CD Reviews (The Straits Times, September 2015)

VIRTUOSITY:

MUSIC IS LIKE A MIRROR

EuroArts 2061288 (DVD) / ****

The 14^th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, held in Fort Worth (Texas) in 2013, was the first edition of American's most prestigious competition to take place after the death of its muse, the American pianist Van Cliburn (1934-2013). He had become an international superstar and national hero after winning the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in 1958. 

The competition’s  documentary movie, directed by Christopher Wilkinson, follows its predecessors by having a linear narrative, beginning with 30 competing pianists arriving from all over the world, the piano selection process and performance footages, all the way to the prize presentation ceremony. Where it departs from the others is its focus on pianists as individuals with high hopes and ambitions, who stake their reputations and lives for their art, as well as the role of music critics.

Even the “losers” get a look-in, particularly the elimination of baby-faced American Steven Lin (an audience favourite who was perhaps deemed to lack gravitas, left) and the angst-ridden Italian Alessandro Deljavan (who probably displayed too much angst for comfort). 

In the bonus section, there are performances by the eventual prizewinners Vadym Kholodenko (in Liszt's Wilde Jagd), Beatrice Rana (Ravel's Scarbo) and Sean Chen (Scriabin's Sonata No.5). Somehow through the proceedings, one gets the subliminal message that this competition, with typically American glitz, glamour and big money, was becoming a triumph of youthful proficiency and marketability over plain and good old (and sometimes boring) artistry.  

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.9

Violin Concerto No.1

LEONIDAS KAVAKOS, Violin

Mariinsky Orchestra / VALERY GERGIEV

Mariinsky 0524 / *****

Here are two works of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) that could have landed him in trouble, even risking time in a gulag. In the eyes and ears of Soviet cultural watchdogs under the Stalinist regime, their musical message would have been marked as subversive. His Ninth Symphony Op.70 was composed in 1945 near the end of the Great Patriotic War, and instead of a grand life-affirming Ninth in the joyous manner of Beethoven that was expected, the result was a short and unusually wry account of faux-rejoicing. There are three fast movements of enforced gaiety separated by two dark slow movements. The 4^th and 5^th  movements are linked by a mocking bassoon solo, an instrument he frequently associated with bumbling bureaucracy.

The First Violin Concerto (originally Op.77, later revised to Op.99) was completed in 1948, but its premiere was witheld until 1955, after the death of Stalin. A pessimistic tone and the incorporation of Jewish klezmer elements were deemed inappropriate during a climate of artistic censorship and anti-Semitism. It has now become one of the most performed 20^th century concertos, and Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos gives a searing performance that does not stint on its communicative power and shock value. The Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev are close to ideal interpreters, acutely aware of the music's trenchant qualities and having Shostakovich's ironic idiom in their blood.   

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, October 2013)

FRANCK Piano Works

DOMENICO CODISPOTI, Piano

Piano Classics 0052 / ****1/2

Pianists and followers of chamber music will be all too aware that in Franco-Belgian composer Cesar Franck’s evergreen Violin Sonata in A major, the piano part is far more technically demanding than the violin part. The glory of this masterpiece is the fine balance struck between the lyrical voice of strings and the keyboard’s thrilling, percussive thunder. But trust the Swiss-born virtuoso Alfred Cortot to transcribe it solely for the piano, such that the ten fingers of a beleaguered pianist have to muster both forces of melody and harmony in an ultimate act of perfect synchronisation. Prize-winning Italian pianist Domenico Codispoti has it all within his grasp, maintaining its precarious tightrope act without sacrificing musicality for virtuosity.

Even if one misses the violin for some moments, organ pipes are all but forgotten in Harold Bauer’s transcription of Franck’s Prelude, Fugue & Variation, originally for organ. The melodic thrust overshadows the counterpoint in this beautifully serene work. Franck’s best known piano work, Prelude, Chorale & Fugue is certainly not organ music reduced for piano. Codispoti’s mastery of its filigreed passages and chordal sonorities however bring an organ-like intensity in its climaxes that are a joy to behold. This is a very satisfying hour of listening, not just for pianophiles.

