International Chopin Competition: Prelims

SkateFanBerlin

SkateFanBerlin

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Well, we`re back to no skating/just conjecture time. So, here`s something. Tomorrow starts the prelims, viewable on YouTube. It`s early 10am in Warsaw. But some sessions are at night - more convenient for the Americas.

Something like 170 competitors will be whittled down to 80 for the first round in the fall. In this edition the majority of compeitors are from Asia with 66 from China. (I remember Elizabeth Schwartzkoff remarking in the 70`s that Asia was going to save western classical music. She was so right)

The playing is always remarkable. Enjoy!
 
Making a note to myself here of pianists I've liked best so far in the past few days of on-and-off viewing: Juhee Lim, Ryota Yamazaki, Adria Ye, Eric Guo. Will add to it as we keep going. It'll be interesting to see if any of them get through!
 
Wyliefan said:
Making a note to myself here of pianists I've liked best so far in the past few days of on-and-off viewing: Juhee Lim, Ryota Yamazaki, Adria Ye, Eric Guo. Will add to it as we keep going. It'll be interesting to see if any of them get through!
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I also watch hit or miss. There so many pianists. I go to sleep and wake up with Chopin on the brain. How can the judges listen 40 times each to the Scherzos? I also have Lim, Yamazaki and Ye.
 
The caveats to my comments are that I'm not a musician -- I had one semester of studying an instrument and can't read music -- and that I've heard way more Chopin as accompaniment to Jerome Robbins ballets (Dances at a Gathering, Other Dances, In the Night, ETA: The Concert), than in concert, and those performances -- many by the brilliant Jerry Zimmerman at NYCB -- were adjusted in tempo and rhythm for dance. Plus I can't say that Chopin is my favorite composer.

I listened to the second sessions from May 2 and 3. (I need to watch the ones with the pianists you're all talking about.) All of the pianists had really great moments, and some, like Deng, were especially good at certain types of playing, like the slow, melodic parts, and there were a couple of pianists that made me want to hear their Debussy. Most of them though, didn't do a lot to show how they got from those softer moments to the bangy bits, aside from Chopin sez: Let's Get Loud. If I were a musician, I'd likely understand the musical structure, but I need the Talk to Me Like I'm in First Grade approach, and some of them did.

From May 3 I thought that Peida Du showed exactly how he got from A to B. I felt a lot of his playing was almost conversational, and the two things together showed an inner life that was striking. On a superficial level, his album covers would practically style themselves.

From May 2, I thought Burki especially showed the distinct inner voices and layers of the sound. I found XueHong Chen's playing fascinating: it was like he decided to play in a range that was a lot less extreme and to find details within that range. He also had a playful quality in his approach. I wonder what he'd be like as a teacher.

Hyo Lee has a strong voice that carried across his playing. I may have been too weary at the end of four hours to appreciate him fully.

Cen looks to be a young teenager. I assume she'll make the cut in October, and I'm guessing five months more of growth for her will be huge, however good she is now. Plus I love the lack of :drama: in her face.

I was :swoon: over the sounds that some of the pianists got out of the Yamaha.

I love the young woman who is doing the introductions. Her voice and cadence make Polish sound so melodic, unlike the Guy Voices on the sponsorship short commercials at the end. And she wore a tiara headband one night! Note to Cooper: wear one. Note to Candotti: plaid headband does not go with black lace. Get thee a black or tiara headband, but yay for wearing one and not pushing wisps out of your eyes.
 
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April 29: Yuhang Wang played that Steinway like he was riding a stallion. It sounded like a completely different instrument.

I was really surprised by the Polish contestant, Jan Widlarz, not getting much more of an ovation at his entrance. He played each piece as if he had all the time in the world. Aside from the opening of the Nocturne, that didn't mean slow, just unrushed. Scout's honor: I didn't scroll back from the program in the notes while listening to him until the very end, and curls! He got more love at the end of his performance.

I've been :mitchell: that no one has played my favorite Nocturne. Except it's a Prelude, not a Nocturne, and it's not on the Prelude list until round two of the actual Competition, where it is allowed among many solo pieces.

https://konkursy.nifc.pl/en/miedzynarodowy/regulamin

At first I thought the rules explained why everyone is doing one of the same four Scherzos, but the Wikipedia article on Chopin Scherzos says there are only four :shuffle:
 
Another vote for the terrific Ryota Yamazaki. I also liked Tomasso Boggian's playing a lot. Hao Rao did some very nice playing and got a very strong reaction at the end.

