XIV Tchaikovsky competition - results - Final

And the winners are: (piano)

1st - Daniil Trifonov
2nd - Yeol Eum Son
3rd - Seong jin cho
4th - Alexander Romanovsky
5th - Alexi Chernov

Congrats to all!

XIV Tchaikovsky competition - results No.2

still waiting @ 19:06 (CET)  

And more delays. Ceremony hasn't started yet... 18:38

View results online

If you need the link to the webcast: starts now

http://pitch.paraclassics.com/#/live/piano

XIV Tchaikovsky competition - results

20 Min delay. It is now 18:03 and people are roaming on FB....

XIV Tchaikovsky competition - And the winner is...

Not just yet...

Alexi Chernov played his last piece for this competition, Brahms concerto No.1, and I am left with the amazing archive of all these performances that should stay online until the next competition in 4 years, at least that is what was posted by the organisers. 

I think the orchestra was a bit tired after this long week of rehearsals and performances and without air-condition. They didn’t play that good today, in my view, or maybe they played Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky so many times that they were not as ready with Chopin and Brahms. Or the fact that the orchestra is not used to this conductor…

And the winner is…. For me it doesn’t really matter. My vote goes to Daniil Trifonov. But, he doesn’t need to win this competition to get concerts booked; he already has a respectable schedule, at least for the next year. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that he shouldn’t win because of that, I think he should win but for another reason. In my view he was the only competitor that played every piece from his repertoire perfect, and I like consistency :)

So who is the winner? We’ll have to wait until 6pm (CET) this evening and of course I will publish them when available.

The award ceremony will be on the usual webcast as well as the 2 gala concerts.

Enjoy!

Yeol Eum Son - last performance in XIV Tchaikovsky competition

Yeol Eum Son with a very strong, aggressive, use to the fullest, sound and interpretation of Tchaikovsky concerto No.1. Well done! I certainly learned to enjoy her style. Only took me 3 rounds to get there....:)

Daniil Trifonov - last performance in XIV Tchaikovsky competition

Daniil Trifonov just played his last piece for this competition, Chopin concerto No.1. Another routine performance for him...? Bravissimo!!!

Next playing, Yeol Eum Son with Tchaikovsky concerto No.1 and Alexi Chernov will close this final round with Brahms concerto No.1


Enjoy!

XIV Tchaikovsky competition & XIII Arthur Rubinstein competition

Mrs Idith Zvi, Artistic managing Director of the Arthur Rubinstein international competition arrived in Moscow 3 days ago for the final rounds.

Mrs Idith Zvi has hosted both Daniil Trifonov and Yeol Eum Son in her competitions, last month Daniil won 1^st prize and 6 years ago Yeol won 3^rd prize. Idith said she felt very proud to see these two in this stage in this competition.

Mrs Idith Zvi was asked to compare between the two competitions, the requirements, participant’s age, repertoire, number of rounds, and number of participants. There were 173 applicants for the last Rubinstein competition, 32 were selected to start the 1^st round. According to the press there were nearly 600 applicants for the Tchaikovsky competition in total which also includes cello, violin and vocal. There were over 160 applicants for piano. The age range at Rubinstein is 18-32. The average in the last competition was 26, 27. With that said, the winner is 20 years old. Tchaikovsky competition age range is 16-30 years old. So in general, including the rounds and repertoire they are very similar but with slight difference.

At the end of today’s performance Alexander Dimitriev, the conductor of the Russian National Orchestra was saying that this is his first time conducting on this orchestra! While I’m watching the rehearsals I’m wondering how much does he actually listen to the pianists when they have a different view on some parts of the orchestra? He was asked this question during the interview on which he replied in Russian and I didn’t get the translation of it… but I expect the interview to be on the webcast archive soon as was posted on Facebook by the competition’s organisation. 

Enjoy!

XIV Tchaikovsky competition - my interview

And with this last performance of Alexander Romanovsky (also his last for this competition) we say good-bye to Rachmaninoff and I think everyone in the audience, I know I am, is looking forward to Chopin and Brahms tomorrow. We will hear one more time tomorrow the Tchaikovsky concerto played by Yeol Eum Son.

I enjoyed today’s performances very much, I think Seong Jin Cho played the Tchaikovsky concerto better than his performance of Rachmaninoff, but that’s just my opinion.

I was trying to explain to someone why I picked my favourite. In my view:  

Except for Daniil Trifonov, the other competitors plays absolutely beautiful and with interesting interpretations of the pieces, they all play the poetic, sweet, soft scenarios so emotional with a perfect clear sound that you are tempted to sing along (but then you miss the piano, of course…:). BUT, here and there, at some point they seem to loose the plot a bit and it shows; the fingers looks stiffer and the whole body changes. They get back into it and continue as perfect as before but there was still a disruption. As if the piece was taking control over the pianist and not the other way around. 

