What's the music in my MP3 player?

WHAT’S THE MUSIC IN MY MP3 PLAYER?

Way back in 2005, I bought myself my first MP3 player. Not an iPod, but an LG FM11 with a measly 256 MB, just 4 hours of listening capacity. What went into this portable jukebox? Piano music, of course, and here are the items which have remained more or less unchanged since 2008:

RACHMANINOFF-WILD 

Song Transcriptions
To The Children – Floods of Spring – In The Silent Night – Where Beauty Lies – Vocalise – O, Cease Thy Singing
EARL WILD

RACHMANINOFF-VOLODOS 

Andante from Cello Sonata, Op.19
ARCADI VOLODOS

Yes, I'm a complete sucker for Rachmaninoff's melodies and one will not find finer tunes than these, all dressed up in pianistic finery like Cinderella going to a ball. Both Wild and Volodos are great transcribers, as Rachmaninoff was himself.

GODOWSKY Java Suite
Gamelan – Wayang Purwa – Hari Besaar – Chattering Monkeys of Lake Wendit – Borobodur in Moonlight – Bromo Volcano and Sand Sea – Three Dances – The Gardens of Buitenzorg – Streets of Old Batavia – In the Kraton – Ruined Water Castle at Djokja – Court Pageant in Solo.
ESTHER BUDIARDJO

One of my all-time-favourite "concept discs", Oriental-flavoured and lusciously written music idiomatically and sensitively played by the wonderful Indonesian pianist Esther Budiardjo.

PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No.2

VLADIMIR KRAINEV

with Frankfurt Radio Symphony 

DMITRI KITAENKO

A great if underrated piano concerto, a sort of Rachmaninov with teeth. Krainev has all the chops and that vital Russian essence; possibly greater than Ashkenazy's famous Decca recording, and definitely streets ahead of Li Yundi...

RACHMANINOFF
Piano Concerto No.2
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
GARY GRAFFMAN
with New York Philharmonic
LEONARD BERNSTEIN

This was the Rach 2 that got me started on my road of discovery in classical music. As an impressionable 14-year-old in the 1970s, Rachmaninov can have the impact of being struck by a bolt of lightning. Even if it was on a made-in-Indonesia pirated cassette costing $2 sold at a roadside stall.

RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.3

JOHN CHEN with Sydney Symphony 

JANOS FURST

Recorded "live" in the finals of the Sydney International Piano Competition 2004. A passion-filled performance that captures the blood and guts of a "live" performance. A storm of bravos ensue, including a just audible vocal contribution from yours truly.

Solo highlights from the 

2008 Sydney International Piano Competition:

CHOPIN Étude in A minor, Op.10 No.2 

DANIIL TSVETKOV
KAPUSTIN Intermezzo TATIANA KOLESOVA
POULENC Presto TAKASHI SATO
RAVEL La Valse DAVID FUNG
SCHULZ-EVLER Arabesques on the Blue Danube 

HOANG PHAM
SHOSTAKOVICH Prelude & Fugue in D flat major, Op.87 No.15 TATIANA KOLESOVA

Thrills and spills indelibly captured in the excitement of competition.

SIPCA Stage III Day Two / Morning session

I’m in a spot of bother now that I’ve said “yes” to almost nine pianists yesterday, and eight more have to play today, and only 12 will progress to Stage IV. That means I’ll have to drop some poor souls from yesterday or disappoint some people today. That’s the dilemma with competitions, there are so many good musicians, but only so few places for prizes.

Morning session

This very strong group begins with Konstantin Shamray (Russia), who reminds me a bit of Vladimir Ovchinikov, that tall and gaunt Russian who won the Leeds in 1987 and tied for second in Tchaikovsky in 1982. He has a stainless steel clad technique yet is totally musical. He opened with that quirky Shostakovich Prelude & Fugue in D flat major (No.15, which could be sung to We Wish You a Merry Christmas) and its wild, atonal fugue. A very good performance, which did not however overshadow Ilya Rashkovskiy’s in Hong Kong 2005. His Mozart Sonata in F major (K.533, there was a change in programme here) on more on the technical side, and its “music box” rondo could have a certain childlikeness. I’m just been finicky here, but I totally loved his choice of Schumann’s Fantasiestuck Op.111 No.2, which has full, gorgeous sound and resounded like a well-delivered sermon followed by a benediction. With the fearsome Schumann Toccata (Op.7), he couldn’t have had a better finish. Verdict: Da, yet again.

