It's the second day of the First Round of the Singapore International Violin Competition. I've not been able to be present at the site, so have to content myself viewing the livestream via Youtube. It's not the same thing but it's better than nothing. From what I am hearing, the standard is as high as it could possibly be.
This competition is an incredibly generous one, as each participant gets to perform two recitals in the First Round, a total of 35 + 40 minutes before any elimination takes place. The first session is solo Bach (any of the sonatas) + one Ysaye sonata (approximately 35 minutes). The second session held two days later will include a sonata from Mozart, Schubert or Beethoven, a Kreisler bonbon and a free choice to make up 40 minutes of repertoire. This gives artists plenty of chances to demonstrate their musicality and virtuosity leading to the semi-finals. No one could accuse the competition of being unfair with timing or opportunities. As the pre-selection had been blind and stringent, the standards shown have been sky-high.
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| Joey Lau is the sole Singaporean. |
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| Georgii Moroz, Zou Meng and Yuri Tanaka all have Singaporean connections. |
If you are a local, who can you root for? Only one Singaporean has made it to the 29, and that is Joey Lau, a prizewinner of NPVCs past. There are two other Yong Siew Toh alumni, Georgii Moroz (Ukraine) and Zou Meng (China), for whom Singapore was their second home. A fourth violinist, Yuri Tanaka (Japan) lived in Singapore for some years and studied with ex-SSO concertmaster Sasha Souptel and Masako Suzuki. One could practically call all of them locals, such is the universality of music.
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| Joey Lau, as viewed through the monitor. |
This evening, I only managed to catch three violinists. Just missed the beginning of Joey's recital, so I had to be content with viewing her Bach and Ysaye (the four-movement Sonata No.2, based on the Dies Irae chant) via the monitor. She was simply a blast. The final two violinists of the day Koshiro Takeuchi (Japan) and Zhang Jingheng (China) were also excellent.
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| Koshiro Takeuchi |
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| Zhang Jingheng |
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