And then I listen and watch Daniil plays. Not only that it is so clear to me from his body movements, his face, the way his fingers touches the piano and from the sound, that he is the one in control here, and this does not change between the scenarios. In his way of playing, it doesn’t matter if it is a virtuosic scenario, angry, sweet, naughty, wicked, joyful, sad, poetic, charming, bombastic, or in between, no, it just doesn’t matter. They all seem to be played from the same source and with the same scale of emotions, in kind of calmness (if possible), differentiating the levels of each of these emotions according to the position and the progress of the theme, building it up slowly but surely to high picks of stormy emotions... and now I start to make myself sick from all this gushi mushi emotions propaganda but what can I say, this is what Daniil Trifonov’s performances make me feel. And I loved his Tchaikovsky’s interpretation completely! 

Beautiful colors, beautiful story. Bravissimo!!!

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Coming up next, a short cover of two interviews from this morning's webcast with Ms Idith Zvi, Artistic & managing director of the Arthur Rubinstein competition and Mr Alexander Dimitriev, Conductor of the Russian National Orchestra during the final stage of this competition.

Enjoy!

Tchaikovsky Onweer (Thunder storm)

As if someone is listening up there to the final stage and replying back with bombastic performance of thunders and lightnings all night long. It was one of the most beautiful storms I've seen in NL.

Taken from GeenStijl.nl

XIV Tchaikovsky competition - words from two jury members

Peter Donohoe, pianist & jury member.

One of the jury members, pianist Peter Donohoe, winner of 1982 Tchaikovsky competition was interviewed last night after the performances. He started the interview all emotional and excited saying Tchaikovsky No.1 always makes him cry as he slowly stabilizes his emotions and speech. It was interesting to hear some of the rules / guidance of the jury, how the committee tries to maintain a high level of art, as Mr Donohoe said: "we are looking for perfect pianists". He explained; it is not that they're looking at how the pianists master or control the piano. It is beyond that. At this level they are all assumed to be masters. It is each character and he's emotions transferred from the composer to the audience. And if they do make a mistake, if it does slips, as it does sometimes to the best as well (or at least so they say. I do believe that perfect IS perfect and can be achieved just not by anyone) then that is not what is going to get them out of the round. What is more important is the sound in each and every scenario. It has to touch the listener and carry him with, it has to be perfect!

Mr Donohoe was asked if they are to judge each round separately on its own or as a combination of all rounds. The bottom line is: each round on its performance. Plain and clear. But, and there’s always a “but” in these circumstances, how can you separate what you heard in the recital rounds or the chamber concerto, how can you ignore those moments you cried (or almost cried) from listening to a particular competitor? And that is what makes the jury’s task so difficult, and sometimes their decisions are not unanimous.

Mr Donohoe also talked about the ones who leave the competition. It does not mean that the ones who didn’t make it to later stages of the competition are not good pianists. On the contrary, as said above, at this level of competition, leaving in the middle of the 2^nd round means you are pretty damn good but just not matured yet to win this competition, come again if you can in 4 or 8 years.

Yefim Bronfman, pianist & jury member (final)

A world known pianist has joined the jury today for the final round. Yefim Bronfman, a master pianist that never participated in any competition.  He admits, he got famous quite young and didn’t need to take this path. Mr Bronfman was talking with the hosts at the beginning of the evening saying that he feels a bit guilty coming over completely fresh without hearing the previous rounds, as if he missed the whole dinner and showed up only for the dessert. Yefim Bronfman is the only jury member that does not hold any competition prize. On the question if the other jury members “filled him in” on the pianists and the previous rounds he replied “I got a very thick book of rules which says that you’re not allowed to discuss anything”.

Today and tomorrow the performances will starts at 1pm Moscow time. Two competitors will play today: Alexander Romanovsky (Ukraine) and Seong Jin Cho (South Korea). Tomorrow we will hear the last three competitors.

Enjoy!

Van Cliburn - at the XIV Tchaikovsky competition

Van Cliburn @ 1st Tchaikovsky competition, 1958

Last night, an honoured guest was sitting in the Moscow conservatory hall listening to the first 3 performances of the piano final, a master pianist who won the first Tchaikovsky competition in 1958, Mr Van Cliburn.

From Wiki:

"Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. (born July 12, 1934) is an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958, when at age 23, he won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War."

When he was asked by the webcast hosts Ms Irina Tuszinceva & Mr John Rubinstein if he still gets inspired by the young pianists today he replied: 

" Everyone comes with their own ideas, and we, as audience' members, are taken through each performer's garden to see how they feel, what do they hear, what do they perceive. And that's so interesting. Always."

I couldn´t put it better myself!