Tatiana Kolesova (Russia) will win the Audience Prize, no doubt about it. She is slim, pretty in the Slavic sort of way, with waist length hair, has a modest stage demeanor but is capable of packing in power. Yet she also exhibits feminine playing, that sort of caressing the keyboard is needed in slow movements, such those in Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy. In the more bombastic passages, she reserves her energy, delivering it only when it matters, and the effect is a very well-scripted one. Her Haydn Sonata in G minor (No.44) also receives the same delicate treatment. The crowd pleaser in her chose to close with a Nikolai Kapustin Concert Etude (from Op.40) called Intermezzo, which opened in an insouciant lounge lizard manner, but went accelerando and closed with flourishes of triplets, bringing loud cheers from the audience. Verdict: You need to advance to get that Audience Prize, and she has the chops for it.

Daniil Tsvetkov (Kazakhstan), with his cool Raybans, has that svelte touch to his playing that is sophisticated, with a pristine sound of the Kobrinesque quality. His Haydn Sonata in C minor (No.20) is as clear as a bell, but tinged with a sort of pathos that colours the music. Competition junkies will know what I mean by the reference to Alexander Kobrin (winner of the 2005 Van Cliburn), whose playing is cool, detached, close to perfect yet totally committed. Tvsetkov dropped Australian Gordon Kerry’s Figured in the Drift of Stars (a set piece for SIPCA 2004), instead going for broke in Liszt’s Reminiscences de Don Juan, a stupendous reading in which a sprinkling of dropped notes did not faze. The mercury rose, but he maintained a cool unflappable exterior throughout. Verdict: Another strong showing, which will get him through.

The last of this morning’s fearsome foursome was Ran Dank (Israel) who seems to have the Midas touch for everything he plays. He’ll most probably win the Mozart sonata prize with his sincere yet deeply Sonata in B flat major (K.570), the intensity in the slow movement kept the audience so rapt that one could hear a pin drop. He also brought out the connection in the disparate themes of Roger Smalley’s Morceau de concours, rather than merely making it sound like some concert etude. He’ll also win the Australian music prize, I reckon. The morning closed with Rachmaninov’s Second Sonata, in a performance with both passion and intelligence, and you won’t get more of that of electricity unless you’re named Horowitz. Verdict: A clear favourite at this stage, and a likely finalist.

SIPCA Stage III Day Two / Afternoon Session

Afternoon session

Charlie Albright (USA) will soon have to call himself Charles Albright Esq. very soon if he is going to be taken seriously. Can you imagine a Carnegie Hall poster with the name Charlie on it? More like “Charlie Albright (Trumpeter) and his All-Star Jazz Band”, or some brand of women’s scents. Anyway, his Haydn Sonata in B minor (No.32) was super – it had lot of colour and integrity; the lightness in the final, with its repetitive notes never sounded boring. Then came the 3rd and 4th movements of Beethoven’s Sonata in A major (Op.101). The return of the 1st movement’s theme (last heard two days ago) was meant to be a recollection of past loves and lives, but its appearance now was rendered meaningless. Such egregious dismembering of a great composer’s music is unforgivable. Yet, the four Chopin Etudes (Op.25) presented by Master Etude himself (No.3,7,8 and 10) were so well played and beautifully voiced that one tends to dismiss past sins as those of youthful mindlessness. Verdict: Such a wilful talent should not be denied. So let’s hear the last four of Chopin’s Op.25 in Stage IV.

Sean Chen (USA) presented an aurally decadent programme of Lanesque (Piers, not Lois) dimensions. He begun with the Godowsky transcription of Schubert’s The Trout, its outrageously camp and unexpected turns brought out a few giggles from the jury seated behind me. Percy Grainger’s Ramble on Love from Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier was however too tame for my liking. Chen appears to be a charmer, not a seducer but this music needs a certain steaminess that ought to fog up windscreens (like Leonardo de Caprio in Titanic). His “serious” work came in Mozart’s Sonata in B flat major (K.333) which seemed too fast and had little tenderness in the first movement, and a Chopin Ballade No.3 that was as plain-speaking as Yemtsov’s yesterday. And he closed with the lovely Serenade by Richard Strauss, by way of Godowsky again. Verdict: Could have done with less Godowsky and Grainger, but more of the established classics. Sorry, I don't think there will be a chance of another Chen winning SIPCA this year.

Sergei Saratovsky (Canada/Russia) did not charm me with the rough handling of Haydn’s Sonata in D major (No.37), its odd and exaggerated accents seemed calculated and trite. There is a fine line between showing character in playing, and overplaying for effect, and I think he crossed it. In Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, his Ondine began evenly but did not build up sufficiently for a rapturous climax, unlike Yemtsov. His Le gibet was probably the best in the trilogy, while the Scarbo he offered seemed more mischievous than downrightly evil. Although the playing was accomplished, it lacked a certain characterisation that made it memorable. Verdict: His journey stops here.

