history of the competition, taking the Villa Lobos Prize and the Patek Philippe Prize for distinguished musical interpretation.

Critics and audiences alike were unanimous in appraising his talent:

  • “this young guitarist has astonished the whole world” (M. L. T., Tribune de Genève);
  • “His playing was delightful, he is so skilled on his six strings” (A. Peyregne, Actualité Monaco);
  • “He is simply a great and genuine musician” (P. H., Journal de Jura) who “enchanted with his exceptional maturity” and “with pride and certainty promises a brilliant career” (M. L. T, Tribune de Genève).

He completed his studies at Geneva Conservatory at 16 with a diploma and “the first prize for virtuosity” by way of special recognition. He enrolled in the course at Salzburg’s Mozarteum in the class of professor Matthias Seidel, completing the course at the age of 21 with the degree of Master of Arts. For his special artistic achievements and his success during his studies he was awarded the Franz Kossak Prize and a prize of the Austrian Ministry of Culture. “This great school left a deep mark” (S. Raca, Hrvatsko slovo), but it did not inhibit any of the originality of his performances, which is borne out by the special prize for the interpretation of contemporary music won at the International Music Competition in Templin.

[edit] Master classes

At the beginning of the nineties he honed his talent and broadened his artistic experience attending the master classes of Leo Brouwer, Eliot Fisk, David Tannenbaum and other great artists. As a finalist at the Rene Bartoli competition in France in 2000, Vidović was awarded a special audience prize.

Vidović became vigorously involved in the study of composition, creating original compositions and transcriptions for the classical guitar. Dedicated to composition and to further musical education, he widened his musical horizons from classical music to kindred orientations, vigorously exploring jazz, Latino and original ethno music of various cultures.

[edit] Concerts

He gave a number of extremely well received concerts in the top concert halls all around Europe (in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Russia, Austria, Hungary, Macedonia, Slovenia, Holland and elsewhere). As a soloist he gave a number of concerts accompanied with eminent orchestras, among which are the Zagreb soloists, the Zagreb philharmonic orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Stuttgart philharmonic orchestra. Recordings of Victor Vidovic have been published by REM (France), Musica Helvetica (Switzerland) and Aquarius records (Croatia).

He is a freelance artist and besides his concert activities there are also numerous masterclasses held by him. The masterclass at Medulin, Istria takes place regularly every year, in June.