THE SODRE COLLECTION

MISCHA ELMAN, Violin

JOSEPH SEIGER, Piano

The Alpha Omega Sound / ****

The Russian violinist Mikhail “Mischa” Elman (1891-1967) was a student of the great Leopold Auer (who also taught Heifetz and Milstein), and is fondly remembered by violin connoisseurs for his sweet and silky tone, generous rubato and portamenti-laden playing that bordered on the sentimental and schmaltz. This recently unearthed 12 May 1955 live performance recorded by SODRE (the Official Service of Radio and Television Broadcasting of Uruguay) in Montevideo shows both sides of his artistry, as serious musician and sophisticated entertainer. One has to listen beyond a moment of serious tape distortion in the first movement of the Handel D major Sonata and creaking floorboards to appreciate why his art was so highly valued.

There is an arch-simplicity to Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata (Op.24), in a performance that simply sings. Though not one of his virtuoso scores, it is nonetheless impressive to hear its heart-on-sleeve lyricism brought out so disarmingly. Here is also a rare performance of Mendelssohn’s popular Violin Concerto in E minor (op.64) accompanied on piano. Elman makes no concessions for this and gives his all, and it is interesting to hear the countermelodies voiced by the piano instead of an orchestra. This rare recording is available through various online retailers. 

WINNERS OF THE 14TH VAN CLIBURN INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION NAMED

After over two weeks of intense and gruelling competition, the winners of the 14th International Van Cliburn International Piano Competition held in Fort Worth, Texas have been named. They are:

1st Prize: VADYM KHOLODENKO (Ukraine)
2nd Prize: BEATRICE RANA (Italy)
3rd Prize: SEAN CHEN (USA)

Finalists:
FEI-FEI DONG (China)
NIKITA MNDOYANTS (Russia)
TOMOKI SAKATA (Japan) 

All smiles from the Top Three: (From L) Sean Chen, Beatrice Rana and Vadym Kholodenko.

Striking poses from the unplaced finalists: (From L) Fei-Fei Dong, Nikita Mndoyants and Tomoki Sakata. 

Photos courtesy of Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

QUEST FOR THE NEXT CLIBURN / Article on the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for The Straits Times

Here is the article about the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition which I wrote for The Straits Times, published on Saturday 8 June 2013.

Come Sunday afternoon, one very talented pianist will be crowned Gold Medallist of the 14^th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at Bass Performance Hall, in the gentrified Texan city of Fort Worth. With this accolade comes a bounty of fifty thousand American dollars (SGD 62,5000), instant fame or notoriety, concert engagements around the globe, and a stellar career of performance artistry. Of these, only the first three are a given. The Cliburn, and others of the “Big Five” fraternity of international piano competitions (which include the Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Queen Elisabeth and Leeds), has been accused of extravagance and the inability to uncover true talent. 

There are several pathways in which a young artist can achieve fame and fortune in an overcrowded world of classical performance. One is to be recognised and championed by a famous and well-established conductor, orchestra, impresario or recording label. That is the rare privilege of a select handful, such as Chinese pianist Lang Lang and his Russian counterpart Evgeny Kissin, who perform at the world’s top concert venues and command astronomically high fees. The other is to get noticed by winning important music competitions, high-profile events of often-gruelling intensity and arduousness which have been compared with the Olympics, Tour de France and Wimbledon.

Van Cliburn's ticker tape parade in New York City in 1958.

World-renowned pianists like Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Murray Perahia and Krystian Zimerman were discovered through winning major competitions. Even Ivo Pogorelich, Youri Egorov and Peter Donohoe made their names by not winning competitions, the controversy which arose buoying them to critical successes and notices. Arguably the world’s most famous piano competition winner was Van Cliburn himself, who won First Prize in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in 1958 amid Cold War neuroses and Soviet-American intrigue.

Hailed as “the Texan who conquered Russia”, he garnered a ticker-tape parade in New York City befitting war heroes, sold a million records of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and became a figure of adulation like Neil Armstrong or Elvis Presley. However within twenty years, his career had all but fizzled out, with the legend living out the comforts of celebrity retirement until his death from metastatic bone cancer on 27 February this year.