I’m getting to really like Eric Zuber (USA, now with a correct photo, I hope), who possesses that all-American honest, big-hearted and wholesome kind of playing. This rang true in Mozart’s Sonata in C major (K.330), which was as bright as daylight, and had none of that posturing for effect’s sake. He was also brave in attempting the audacious Nutcracker Suite transcription by Mikhail Pletnev. However one needs a chutzpah of transcendental proportion to pull it off; its delicate dancing (Sugar Plum Fairy), rumbustious galumphing (Trepak) seemed lost to Zuber, who was more dutiful, intent of getting the notes right rather than emoting fantasy. Only in the final Andante maestoso did his largesse come though gloriously. I’m now thinking of some lyrics to that big, big melody. Verdict: On these counts, he may not progress.

SIPCA Stage III Day One / Morning session

Just a few words about the two newly commissioned works for the competition by two Australian composers, one of which has to be performed by each of the 20 pianists in Stage III:

Roger Smalley’s Morceau de concours is exactly what it means in French, a piece for competition. It begins quietly and meditatively, then erupting into a panoply of 20th century piano-writing styles – brilliant toccata/etude-like passages, thunderous cascades of chords, a marche grotesque, few seconds of lyrical asides and an abrupt ending in F minor. Just about everything a pianist needs to exhibit in his/her competition armamentarium.

Andrew Ford’s Thin Air has fewer notes, but the silences in between speak volumes. The left hand opens violently and its 4-note motif lingers on throughout the piece (albeit with minor variations), with the right hand playing Debussyan thirds and other figurations. There are loud moments but its nocturnal and static atmosphere created by long-held bass notes almost paints a rarefied and mysterious vista of the vast Australian outback.

Both works run for between 5 to 6 minutes. So much for my amateur analyses. Hearing them for the first time (as did the composers themselves), I shan't go into the details of how each pianist did in these fascinating works, are also terribly difficult to perform or memorise. There were 7 and 5 performances of Ford and Smalley respectively today. There weren't any poor performances, but some were more persuasive than others for a varying number of reasons. I'll have to check out the scores sometime soon.

Morning session

Hao Zhu (China) opened the next stage with Mozart’s Sonata in C minor (K.457), with a suitably dramatic statement of the opening theme. There was some roughness around the edges, and minor slips, but he is capable of much lyrical playing, notably in the slow movement. The finale began surreptitiously but the bittersweet and impulsive qualities of the movement soon took over. His Albeniz Triana (from Iberia) displayed good fingers but lacked the all-essential Hispanic largesse and that rush of blood to the head. At its climax, his sound was congested with over-pedalling. The Chopin Polonaise-Fantasy Op.61 began well but soon became bogged down with its finery and details, and the outcome was less tight than it should have been. Verdict: This is as far as he goes.

Hoang Pham (Australia) is pure poetry once again in Mozart’s Sonata in F major (K.332), which flowed like oil in the first and flow movements like the composer requested. The vertiginous finale was also very well articulated. Chopin’s Scherzo No.3 (Op.39) gave him ample opportunity for more outward virtuosity; the octave passages were immaculate and the chorale beautifully voiced. Another piece of inspired programming – Pham played the final two movements from Bartok’s Out of Doors (known as En plein air in French), just the perfect foil for Ford’s Thin Air. Separated by the Chopin, the scenery shifted from some dreamtime near Alice Springs to The Night’s Music in Transylvania. His evocation of things that go bump in the night was positively eerie, closing with the hell-raising Chase. Verdict: My first candidate to advance, without any doubt.

Alexei Yemtsov (Australia) produced very cultured playing all round in Mozart’s Sonata in C major (K.330), arguably one of his less problematic ones. Chopin’s “easiest” Ballade No.3 (Op.47) also gave him opportunities to sing unabated before the Icarus flight of Scriabin’s Sonata No.4. In his case, the closer he flew to the sun, the stronger he became, closing with the most supercharged ending of all the performance of this work in SIPCA so far. In all three rounds, Yemtsov has proven himself to be a most reliable (and almost predictable) Ukrainian-Russian pianist of the common garden variety. Verdict: Should progress unless 12 other people give stronger showings. As it is, Pham is my leading Ozzie.

Tomoki Kitamura (Japan) has had the ill luck of being called “Tommy Koh” by the ABC Classic FM announcer for most of this morning. That was as far as his misfortune went, as he proved yet again to be perhaps the most prodigious pianist here. At merely 17, he projected the wisdom of someone many times his age. The moment he laid hands on the Liszt Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen Prelude, one sensed something transcendental at work. His judgement of every phrase, every nuance seemed faultless, and its lachrymose subject soon became something spiritual. The Bach French Suite No.4 that followed was tasteful and unmannered, with each dance movement made to sound like a polished gem. The only downer was the almost breathless pace adopted for the opening movement of Mozart’s Sonata in D major (K.311), not enough nobility here. Much better, were the beautiful slow movement and the concluding Rondo, hurdling over some of Mozart’s most treacherous writing with ease. Verdict: Anyone who has the confidence of allowing Mozart to end a competition recital gets my vote.