I really loved Zuzana Sejbuk's playing. I'm not even sure I liked everything she did, but the way she played was unusual. I'm not sure I can put my finger on it, but it was like her right and left hands were having more of a conversation.
 
Thanks @kwanfan181 for your comments. I didn`t have some of your pianists mainly because I just couldn`t listen to them all. And, I could not listen to another Scherzo in Bb minor. I think this one is parricularly bangy because it`s the fist one that is learned - for these people when they were 12yo. In their ear they year the 12yo version.
 
Someone who is sticking with me is Jack Gao. Aside from his monster hands (plays a 10th like most play an octave) he may very well be a great romantic pianist like Horowitz. The last of these I can think of is Cliburn. Look forward to Gao in big things like Polonaises and sonatas.
 
If I`m not mistaken this is a much bigger preliminary than the past. So many forgettable pianists. Young men fast and loud, imitating others, no coloring.

I remember the prelim is being about 90. They were the ones likely to play in the fall with a few the panel were unsure about. I cojld be wrong.
 
I had to stop for a while because I was started to get warn down and not really listening,but I’ll start again in a couple of days.

It’s amazing how technically sound and accomplished they are, but many sound like good students without a voice, at least yet.

I’m guessing at least some of the judges are short handing them within the first minute of the first piece. I found the first pieces for some a miss, and almost skipped through the rest, only to find a gem in the third or fourth piece. I can’t imagine being a judge listening carefully for that long.
 
I've been listening to a bunch more. I have another caveat: decades ago when I listened to a lot of pianists' records/cassettes/CD's, I could usually recognize the style of 10-12 who recorded a lot, but now, I think I can only identify one by sound: if the music is clear, intelligent, and like it's being played on a cathedral organ, it's probably Angela Hewitt. That's all to say that if the contestants are copying anyone, I wouldn't know it. If they are, some are copying from the best.

I was wondering why Eric Guo was competing, when the little YouTube tile on the right said he'd won, but when I clicked it, he was playing Bach on the harpsichord, and it took a minute for me to read that he'd won the period instrument competition, doh. He was really fine, but I didn't get the Great Chopin Interpreter or even late Romantic in general sense from him, rather that he'd excel in a mixed program across several centuries.

My favorite session was the April 26 morning session. The first half was all women, which was about as many women as I'd heard before that. It opened with French pianist Nathalia Milstein. I'm not sure she played all of the right notes all the time, but there many times when her playing sang. Maria Moliszewska didn't seem to have the strong affinity/traditional approach, and her playing was fine, but didn't really grab me. Apparently not the judges either.

The two Japanese women though, OMG. Yumeka Nakagawa was neither loud until the end of her last piece, nor exciting in that Chopinesque way, but her playing was clear, modulated, intelligent, and she got the most beautiful sound from the Steinway. I really loved her She was followed by Yulia Nagashima, who was amazing. She chose the Yamaha, which tends to be chosen by pianists who play boldly. She played it with nuance. I would go hear her in recital tomorrow. And she's only 15. She reminds me of how superb Hilary Hahn was at her age.

After intermission, Fanze Yang started with two Etudes, and I thought, yeah, okay, another techno-wizard who's banging away. Which is why I was gobsmacked by his Nocturne, which was from another pianist. His Mazurka was also great, and I liked his Scherzo, even though I'm not a big fan of the Scherzos. And not the B flat minor. I also appreciated that he kept his face neutral and avoided orgasmic face. And he's only 16. I think, he, too, could be the real deal.

I quite liked Juan Mas Choclan's mature playing. But the judges didn't.

Yuya Nishimoto also chose the Yamaha, and while his Nocturne at least started funereal, his Etudes reminded me of playing for silent movies, such :drama:. He made a bunch of interesting choices, and I always appreciate it when pianists flirt with bringing some swing to the Mazurkas.
 
I had Choclan too. I`m surprised Eric Lu is coming back. He was a winner in 2015 and recently won Leeds. Great rendition of the Schubert Impromptus and Beethoven 4 there. Looks like he gets lots of concerts.

Why put yourself through it again? And, if he gets dropped after, let`s say, it certainly won`t help him.
 