A jubilant Alexei Sultanov in 1989. 

Held every four years, The Cliburn - named after Fort Worth’s most illustrious resident - has attempted to recreate a similar success for its winners but results have fallen short. Only the Romanian Radu Lupu, winner in 1962, has gone on to become a household name, albeit without the glitz or glamour of Cliburn himself. Most other winners have languished in the periphery of consciousness, or in the case of 1989 winner Alexei Sultanov, suffered a precipitous comedown. The 19-year-old Uzbek “wild child”, dissatisfied with his American victory, attempted both the Chopin and Tchaikovsky competitions without winning either. He fell into alcoholism and died after a series of strokes at 35.

Asia ruled  at the 2009 Cliburn. Joint winners Nobuyuki Tsujii and Zhang Haochen.

To its credit, The Cliburn and its foundation has a policy of managing the careers of its six finalists for a period of three years post-competition, helping them find their feet in the uncertain world of the concert stage. Both its 2009 joint-winners have benefited. The blind Japanese Nobuyuki Tsujii, already a star in his homeland, became known universally. The Chinese student Zhang Haochen, then only 19, has steadily built a base upon his musical maturity, sensitivity and personal modesty. Zhang has already performed with both the Singapore Symphony and Singapore Chinese Orchestras to rave reviews, while tickets to Tsujii’s 25 June Esplanade Concert Hall recital have already been sold out. Neither would have been heard in Singapore if not for the competition.

What about the cohort of 2013? Having heard its 30 pianists (whittled down from 132 in live auditions held worldwide) in two 45-minute preliminary round solo recitals, There seems to be two trends emerging; the prodigious youngster (22 years and younger) with fingers of amazing dexterity versus the world-wizened veteran (pushing 30, the upper age limit) of experience and well-formed ideas.

A study in contrasts: Clean-cut tomoko Sakata, mature Alexei Chernov and the Beatles-mullet of Sean Chen.

Judging by the six pianists selected by the 13-member jury formed by performers, professors and a soul music critic, the former demographic seems to be favoured. How else would the youngest participant, Japanese Tomoki Sakata, 19, he of the ultra-slick Albeniz, Liszt and Pabst transcriptions, have edged out the Russian Alexei Chernov, 30, whose darkly hewn and deeply-felt Beethoven Sonata Op.111 was one of the most satisfying performances of the competition thus far? Interestingly, the only American pianist to progress to the grand concerto final was the Chinese American Sean Chen, 24, whose vision of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata was glib and superficial.

The always passionate Alessandro Deljavan, for whom music has no half measures.

Ultimately it comes down to an enviable but elusive combination of a natural, unforced virtuosity, rare artistry, stage presence, charisma and likeability, qualities which Cliburn possessed in loads. In this respect, my votes went to the balding and hirsute Italian Alessandro Deljavan, 26, whose performances of Chopin Twelve Etudes Op.25 and Schumann’s Fantasy Op.17, evincing a passion and pain borne of life’s turmoils and torments. A touching life story, one of losing his father at an early age and needing to support his family through teaching and performing, was wholly believable given the depth of his playing. He, with five others, was eliminated after the semi-finals stage.

Beatrice Rana plays and looks far older than her 20 years.

That leaves my two other favourites Italian Beatrice Rana, 20, an artist of uncommon maturity of expression, and China’s Dong Fei-Fei, 22, whose fair China doll looks belie an inner fire and febrile intensity, to vie for top honours. If this competition raises the living life-as-artistry philosophy to the highest echelons of the world’s performing stages, this competition would be deemed a success. The teacher of Deljavan and Sakata, the American-born Italian resident William Grant Nabore, 71, who had three other pianists in this competition, summed it up nicely, “We are hopefully looking out for maturity and true artistry. Just about anybody can play the piano.”   

  

Dong Fei-Fei is anything but bone china.

Photos courtesy of Fort Worth Star-Telegram (the other ST).