SIPCA Stage III Day One / Afternoon & Evening sessions

David Fung (Australia) adorned the first movement of his Mozart Sonata in E flat major (K.282) with so many ad libitum ornaments – albeit tastefully done – that it began to sound fussy. The Minuet was jaunty instead of stately, but the spirited finale had spark, looking forward to Papageno’s music from The Magic Flute of years later. The last half dozen of Rachmaninov Preludes (from Op.32) received mixed treatment. There were Romantic surges and nostalgic backward glances that made much of the music sound fresh. The famous number in G sharp minor (No.12) had melancholy and regret to last a lifetime, but mistakes in the syncopated dance of No.11, and a lapse near the climax of the valedictory final Prelude (No.13) might have put paid to his chances. Verdict: At this stage, there really is no room for error. Sorry.

Fernand0 Altamura (Italy) had the misfortune of two handphones (different ringtones) going off one after another in his recital. No matter, he made every note count in a cultured reading of Haydn’s Sonata in D major (Hob. XVII: 1). The first big 20th century sonata to be delivered this stage was by Henri Dutilleux. Altamura has a very secure technique overall, but the swinging first movement wanted for a more rhapsodic feel. He was able to bring out some hidden inner voices but was a little too coy with the sexy slow music (don’t think for a moment that this doyen of living French composers is lacking it). The central Lied produced some crystalline pianissimo, while the Chorale and Variations was rightly accorded a tour de force. Verdict: Should get through.

Mariangela Vacatello (Italy) gave a humorous and well-judged account of Haydn’s famous Sonata in C major (No.50) all through to the “wrong note” finale. There was even room for rubato in the slow movement. Although considered a no-no, it was elegant and persuasive enough for more catholic tastes. There was a change in programme, replacing Schumann’s Sonata No.2 with the final three Transcendental Etudes of Liszt. The restless No.10 received the best performance so far, but she messed up in Harmonies du soir (No.11) despite producing a rich and lovely sonority, and packed in enough raw power in Chasse neige (No.12) to end satisfactorily. Verdict: A close call, but we need more women in Stage IV!

The mature Spaniard Jose Menor is an interesting case. His short Haydn Sonata in B flat major (No.41) was vibrant in its dotted rhythms, and filled with enough bubbly the keep the corks popping. Then came his Achilles heel – Chopin’s Polonaise in F sharp minor (Op.44) which I thought he over-pedalled, and missed rather more notes than one is comfortable with. The two-movement Sonata No.1 by Australian Carl Vine, probably the most accessible (for listeners, but definitely not pianists) and performed sonata in the world from the 1990s, was simply magnificent. Every chord, ever phrase seemed judged to perfection, and when the big climaxes arrived, it came with the inexorable force of a tsunami. The whirlwind that began the second movement (Crotchet = 120) seemed right out of Ginastera’s Sonata No.1, also performed by Menor to great alacrity in Stage II. Verdict: Let’s hear his Liszt Sonata in Stage IV!

Yes, Christopher Devine (Great Britain) returned, and I was totally receptive to everything he had to say. To his credit, his Mozart Sonata in D major (K.311) was better paced than Kitamura’s; the opening movement sounded just right and the Rondo finale was buoyant and spirited. Only his over-accenting of the vital three notes at the end of each phrase in the slow movement disturbed me. This was some show of character, to say the very least. The Prokofiev Sonata No.7 (Op.83, the centrepiece of the three “War” Sonatas) was clean and very accurate, combining percussive violence with reflective moments. My only problem is that he does not vary his sound enough, for example in the stormy central section of the slow movement and the subsequent tolling of bells. Even in the precipitous finale, he began at a very sprightly pace and maintained it till the desperate end without actually going for broke. Without risk taking, music making becomes merely efficient and mundane, like doing the laundry or taking out the garbage. Verdict: Why has he progressed thus far? He’s as safe and durable as a factory-tested three-pack of trojans.

Like his fellow compatriot Kitamura, Takashi Sato (Japan) is another gem awaiting discovery. Similar was the tiny jewel-like Les roseaux by Couperin that opened his recital. Anyone who programmes the poor maligned Muzio Clementi in a competition obviously has something valid and urgent to say. The Sonata in G major (Op.37 No.2) is neither bad nor totally memorable music, but Sato’s performance recorded it five star status. Its cheeky Haydnesque finale with some unusual harmonic turns was a charmer. Now who wants to hear some overplayed Prokofiev? He also delighted in the barbed harmonies and rhythmic thrusts of Bartok’s Sonata, finding joy in the pentatonic paradise that is its rip-roaring finale. Verdict: Both Japanese boys will have to slug it out again in Stage IV.