I've been listening to more. In the last session, where I'm sure the judges had very little wiggle room, there were four women from Japan in the first half, and two men in the second. The target for the first round is 80, and that includes pianists who were given byes because of placement at a list of other competitions, and they passed or gave byes to 85, which I think it's the jury chairman who gets to allow that, so there may have been even more pressure.

Each of the women had her moments, but none of them made me want to replay their concert.

The only one to pass was the very last pianist, Zihan Jin, and it's hard to argue with that. He first pieces were really boisterous, as if he wanted to bang off the lacquer off the piano. His Nocture was sensitively played, but I figured that any reasonably well-rounded musician could pull that off. The revelation was in the final schero (B minor), which was beautifully built and modulated.

A really interesting group was the morning session on May 3. I loved the painterly playing of Yiyang Chen, who did not make it. :(. Following him though was the brilliant Zixi Chen, who did. He did all the things. Cheong was really fine, but, for me, he suffered from following Z. Chen. The last of the group was Georgian pianist Mariam Chitanava. It's so clear that she comes from a different tradition than most of the players. I'm not so sure I'd want to hear her German rep.

In the second part, HyeNa Cho had some stellar moments. The last pianist of the group was 19-year-old Raphael Collard, of the Paris Conservatory. Floppy hair in his eyes -- reminds me of one of the French skaters -- formal photo in a blue button-down shirt with floppy collar and probably needs ironing, performed in a neat natural linen shirt with shirtails out over casual pants that kind-of matched. Notes flying all over the place.

He didn't sound like anyone else in the competition. The tempi, what he decided to emphasize harmonically, his dynamics were so different. I had such a smile on my face listening to him (twice), because it was such a ride. Again, for all I know, he was imitating his favorite pianists' recordings, but it was such a blast. I'm guessing many of the teachers of the other competitors would have been apalled if their so well-trained students had played like he did, but I'm not planning to re-listen to most of them.

He did not make it past the preliminaries, but I'm glad this video of him is around, because he made my day.
 
I had H. Cho - yes and Collard - maybe.

Speaking of women pianists. (You may know this story). In 1949 they ran the whole competition blind. The judges never saw a competitor. Here`s how it went:

1st was a tie - both being women (Bella Davidovich was one of them)
2nd - a woman
3rd - a women
4th - a man
the last couple spots were mixed

I may not have it totally correct - doing from memory. But the top places I`m pretty sure of. No other edition came close to this.

(I entered music school in 1968 and people were still saying they could tell in recordings whether it was a man or woman.)
 
I remember reading a while ago how, after blind auditions behind a screen started for orchestras, some organization put down a carpet on the path from the wings to the chairs behind the screen, because the people judging would listen for the footsteps, and if they thought they heard heels/thought they could tell by the sound or gait of the footsteps, they'd suss out the gender.

After starting out as a co-ed school, my university kicked women out in the 20's before letting us back in the '70's, because women were winning all of the academic prizes. Of course, at that time, they mostly were the well-educated daughters of clergy and academics living at home, because housing was though men's clubs and fraternities.

I listened to all but one of another group before bed last night, and I missed the name of the pianist I heard last. I really liked her playing and would like to hear her other rep, and then looking at the YouTube notes, I realized I had finally stumbled on Yanyan Bao's performances.

I was surprised they didn't pick the Serbian guy, but what do I know?
 
kwanfan1818 said:
I remember reading a while ago how, after blind auditions behind a screen started for orchestras, some organization put down a carpet on the path from the wings to the chairs behind the screen, because the people judging would listen for the footsteps, and if they thought they heard heels/thought they could tell by the sound or gait of the footsteps, they'd suss out the gender.

After starting out as a co-ed school, my university kicked women out in the 20's before letting us back in the '70's, because women were winning all of the academic prizes. Of course, at that time, they mostly were the well-educated daughters of clergy and academics living at home, because housing was though men's clubs and fraternities.

I listened to all but one of another group before bed last night, and I missed the name of the pianist I heard last. I really liked her playing and would like to hear her other rep, and then looking at the YouTube notes, I realized I had finally stumbled on Yanyan Bao's performances.

I was surprised they didn't pick the Serbian guy, but what do I know?
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Also surprised
 
Two other major competitions are running right now: the 17th Cliburn and the piano edition of the Queen Elisabeth. Masaya Kamei and Nathalia Milstein are both in the finals of the latter which will be held next week. Ryota Yamazaki and David Khrikuli have played their preliminary recitals for the Cliburn in the past couple of days.
 