CLIBURN FINALISTS NAMED

The six finalists of the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition have been named, close to midnight of Tuesday 4 June 2013 at Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth. They are (in alphabetical order):

SEAN CHEN (USA)

FEI-FEI DONG (China)

VADYM KHOLODENKO (Ukraine)

NIKITA MNDOYANTS (Russia)

BEATRICE RANA (Italy) and

TOMOKI SAKATA (Japan)

The final round of concerto performances with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin begins on Thursday 6 June 2013. Performances may be caught via Internet at the competition website (www.cliburn.org)

The concertos that will be heard include:

MOZART Piano Concerto No.20 (Mndoyants & Sakata)

MOZART Piano Concerto No.21 (Kholodenko)

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.3 (Rana)

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.4 (Dong)

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.5 (Chen)

PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No.2 (Mndoyants & Rana)

PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No.3 (Kholodenko)

RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.3 (Chen & Dong)

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No.1 (Sakata)  

I do feel for old Alessandro Deljavan, denied at the semi-finals stage of the Cliburn for the second consecutive time. Hopefully he'll have better luck at the Cleveland International Piano Competition coming on shortly. 

Interestingly, all the pianists whose CD and DVDs I purchased from the Cliburn Shop (at USD 10 and 15 a piece) happened to make it to the finals. They include Rana (CD), Sakata (CD), Kholodenko (DVD) and Fei-Fei (DVD). The impulse of wanting to experience those performances again was probably similar to the jury wanting to hear them again in the final. Uncanny but true.

Direct from THE CLIBURN / MY PICKS and THE JURY'S PICKS

Every member of the audience was a 
jury member in his/her own right.
Eight of my semifinal picks made it through. 

MY 12 PICKS FOR THE SEMI-FINALS

So we’ve reached the end of the Preliminary Rounds, after a whopping 60 recitals by 30 pianists, 29 of whom I’ve liked. So it remains the onerous task of picking just 12, and disappointing 18 others. This is one competition where there are no weak participants (including the artistically wayward ones), and any of the 30 would walk into another competition and be its winner stat. Here are the 12 pianists I have chosen (in alphabetical order, and a capsule summary):

ABROSIMOV (Substitute pianist, best Prokofiev 8)

CHERNOV (Mature and solid musician)

DELJAVAN (Angst-ridden Italian, possible winner)

DONG (Passionate China doll)

DUMONT (Mature Frenchman, ready to conquer the world)

FAVORIN (Loved his offbeat repertoire, and Tannhauser)

GILLHAM (Warm-hearted and genuine Queenslander)

KHOLODENKO (Rock solid Ukrainian, best ever Petrushka)

RANA (Old soul in a young body)

SAKATA (Japanese wunderkind)

SUNWOO (Gangnam Style and panache, by way of Vienna)

ZUBER (Rock solid American, most improved of 2 rounds)  

Dark horse:

BURATTO (I’ve always love the underdog)

So there have been some changes from my last pick after Phase One of the preliminaries. The Russian wunderkind Khozyainov has dropped off because I felt he could still develop in the area of feeling and living the music, like the way his older compatriot Chernov already has. The judges might differ and crown him the winner, but will he become a true musician under the hothouse and microscope Cliburn winners have to live with?

The jury's final twelve. The absence of Francois Dumont
remains a sore point.

Here are the judges' pick (In the announcement ceremony, they were seated in the balcony, separated from the audience and participants, which was a good thing in case of lynch mobs) and my own comments of their choices:

ABROSIMOV (Agree)

CHEN (Excellent first recital, but after that Hammerklavier?)

CHERNOV (Agree)

DELJAVAN (Agree most definitely)

DONG (Agree)

GILLHAM (Agree)

HUANGCI (I may have underestimated her having played so early.)

KHOLODENKO (Agree, especially for that Petrushka)

KHOZYAINOV (I knew the judges would pick him)

MNDOYANTS (I almost forgot about him, so Agree)

RANA (Agree, happily so)

SAKATA (Agree, whole-heartedly)

WHAT, no Dumont?