Like two double-decker buses that arrive together at almost the same time, the two Korean women also seem inseparable. I simply cannot decide whether I liked Miyeon Lee (left) or Yoonsoo Rhee better. They were both so different, yet with so much to offer. Lee’s Haydn Sonata in A flat major (No.46) had a combination of crispness and intimacy. Her showpieces were three pieces from Albeniz’s Iberia. Her Evocacion was gentle and seductive, and the El Corpus Christi en Sevilla showed everything that Yen (from Stage II) lacked – scintillating brilliance without resorting to histrionics, and a rapt prayer-like close blest with holy water. Finally her El Albacin was vibrant and imaginatively coloured.

Rhee offered the much better known Haydn Sonata in C major (No.50), which was inhabited with the same verve that brightened her Beethoven Rage over the Lost Penny (Stage II). Her showpiece was Brahms’ very early Sonata No.2 in F sharp minor(Op.2), with its virtuosic but embarrassingly gauche piano-writing, over-thick with octaves, chords and thin material repeated over and over. However one could sense possible influences from Schumann and Liszt on the beardless Johannes (like Samson, his strength grew with his state of hirsuteness). Despite all that, she made so much music from it, and she was amazingly error-free. Richter and Arrau, anybody? Verdict: These Korean women are like Siamese twins; both should advance, and let no jury tear asunder.

SIPCA Stage II Day Two / Morning session

Morning session

Elizaveta Ivanova (Russia) continued her fine showing with a well-shaped and phrased Mozart Fantasy in C minor (K.475), one that began so imposingly that I swore that Chopin’s First Ballade was about to take place. One wonders why Debussy’s Les collines d’Anacapri has featured (its incarnation No.5 now) so prominently in this round. It’s suitably impressionistic, suitably virtuosic, and doesn’t pack in so many notes (unlike What the West Wind Saw) and Ivanova’s was predictably well turned out. Her selection of 6 Shostakovich Preludes (Op.34) was excellent, combining a homage to Bach, tongue in cheek send-ups to popular dance movements, a Chopin-like etude, wrong note polkas and a breathless movement perpetual. Just perfect. Verdict: Da.

Marco Ciampi (Italy) is another pianist who does not resound strongly with me. Despite that, his Debussy Girl with the Flaxen Hair was elegantly inflected, and his Scriabin Sonata No.4 was more alluring and seductive than Sean Chen’s (Stage I). You know what they say about Italian lovers, and there was enough lift to keep the breathless finale afloat for most of the time. Bernoulli was Italian too, I think. However, his Liszt Transcendental Etude No.10 did not stand out, sounding effortful at parts while lingering a little too long in its brief reflective moments. Verdict: Will need a massive effort to get through.

Konstantin Shamray (Russia) pulled off that Russian warhorse, the Taneyev Prelude and Fugue in G sharp minor (famously recorded by Ashkenazy), with such amazing pianism that there is little more to say. The fugue is simply one of those torture devices regularly inflicted on piano students at the Moscow Conservatory. His Debussy Ondine showcased wide contrasts of dynamics, and how the castanets clicked away in the Ravel Alborada del gracioso, with some outrageous glissandi at the end to match. Verdict: Da, again.

Tatiana Kolesova (Russia) isn’t a particularly big girl but the power she packs in for the Stravinsky Three Movements from Petrushka is quite awesome. Although the performance isn’t as blistering as Pollini’s (but who’s is?), her steadiness and accuracy (with hardly a dropped note) is the reason why pianists have to practise, practise and practise. Her Debussy Alternating Thirds was equally spine-chilling in its evenness and seamlessness. Chopin’s Etude in F minor (Op.10 No.9), the “easiest” of the lot, almost became inconsequential. Verdict: Triple da.

It’s been a good day for Russians. The sole Kazakhstani Daniil Tsvetkov was in good company. His Exquisite Fairies (Debussy) possessed a litheness and lightness than Menor lacked. His Schumann Arabeske was also poetic and had the opposite effect of Devine’s. Under his hands, Messiaen’s Regard de l’esprit de joie got off the blocks at a faster clip than Lee’s (last evening) and revealed a wider plate of colours. The virtuosity was unquestionable, and in all three works, he had silenced his rivals. Verdict: Borat says da too.

Which pianist’s name comprises two different English words? Ran Dank (Israel) performed the only 12-tone work of the entire competition. Boulez’s Douze Notations, comprising 12 varied sketches from some notebook of musical ideas, was made to sound like music rather than random noise, and that itself is some achievement. Dank’s Debussy Feux d’artifice had both atmosphere and colour, with the motif from La Marseillaise wafting from out of the fumes like some Bastille Day spectre. In Chopin’s rather hackneyed Heroic Polonaise (Op.53), he found something new to say without sounding vulgar. Verdict: Bravo.

