The biennial International Violin contest, , only for young violinists , obtained a great success and a growing partecipation of Nations and of candidates .In the first edition they were 49 , coming from Argentina , France , Japan , Italy ,United Kingdom , Germany and Hungarn . The idea of Curci was not to launch another contest,since in Italy and abroad youg violinists had plenty of opportunities to compete in single contests (let's just recall the Genova's one ), but his thought was addressed to Naples ,because he didn't want to leave it without international initiatives ,because Naples is a world-famous city with an ancient and glorious musical culture , not second to others for didactics and violinistic performance. The announcement of the winners of this first contest took place,as some of the following contest editions, in the splendid framework of San Carlo Theatre.The absolute first prize of two millions lire was won by a joung Japanese coming from Kagoshima, Yoko Koubo , who performed together with the San Carlo Orchestra conducted by the Maestro Ugo Rapalo , the Beethoven's Concert in Re Major .Alberto Curci wanted this work to be one of the fixed references against which the competitors had to mesaure themselves ( and so it will be with few exceptions ) because -said the Maestro- because in it converge : deep fantasy , technical difficulties and interpretative sensitiveness and the crystalliness of the graver form that do not allow the performer to shirk , to hide themselves behind the approximation and it is thus an appropriate term of comparison to compare the candidates . Another Japanese , the twenty-six year old young lady Teiko Maehashi won the second Contest edition in 1969 ,whereas in 1971 the Russian Isabella Petrosjan was top of the list , but she won the second price ,since the first was not awarded : this was a sign of the rigorous valuation methods and of the internationa Jury's will to keep the Curci's Prize on the highest qualification levels . In 1973 the Contest could not take place because Alberto Curci died and it was adjourned for november 1974 . On that occasion , the poet and writer Lino Curci , nephew of the Maestro , to whom he succedeed in the presidency ( he was also destinated to die before his time ) , remembering the Founder said : " I think that the top of his polyvalent vocation and the highest degree of his exigences of communication and union have been reached in the idea of this contest , in this meeting of joung artists coming from every nation here in Naples . Here everything converges and merges , the vocation for music and the love for his native city , the anxiety of knowledge that pushed him into the world , his sentiment of the lenght of the works , our real image .There are institutions in which the anxiety and the hope of whom pushed them to compete in his name keep on living , in these days Alberto Curci lives again”. The first prize was awarded in 1974 to the German Bernhard Hartog and in 1976 to the Rumenian Eugen Sarbu .In 1979 and 1981 it was not awarded and the second price were given to Berthilde Dufour (France) and Michelle Makarski ( USA) . Another first prize was given to the Rumenia in 1983 to the violinist Cristina Anghelescu . Among 1968 and 1972, the Foundation Curci has donated scholarships and study-awards to the Conservatoire San Pietro a Macella , Santa Cecilia and Giuseppe Verdi of Milan . It obtained recognitions in Italy and abroad , amongst which we remember: the assignation of the complete recording production of the Italian Record Collection from the Ministry of Art and Culture , the Merit Plaque from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture , the reproduction of the Beethoven's Concert in Re Major from the Austrian Ministry of Education and Art . Since 1976, the Violin Contest ,great international award , is a Member of the " Federation Mondial Des Concours Internationaux de Musique " of Geneve .Among 1990 and 2001 the Contest had a stop , but after having overcomed the difficulties , the Foundation has taken its organization again celebrating the 12th edition of the year 2002 and programming for 2004 the next edition.

The general panorama of international music contests is very big and there is a huge number of initiatives ,which take place all over the year , often at the same time . Dominating are the Piano and the singing contest ,but at the third place there are the violin contests . Many of them have reached an undiscussed notoriety for the importance of the city where they take place and for having given the start to the careers of many of the greatest violinist of the last half century.

The more the contests are difficult and demanding , the more the level of the performers grow : let's just remind the first edition of the contest " Wienianski" in Poznan in 1935 , when the first prize was awarded to the unforgettable Ginette Neveu and the second to David Ostrach ,or the edition of the contest " Regina Elisabetta " of Bruxelles in 1938 when the first prize was assigned to the same David Oistrach and the second to Ricardo Odnoposoff . Other important international violin contests are : the " Ciaikovski " of Moscow , the " Sibelius " of Helsinki , the " Bach " of Lipsia , the " Kreisler " of Wien , the " Paganini" of Genova , the "Curci " of Naples , the " Thibaud " of Paris, the " Flesch " of London , and those named after famous musicians that take place in Indianapoli , Munich , Montreal ,Prague and Tokyo . The insertion of the " Curci " among the most prestigious international contests is due to the high level of the performers , the considerable number of enrolled , the highly qualified juries , the difficulty and demanding performances of the music pieces provided in the announcement of competition , stand comparison with the major international contests.Some of these contests have particular characteristics due to the name of the musician whom the contest is dedicated to :there is no need to explain the contents of the programs of the contests dedicated to Bach, Ciaikovski , Paganini , Sibelius , Wienianski .What characterize the Curci contest is the obligation of the final performance of the Concert of Beethoven , according to the tradition wanted by the founder of the contest ,Alberto Curci , tradition interrupted only for a year with the performance of the Concert of Brahms. We are on the search of the violinist musician , who uses his talent for the style giving life to the Beethoven's way of thinking : a complex thought ,difficult to solve . For this reason too the "Curci" contest has a precise place in the international world : it is not replaceable, it is absolutely necessary.