Sadly, my journey in The Cliburn ends today, as I return to Singapore to be with my family. Seven days of intense piano playing seems all too short, and time slips away ever so imperceptibly. I have enjoyed myself  greatly in Fort Worth, made many new friends (the photos will come soon), enjoyed its warm, hearty Texan hospitality and had a whale of a time. Will I be back in 4 years time? It certainly is tempting indeed...

All 12 semi-finalists line up (roughly in alphabetical order) 
for their press photo.

14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: End of Preliminary Rounds / Awaiting the Results

Before the reception, the American pianists
play (à la Tom Hanks) on a giant foot keyboard.
They attempt some Bach before giving up. 

It is always a tense time before the first results of a competition gets announced. This is the first round of eliminations at the 14th Van Cliburn International Competition. The pianists and their supporters are suitably worried. Who gets to stay and who goes home will be decided in a matter of minutes. 

That is why the Alink-Argerich Foundation (AAF), the world authority on international piano competitions, has organised a reception for the pianists before they face the chop. It is a good time for the competitions and their host families to relax, meet other pianists, members of the media and other well-wishers over light refreshments. 

The ubiquitous Dr Gustav A.Alink makes a short
welcome speech. Receptions are held at ten
international piano competitions every year. 

Japanese critic Nobuko has words of encouragement for
Tomoki Sakata, the competition's only Japanese competitor.
Alex McDonald (USA) and Jayson Gillham (Australia/UK)
meet for the first time.

This year's Russian contingent at Fort Worth:
Alexey Chernov (with his missus), Yuri Favorin
and Nikita Mndoyants (from L to R).

Getting to know you...

All 30 pianists parade on stage for the last time.

Here are the 12 semi-finalists standing in alphabetical
order:  Abrosimov, Chen, Chernov, Dong,
Deljavan, Gillham, Huangci, Kholodenko,
Khozyainov, Mndoyants, Rana and Sakata. 

Posing for the press.

One last selfie for the road:
Pianomaniac with Ol' Ron DeFord.
(Not quite ZZ Top!)

Direct from THE CLIBURN / Preliminary Rounds (Phase Two) 30 May 2013 Recital 1

Preliminary Rounds

Day 7 Recital One (11 am)

Thursday 30 May 2013

I felt that SARA DANESHPOUR (USA) played better today, opening with Haydn’s Sonata in F major (Hob.VXI:23), a very polished performance with wit and humour. The slow movement was crafted with a beautiful velvety sonority that made one wish it could continue for longer. The mood changed for Granados Love and Death (La amor y la muerte) from Goyescas, which was dark and brooding, captured with a style that is wholly appropriate. Her Prokofiev Seventh Sonata had less power that Garritson’s (Daneshpour being of far slighter built) but it was subtler in certain ways. The tolling bells of the second movement were memorable, and even if the Precipitato finale did not race off the tracks, it built up to a sufficiently big climax before closing in a flourish. Standometer: *1/2

My view: A better show today, but that may not be enough.

After all the glorious music making that has come before, it appears that GUSTAVO MIRANDA-BERNALES (Chile) has arrived at the wrong party. If this were the Gottschalk-Guastavino Carmen Miranda Piano Competition, he would be pronounced its champion in an instant. He plays with a distinctly unpleasant sound, apparent immediately in a Chopin Mazurka and Gabriel Faure’s Second Valse Caprice, both dances infected with an irritating beat of his own making. It gets worse in Schumann’s Fantasie Op.17, with conscious posturing posing as profundity, attention-grabbing accents, funny eyes and extreme facial grimacing. While Deljavan’s faces come across as genuine, Miranda’s looked like faked orgasms. And he comes from Juilliard? Standards must have fallen, I’m afraid. After this, I’m off to Ojos Locos for some real eye candy. Standometer: **1/2

My view: Adios, please.