Young Charlie Albright (USA) aka Master Etude has to be the most naïve, or the most astute competitor at SIPCA. What possessed him to play dismembered movements from sonatas when there are opportunities to present these whole at a later stage? The first movement of Janacek’s Sonata “From the Street 1-X-1905”, a requiem for a murdered street protestor, had a rapt opening and very beautiful tonal shadings. One regretted he did not continue into the anguished second movement. His Debussy Terraces of Moonlit Audiences felt just right, no need for artificial lighting here. Finally, he played only the first two movements of Beethoven’s Sonata in A major (Op.101), with great lyricism in the former and just the right thrust in the latter. What about the 3rd and 4th movements? He has programmed them in Stage III. What a tease! Verdict: Anyone who does not desire to hear that is not a musician.

SIPCA Stage II Day Two / Afternoon session

Afternoon session
Sean Chen (USA) sounded almost jazzy in Ligeti’s L’escalier du diable (The Devil’s Staircase); one is tempted to think of boogie-woogie here, which cannot be a bad thing. And how odd is it that the staircase seems to be heading upwards most of the time! In Debussy’s Feuilles mortes (Dead Leaves), the leaves were dead but not the prelude. Another coup of smart programming was to include in his selection of Rachmaninov Etudes-tableaux (Op.39) the one in D minor (No.8), with its wind-swept autumn leaves carried off by roadside eddies. Needless to say, this group was played with much sympathy and virtuosity. Verdict: What is the chances of SIPCA being won by two Chens in succession? Not too shabby, I'll say.


Sergei Saratovsky (Russia/Canada) performed the little known Bach Prelude & Fugue in C sharp minor (WTC II), beginning with a pensive prelude followed by a vertiginous fugue very clearly articulated. I did not care too much for his Debussy Feux d’artifice which had too much pedal for my liking. The big surprise was McIntyre’s Butterflies and Bobcats (2004) which was a tonal eclectic mix of disparate influences; Debussy, Bartok, Ginastera, Ligeti, Lieberman (Lowell, not Rolf)… you name it. Performed to what seemed like perfection, this has to be included in ABC Classics’ SIPCA CD collection. Verdict: Let’s hear more from him.

Ryan McEvoy McCullough (USA) also had a strange mix of the familiar and rare. Almost too familiar was Schubert’s Impromptu No.3 in B flat major (Op.142) which had both feeling and hallmarks of good musicianship. Debussy’s Ondine has now equalled Les collines d’Anacapri in terms of the number of times heard. Why? Because it suitably represents the impressionists’ fluid style, is suitably brief and has far less notes than Ravel’s Ondine. Can’t exactly remember how RMM played it, as it was overshadowed by the five Preludes of Polish composer Milosz Magin. This is fascinating music, fascinatingly performed, the fourth being a lovely nocturne for the left hand alone. And it appears less taxing than Scriabin’s. Verdict: A sensitive and persuasive musician who should make it through.

Chun Chieh Yen (Taiwan) has an improved showing today but the bad habits continue. In the first six Etudes from Chopin’s Op.25 set, he insists on producing an exaggeratedly accented and clipped sound whenever the opportunity arises. The lovely right pinky melody in the Aeolian Harp Etude (No.1) is attacked rather than sung at its climax, while the dotted rhythm in the E minor etude (No.5) is just too skittish and jumpy. His right hand thirds in No.6 were wonderful but messed up in the left hand towards the end. On a positive side, his Debussy Bruyeres (Heather) was close to exquisite. Then it was back to extreme stridency in Albeniz’s El Corpus Christi en Sevilla from Iberia. His religious procession would have made Grand Inquisitor Torquemada proud. Verdict: Clearly a talented being, John Perry should sort him out after he exits SIPCA this afternoon.

Eric Zuber (USA) is the big-hitter among the Americans. His Debussy The Engulfed Cathedral had good contrasts and a massive climax. The two Szymanowski Marzukas from Op.50 (famously recorded by Rubinstein and Hamelin) were varied and convincing; the first was earthy and robust while the second probing and melancholic. The Liszt Rhapsodie Espagnole exhibited excellent octave technique throughout and had humour in the Jota Aragonesa. Verdict: If you got it, flaunt it. Another exzuberant showing.

We’re down to the final two. Yekwon Sunwoo (Korea) did little wrong in Debussy’s Voiles (Sails), with its thirds and apparent stasis well judged. The two Brahms selections from Op.118 had mixed outings. The lyricism in the Intermezzo in A major (No.2) was well brought out, while he submerged some murkiness in the Ballade (No.3) by over-pedalling. Finally his Balakirev Islamey was probably the swiftest among the three heard over the last two days, with no shortage of bravura and spilt notes. Verdict: A dependable pianist who should get through.