I just finished listening to Ryota Yamazaki's performance: he was the last of his group in the morning session on April 30. With his second Etude (Op.25 No.11) he might as well have been flying a sign that said, "I can play over any orchestra!" Then he went quiet with the Mazurka and built the Scherzo. I can see why they chose him, but there were things I liked about Miki Yamagata (right before him) who was more subtle, although she could pour it on when needed.

I think I've listened to about 80%, although some with much more attention than others, and I don't think I watched the session with Kamei and Khrikuli yet. So five more sessions (at least) to look forward to.
 
Since they're doing this is in some semblance of alphabetical order, it was :wuzrobbed for me to look at the judges' selections only to find that the next group I watched, which was from one group earlier than my :cheer: for one pianist, had passed Eva Strejcova, the first pianist in that group, but no one between her and the :cheer: pianist. And I was a bit ??? by the choice to skip some of those. I have no idea why they passed on Qianlin Tan, whose Nocturne had me :swoon:. Some I could see, although they were definitely worth the listen, with at least one interpretation that seemed more than learning.

Because I have no understanding of the harmonic musical structure, I really appreciate the pianists who articulate both hands, and Stejcova was one of them, and I happy she passed to the next round. Another was Polish pianist, Mateusz Tomica, who did not make it. I was so glad I listened to him. Others I appreciate are those with a voice that's unlike the others, although not exclusively and not all of them. For example, Julian Treveylan definitely has a unique voice, but he was also all over the place, and, for me, not in a good Collard kind-of way. He played an Etude I'm sure I've ever heard before, and he somehow made Chopin sound twee.

I was also glad to have found the sessions with Kamei and Krukhili. The judges haven't been too set on mature pianists or European pianists, so I'm happy Krukhili is in. I liked Kamei, although he struck me as a competition kid, so I'm not surprised that he's in the Queen Elizabeth. And the finals, so maybe this was just a warm-up, for experience.

Gah, the amount of rep these mostly 15-24 year olds have to have at that level, because so many of them have to play so many other composers. I wonder how many that passed to the First Round in October have to spend the next five months learning new rep.

There was a "bravo" guy at a couple of the sessions, lol.
 
kwanfan1818 said:
Since they're doing this is in some semblance of alphabetical order, it was :wuzrobbed for me to look at the judges' selections only to find that the next group I watched, which was from one group earlier than my :cheer: for one pianist, had passed Eva Strejcova, the first pianist in that group, but no one between her and the :cheer: pianist. And I was a bit ??? by the choice to skip some of those. I have no idea why they passed on Qianlin Tan, whose Nocturne had me :swoon:. Some I could see, although they were definitely worth the listen, with at least one interpretation that seemed more than learning.

Because I have no understanding of the harmonic musical structure, I really appreciate the pianists who articulate both hands, and Stejcova was one of them, and I happy she passed to the next round. Another was Polish pianist, Mateusz Tomica, who did not make it. I was so glad I listened to him. Others I appreciate are those with a voice that's unlike the others, although not exclusively and not all of them. For example, Julian Treveylan definitely has a unique voice, but he was also all over the place, and, for me, not in a good Collard kind-of way. He played an Etude I'm sure I've ever heard before, and he somehow made Chopin sound twee.

I was also glad to have found the sessions with Kamei and Krukhili. The judges haven't been too set on mature pianists or European pianists, so I'm happy Krukhili is in. I liked Kamei, although he struck me as a competition kid, so I'm not surprised that he's in the Queen Elizabeth. And the finals, so maybe this was just a warm-up, for experience.

Gah, the amount of rep these mostly 15-24 year olds have to have at that level, because so many of them have to play so many other composers. I wonder how many that passed to the First Round in October have to spend the next five months learning new rep.

There was a "bravo" guy at a couple of the sessions, lol.
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Im not a competitor but I think they have learned and played publically 90% of what they need. These are prodigies. The learned a few etudes at 10, big nocturns at 11and a sonata when they were 15. If they didn`t already have it they learned a concerto 2 yerars ago.

Garrick Olsohn said that he was playing an A major and A minor etude which had very different techniques. His competition preparation including playing these 2 back-to-back at the drop of a hat.

I think mazurkas are things pianist learn when more mature.
 
I’d always thought of prodigies in technical terms — physically and musically — and in imagination, at least for many. I’d never thought of it in terms of learning and absorbing — not just reading scores — in such a short period of time.
 
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