    

The second recital of JIE YUAN (China) consisted of 27 short pieces, beginning with three rhythmically interesting numbers from Ligeti’s Musica Ricercata (Nos.3, 6 and 10), each based on the same number of notes as its numerical order. So each piece gets more complex as the numbers rise from 3 to 10. It does not take a mathematical genius to enjoy his account of these. There was little to separate Yuan’s magnificent performance of Chopin’s 24 Preludes Op.28 from the earlier one by Ruoyu Huang. Technically, it was beyond secure, and that is when the true music making starts. Each piece flowed into the next seamlessly, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Standometer: **1/2

My view: His stock has further risen, and hopefully we’ll get to hear more.   

Direct from THE CLIBURN / Preliminary Rounds (Phase Two) 30 May 2013 Recital 2

Preliminary Rounds

Day 7 Recital Two (3 pm)

Thursday 30 May 2013

FRANCOIS DUMONT (France) again appears the most mature of all the contestants. His whole demeanour seems to rise above and beyond the rough and tumble of competition; he is already a fully-formed artist who just happens to be playing a couple of concerts in Bass Hall while a competition is taking place. He is Mr Cool, like most Frenchmen tend to be. That is the feel I get in Debussy’s Estampes, one of few Debussy pieces programmed in the Preliminaries. Everybody wants to play Gaspard (Dumont included) but in his hands, the anti-virtuoso impressionist numbers truly ring out with colour, from the delicate tinkles of Pagodes, the sultry atmosphere of Soirees dans Grenade, to the patter of rain in Jardins sous la pluie. His Chopin Third Sonata was outstanding, breathing music from every pore. When you hear this warhorse in his hands, you do not think of a competition, but rather a recital where a close friend pours out his heart to you in his art. Standometer: ***1/2

My view: Does someone like Dumont need a competition? He should already be playing around the globe.  

Of all the Chinese pianists (Chinese-Americans included) in this competition, RUOYU HUANG (China) strikes one as the most human of them. Everything he does sounds heartfelt, even if it isn’t the most technically clean or accurate. I would hear his Schumann Fantaisie (Op.17) any day, because of its sincerity and genuine depth of feeling. Sure he struck wrong notes in the treacherous quick passages leading up the second movement’s octave leaps, but I would rather have these frailties than Carmen Miranda’s ultra-correct feints. The slow movement to close was warmth and reassurance itself. He added two Debussy Preludes – the stormy What The West Wind Saw and a somewhat heavy-handed Minstrels – before closing with the Preliminary round’s only Balakirev Islamey. His conception of its opening rhythm sounded unusually clipped, but still finished with a flourish. Standometer: ***

My view: He may not proceed, but I’ve enjoyed much of his playing.

YURY FAVORIN (Russia) has the most unusual programming in the entire competition, and that may be his undoing. Competition juries often stick with tried and tested repertoire, and mostly fear the unknown, especially when they don’t know or play those pieces themselves (or are unable to). For this round, he chose four movements from Liszt’s Harmonies poetiques et religieuses, two of which are very well known and two hardly ever performed. In Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude, I felt the opening could be smoother; this is the ultimate study in marrying left hand melody with right hand filigree. He generated a huge sonorous climax towards the middle, something he does well also in Funerailles. As with the chord laden Pensees de mort and Cantique d’amour, he makes me want to find out more of these spiritually inspired works. His playing is thunderous, and I am looking forward to his Alkan in the next round, that is if he makes it. Standometer: ***

My view: He’s done enough to make me root for him

Direct from THE CLIBURN / Preliminary Rounds (Phase Two) 29 May 2013 Recital 1

Preliminary Rounds

Day 5 Recital One (11 am)

Wednesday 29 May 2013

ALESSANDRO TAVERNA (Italy) has returned with the most atypical competition programme thought possible, beginning with Mendelssohn’s Sonata in B flat major (Op.106). This is not “Hammerklavier Lite” even if it begins with crashing chords, but something lighter by far. There’s some gratuitous note-spinning about, but what sticks out is the “song without words” slow movement which the Italian crafts most sensitively. Following that was Nikolai Medtner’s Sonata Minacciosa (Op.53 No.2), which I believe means “Menacing Sonata” or something to that effect. It is very dramatic and dark, trenchantly brought out, but seems to belabour its point (a two-note motif that hangs like a curse) too much. Ligeti’s etude The Devil’s Staircase – equally dark and threatening - was very impressively played, and the same dissonance occupied much of Messiaen’s Contemplation of the Spirit of Joy (from his Twenty Contemplations of the Infant Jesus), its chord-laden pages lit up by a transcendent chorale melody that is its valediction. Standometer: **   

My view: Very impressive, but I fear this cerebral recital may have flown over the top of most heads (including mine).