Finally, Xun Wang (China) returned with yet another short programme, running well under the 20 minute mark. Had he misread the rulebook? At any rate, his Debussy Ondine (the sixth version to be played) lacked feeling and subtlety. This was followed by two impossibly familiar Chopin waltzes. The A minor (Op.34 No.2) was too fast to be sentimental about, while the C sharp minor (Op.64 No.2) had little new to say. His Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No.6 was however very dependable, with the right hand octaves predictably stunning. Verdict: Should have presented more music to aid his cause.

SIPCA Stage II Day One / Morning session

Morning session

It’s make or break for these young talents, and everybody seems to have stepped up their efforts to qualify this morning. Only in a competition will one get to hear two performances of Balakirev’s Islamey and the Schulz-Evler Arabesques on the Beautiful Blue Danube each in a single morning!

Adam Herd (Australia) has gotten better today, with an intriguing recital centred on the keys of B minor and B major. Delectable would be the right word to describe Russian miniaturist Anatol Liadov’s Prelude (Op.11 No.1), a rare gem of Slavic introspection played with obvious love by Herd. Debussy’s Les collines d’Anacapri was captured with Mediterranean warmth and fervour but was dogged with wrong notes, as was in the brooding Ballade No.2 by Liszt. Herd’s left hand rumblings were suitably ominous and had much presence and character in much of the work. Verdict: Will miss the cut because he wasn’t accurate enough. A real pity.

John Fisher (Australia) proved to be of much sterner stuff as he conquered the uproarious difficulties of Balakirev’s Islamey with much aplomb. Its last two coruscating minutes were nail-biting stuff as he jumped over spiked hurdles and through flaming hoops with barely a flinch. Equally important was his poetic and eloquent reading of Chopin’s Etude in C sharp minor (Op.25 No.7). The fluid realm of Debussy Ondine was also vividly realised. Verdict: Might be the first Ozzie to qualify.

Feng Zhang’s (China) programme was an absolute delight. Beginning with Debussy’s Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir (Sounds and scents mingle in the evening air) was evocatively painted, with snatches of melody appearing and receding, before dissipating into the ether. Two Godowsky transcriptions of Schubert’s Lieder, Gute Nacht (Winterreise) and Das Wandern (Die Schone Mullerin) – richly harmonised - added to that fuzzy, feel good factor. The innocuously titled Etude in E minor by Alkan turned out to be nothing less than that diabolical dragon-slayer Le festin d’Esope (Aesop’s Feast)! Fortunately, Zhang had much of the stupendous technique and requisite humour to carry those vertiginous variations off. Not quite Marc-André Hamelin but good enough for me. Verdict: Should get through.

Xixi Zhou (China) was back with Mozart’s Variations in F major (K.398) on a theme by Paisiello, which was carefully manicured but still forgettable. His Debussy Ondine had more freedom and mystery than Fisher’s, and one marvelled at his right hand filigree in the opening of the Schulz-Evler conflation of Johann Strauss the Younger’s most famous waltz. But where was that air of gemutlichkeit? Very soon, it began to sound like a loud study, which also went off the tracks for a few moments. Verdict: Might have qualified in another competition, but this is SIPCA.


Hao Zhu (China) had impressed me in Stage I with his Turina. Today, he seemed less inspired. The Bach Prelude in E flat minor (WTC I) sounded too dry and detached for my liking, although the Fugue came out better. The opening theme of his Debussy The Engulfed Cathedral lacked mystique and its handling was prosaic, despite some well-turned waves that sounded just about right. Zhu’s Balakirev Islamey was swifter and more mercurial that Fisher’s but came across as superficial, especially in the slower middle section. He also made little effort to vary the phrases that were repeated, and at his spell-binding speed, missed out on more than a few notes. Verdict: May not proceed.

Hoang Pham (Australia) looks like the Ozzie to beat now given his latest showing. The Shostakovich Prelude and Fugue in G sharp minor (Op.87 No.12) presented dark and sombre shades contrasted with a wry and quirky fugue that was subtle handled. Debussy’s final prelude Feux d’artifice (Fireworks) made deft use of the pedal, exploited light and colour, and power. In the Schulz-Evler, Pham eschewed the lengthy introduction and launched himself in the waltz proper with lightness and ebullience. Including his own mini-cadenzas, added harmonies, inner voices and the odd blues note, he turned this warhorse into a nudge-nudge wink-wink private party piece of Cherkasskyan guile. Beside him, poor Xixi Zhou sound like some overwrought discus thrower. Verdict: Will make it through, no doubts about it.

In this company, Wojciech Wisniewski (Poland/Australia) looks like some dutiful and industrious student, whose Bach Toccata in C minor dragged on for much too long. Its fugue sounding more studied than alive, and could have benefited from a stiff dose of Argerich (or Jayson Gillham for that matter). His Debussy Les collines d’Anacapri lacked fantasy but not mistakes. Finally, his Verdi-Liszt Rigoletto Paraphrase, a work that should have free-wheeled, was bogged down by a hesitant and stilted statement of the famous quartet theme La bella figlia d’amore. Verdict: Sorry, no go.

SIPCA Stage II Day One / Afternoon session

Afternoon session

Alexei Yemtsov (Ukraine/Australia) did his chances no harm with a Debussy Girl with the Flaxen Hair that was unfussy or mannered. I had wished that the two Brahms Intermezzos that he offered been more varied; the A minor (Op.116 No.2) and E flat minor (Op.118 No.6) were both darkly shaded and brooding, the latter with its faux-triumphant close. I can’t honestly say that Arcadi Volodos’ histrionics does much to improve Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.13, but Yemtsov had that bravura to pull it off. Verdict: Should get through.

Aiko Yajima (Japan) began her recital with Prokofiev’s Sarcasms (Op.17), an early work that defined him as the enfant terrible of Russian music. Essentially it amounts to a swag-bag of musical expletives and swear words, with enough vitriol to scandalise the St. Petersburg conservatives and establishment. Yajima succeeded in bringing out its shock value, with its unexpected turns, grinding dissonances and outright barbarism. Her Debussy Ondine was dreamy and evocative, and the water theme continued seamlessly with the Schubert-Liszt Auf dem Wasser zu singen (To be Sung on the Water). Verdict: Might get through on the strength of this recital.

Tomoki Kitamura (Japan) proved that age is no concern when it comes to music making. His anti-virtuosic recital began with the little-known Sibelius Sonnet (Op.94 No.3) – a breath of fresh spring air – and that little Beethoven Rondo in G major (Op.51 No.2) which children often play. His view was, of course, totally musical, and no barnstorming required here. Finally the swagger of Debussy’s General Lavine… eccentric was infectious, with little pause here and there for comic effect. Verdict: An injustice if he doesn’t make it into the next stage.

Miya Kazaoka (Japan) returned from her Stage I mishaps with a vengeance. Her vision of The Engulfed Cathedral was perhaps the best Debussy heard so far. Her judgement of colours and tints was close to perfection, with the statement of the first theme putting Zhu’s earlier reading far into the shade. What is it with Debussy that resounds so strongly with the Japanese aesthete? Her view of the Wagner-Liszt Isoldes Liebestod was equally enthralling, its theme of redemption through fatal love, was gloriously realised. After all, it is a woman who sings Mild und leise. Venom spewed unabated in Prokofiev’s Suggestion diabolique (Op.4 No.4), which unfortunately turned out to be the weakest performance here. Verdict: It was a privilege to hear a true artist today, but sayonara.

David Fung (Australia) reprised Debussy’s Girl with the Flaxen Hair, and I dare say he was even better than Yemtsov. Three Scarlatti sonatas in D minor followed, with a different palette dished out for each; fluency and agility in K.1, pensiveness in K.32 and a stupendous repeated note technique a la Argerich in the “guitar” sonata of K141. His poetic soul was bared in Chopin’s Ballade No.4 (Op.52), which seemed too discursive in parts and finally red hot when it could have been white hot. Some moron’s handphone went off somewhere through his recital, and this might have adversely affected him. Verdict: Should make it through, albeit in a very strong Australian contingent.

Balasz Fulei (Hungary) seems to have come out of his shell today. His Scarlatti Sonata in B flat major (K.545) displayed crystal-clear articulation, with each repeat sounding ever more delicious than the last. His chilling account of Debussy’s Footsteps in the Snow brought out bronchial coughs from not a few people in the audience, such is the power of suggestion. Finally, his Bartok Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs was performed to the manner born. His was a mini one-man-band with fifes, bagpipes, cimbalom and drums. Anyone wants to debate Bartok with a Magyar? Verdict: I have underrated him thus far, should advance.

Fernando Altamura (Italy) was a tad disappointing in Ravel’s Une barque sur l’ocean from Miroirs, which had not enough characterisation, and operated at a relatively low voltage throughout. His Debussy Hommage a Pickwick Q.C.M.P., which quotes God Save the Queen/King was also somewhat understated. No question the handful of shabby shockers in Prokofiev Sarcasms, which was more angular and spiky alongside Yajima’s, and in a word, ruder. Verdict: A mixed outing, let’s hope his Prokofiev does the trick.