NIKOLAY KHOZYAINOV (Russia) continues to impress, not by just his prodigious technique, but also his restraint. His Chopin set was lovely, opening with the singing lines of the Barcarolle (Op.60), and closing with an ultra-smooth Berceuse (Op.57), both crafted to perfection. In between was the Chromatic Etude in A minor (Op.10 No.2) which was pristine and accurate to say the least. Then came his Liszt Sonata in B minor, which was a textbook account that would please anybody and everybody. The climaxes were plangently built up, and he does not bang. The quieter passages were poetically conceived and pleasing to the ear. All this sounds very good, by why doesn’t this constitute a rave? I just have the niggling feeling that something is missing; this interpretation sounds like the life experience of a 20-year-old that has been carefully cultivated, watered and pruned in a sterile bubble, one that has yet to taste life in a rough and tumble world. Standometer: ***

My view: Would progress to the next round. Juries just love these kind of students.

   

The polar opposite to the young Russian would be ALESSANDRO DELJAVAN (Italy), who looks battle-scarred, appearing at least twenty years older than the 26 listed in the Cliburn book. His recital was one born of trials and tribulation, but that had yet to surface in Mozart’s Variations on Gluck’s Unser dummer Pobel meint, which had an operatic and comedic theatricality that was enchanting. His Schumann Fantaisie in C major (Op.17) would be, in my opinion, the performance of the Preliminaries. With agony and ecstasy etched on his face to equal degree, the music came through with molto passione, molto dolore and molto amore. His sound was gorgeously projected, and those crazy octave leaps – nailed with an inexorable finality – sounded like some sort of vindication, of one whose dark inner secrets remains unrevealed. The audience applauded spontaneously after the first and second movements, but Deljavan got his own back when after the quiet C major ending, he continued unmolested into Schubert’s lovely Variation on the Diabelli Waltz (also in C major), almost a built-in encore. Standometer: ** only? (the audience was probably stunned into ultimate reverence)   

My view: I am almost speechless myself. If he does not progress, some people need to be shot.

Direct from THE CLIBURN / Preliminary Rounds (Phase Two) 29 May 2013 Recital 2

Preliminary Rounds

Day 5 Recital Two (3 pm)

Wednesday 29 May 2013

I’ve always liked the playing of JAYSON GILLHAM (Australia/UK). Today he opened with Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata (Op.53), which displayed his usual warmth and generous sound, which is sincere yet not wanting for passion. There is gravity in the slow movement, building up nicely into the flowing lines of the Rondo which gave a visceral thrill when those octave glissandos trickled and tickled like fresh spring water. Credit goes to the camera crew which knew exactly the right moment to focus on his hands and capture that little piece of musical magic. The balance of his programme was poetic Liszt (a lovely Petrarch Sonnet No.123) and virtuosic Liszt (the Spanish Rhapsody), both of which came through with great immediacy. There I no barnstorming in Gillham’s music making, only musical love making. Standometer: **1/2

My view: I hope he goes as far as possible in this competition.  

ERIC ZUBER (USA) more than made up for the relative disappointment of the earlier phase, and this is why the two-phase format in the Preliminaries of this competition has been so vital. It hopefully keeps the right people in the running. His view of Beethoven’s final Sonata in C minor (Op.111) was a revelation. There is true struggle and strife in the opening movement, borne by the power and passion of the playing. This is Beethoven in his final pianistic act of fist-shaking and hell-raising. Then anger and angst gave way to reflection and contemplation of the second movement’s Theme and Variations, which came across like a benediction with faith restored in this troubled world. The selection of four varied Rachmaninov Preludes (Op.32 No.10, 12 and 5, and Op.23 No.2) revealed more poetry and passion. He has now become my favourite American pianist in this competition. Standometer: ***

My view: Possibly the only American to be elected a semi-finalist, the last since Jon Nakamatsu in 1997.

The luck of the draw saw ALEXEY CHERNOV (Russia) perform exactly the same Beethoven sonata as Zuber, the Op.111. So soon after that, Chernov came up with a totally different conception of the work, equally valid and vivid. While Zuber ranted and raved, Chernov was more measured. His sound was more soft-focussed, less stark, almost a matte portrait to Zuber’s gloss and bright sheen. I was just as touched by this reading, which goes to core essence of classical music; differing interpretations could be appreciated on different terms but with the same satisfactory outcome. After all, who would want to hear a piece of music played in exactly the same way by everybody?

Chernov’s fillers were interest by their contrasts, Ligeti’s coruscating Autumn in Warsaw was followed by three waltzes, two folk-inspired numbers by Grieg (very charming as expected) and Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No.1, which provided a virtuosic close. Standometer: ***

My view: Should make it through. Beethoven Op.111 always helps.

Direct from THE CLIBURN / Preliminary Rounds (Phase Two) 29 May 2013 Recital 3

Preliminary Rounds

Day 5 Recital Three (7.30 pm)

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Everybody seems to love YEKWON SUNWOO (South Korea), and they cannot believe he was merely a substitute pianist in this competition. The unusual choice of the Strauss-Grunfeld waltz that opened his first phase now becomes more apparent. He has built both his preliminary round recitals on the subject of Vienna. This is truly inspired programming indeed. For the second phase recital, he began with Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor (K.213), a gem of a piece which showed that sadness has its own voice.  Then came Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Jest in Vienna), a series of dances and interludes which sparkled in his hands. After Leon Kirschner’s brief and palate-cleansing Interlude No.2, his closing piece was Ravel’s La Valse, in a performance that began lean, shorn of cholesterol and corpulent excesses, rhythmically steady, but built up a head of steam to finish with the perfect embodiment of decadence and chaos. A thrilling performance, to say the least. Standometer: ***1/2

My view: A strong performer that gets even better.  

SEAN CHEN (USA), the Beatles mullet guy, had the courage to programme only one work in his recital, which happened to be Beethoven’s mighty Hammerklavier Sonata (Op.106). I won’t yet call it a travesty but his interpretation sounds like a revisionist one. What are they teaching them at Juilliard and Yale these days? He nails every page with the determination of a power-lifter and hardly misses a note, but it is the glib superficiality of it all that rankles. He treats the great work like some exercise workout routine and morning calisthenics, and having done that, ponders what the next conquest will be. This is a Hammerklavier as conceived by Ringo Starr and Carly Rae Jepson. Call me maybe? The charm and grace he exuded in the first phase had all but evaporated. Standometer: *** (quite amazingly, probably because he’s American)

My view: Sorry to spoil the party, but this doesn’t do it for me.  

To be honest, I had pre-ordered the DVD of this second phase recital by China doll FEI-FEI DONG (China) in anticipation of her sterling performance of Scarlatti, Debussy and Liszt. Thankfully she did not disappoint. The two Scarlatti sonatas – in D major (The Chase) and F minor – were wonderful studies in contrasts, while she made most of Debussy’s early Danse or Tarantelle Styrienne, which sounded balletic and almost orchestral in her hands. And the Liszt B minor Sonata was quite splendid. Even if she did not have the same blood and guts as Alex McDonald (which firmly sticks in the mind), she certainly had the raging hormones that mummy’s boy Khozyainov lacked. Although Dong is only two years older than the Russian, this sounded like a real performance from the cauldron of life. Standometer: ***

My view: Win or lose, Fei-Fei is on her way to Singapore. They will love her here (or there).

Wrap–up: Possibly the strongest day of the competition so far, I look forward to seeing KHOZYAINOV, DELJAVAN, GILLHAM, ZUBER, CHERNOV, SUNWOO and DONG all advancing.