XIV Tchaikovsky competition - Piano final - end of day I

XIV Tchaikovsky competition - Round III - piano

Daniil Trifonov 24.06.11, Moscow. Downloaded from competition's website

The order of the performances of round III was just published this morning on the competition's website. In contrast to previous rounds where the pianists were playing their full repertoire in one performance, in the 3rd round the performances are split so that each competitor will play one concerto per performance. The performances are scheduled for the following 4 days, Monday till Thursday. Monday and Tuesday the 5 finalists will play 1 concerto. We will hear Tchaikovsky 3 times and Rachmaninoff concerto twice. Wednesday and Thursday the 5 will play their 2nd concerto which will include twice the Tchaikovsky concerto, Rachmaninoff, Brahms and Chopin once. The organizers mixed the order between the Tchaikovsky concerto and the free choice concerto so that we won't have to listen 3 times to Tchaikovsky in one night, or maybe they split it for another reason, but that's good enough for me.... :)

Link:
Round III schedule - Competition website

Last but not least, in previous post I added a link to Daniil Trifonov's blog where you can listen to him playing at the Chopin competition, music by Chopin.

This link is to Daniil's website media archive where you can listen to more pieces played by Daniil incl. Scarlati, Mozart (piano concerto No.23 played in both Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky competitions), Liszt, Prokofiev, Scriabin and of course, Chopin:

Daniil Trifonov video's

Enjoy!

XIV Tchaikovsky competition - Continue

So we have the final 5 pianists. And again, the decision was not easy. It took the jury another 1 hour and a half to make the decision.

After the first round and the first part of round 2, listening to baroque, classic, romantic, virtuosic repertoire, 2 days of pure Mozart. We heard twice 3 of his concertos No.20, 23 & 24 very poetic and touchy and then one time the concerto No. 21 and 27 that concluded the 2nd round. I must add that I've been learning so much from this competition, for example, while the jury was out making their decision, the hosts of the competition webcast discuss and talk about the pieces played, composers and other related items. One of the item discussed last night was the cadenzas in Mozart's concertos. Cadenza, copied from Wikipedia:


In music, a cadenza (from Italian: cadenza, meaning cadence) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display.

Usually the cadenzas come at the end of the first and third parts of the concertos. Apparently there are many cadenzas written for Mozart's concertos by other composers. The pianists themselves can make out their own cadenzas as well. It is very interesting to hear the difference interpretations of the cadenzas played, especially when they play the same concerto.

Yes, it was a remarkable performance but this time, I disagree with the jury on part of their decisions. Before I continue about the 5 chosen finalists, there were 3 prizes given last night; 1 for the Shchedrin piece, the only compulsory piece written for the competition. The prize was awarded to Yeol Eum Son from South Korea. The 2nd prize was for the best played chamber concerto, Mozart, split between 2 competitors Daniil Trifonov (Russia) and Yeol Eum Son and 3rd prize, the jury discretionary award, awarded to two pianists that did not progressed to the final, François-Xavier Poizat from Switzerland and Pavel Kolesnikov (Russia).

About the 5 finalists. Although all 8 competitors in this round played Mozart beautiful in the sense that all played it perfectly with no mistakes the only part that was different was the interpretation and the individual sound, the tone. Yes, it was very difficult to choose who to send home but I personally don't think Alexi Chernov that made it to the final, played nicer than Filipp Kopachevsky or Alexander Lubyantsev that didn't make it. I liked their playing better. But I'm not the jury and I don't have the same years of experience that they do. I wish these 2 young pianists all the best and hope they will get further in the next competition they'll participate in. 

Now for my favourite. What can I say. I'm a bit bribed here. I saw parts of the Arthur Rubinstein competition in IL last month. I have their website stored in my favourites on the media archive section and every time I sit on my pc to work I put on in the background Daniil Trifonov playing Chopin concerto no.1 in the Arthur Rubinstein competition's final. I can listen to it again and again. Not only that this concerto is a brilliant piece but Daniil plays it so nice, the sound that he brings out of the piano all along, in each and every scenario, if grandiose and bombastic or soft and gentle like little drops after the rain. Pure and perfect, absolutely delight. And I will hear him again playing this concerto next week!

But again, in this competition almost all pianists made me feel like this with their playing, as Yeol Eum Son, the two Russians mentioned above and Alexander Romanovsky.

So what are we going to hear in the final? each competitor will play 2 concertos, and here I'd like to thank the organizers of the competition who set the repertoire requirements. I feel so lucky that they have to play so many pieces. 2 grandiose concertos each. And as always in competitions, the pianists want to impress and pick great concertos. More for me to enjoy, yee hee: 5 times Tchaikovsky piano concerto No.1. 3 times Rachmaninoff piano concerto No.3. Brahms piano concerto No.1 and Daniil will play Chopin piano concerto No.1. All magnificent concertos. Can't wait!

Another thing I learned yesterday during the broadcast is that even though today and tomorrow there are no performances, the pianists are practicing on these concertos, the webcast is still on filming the practice so I can watch and hear the rehearsals..... and I thought I have 2 days off.... oh well, it will be over in 1 week and then the ears can rest :)

Here's a link to Daniil Trifonov's recordings on his blog. Highly recommended. (assuming he doesn't mind...)

Daniil Trifonov plays at XVI International Chopin piano competition

Enjoy!

Piano

Inspired by the recent XIII Arthur Rubinstein Master Piano competition in IL and the current Tchaikovsky competition held in Moscow (14th-30th June, 2011).


There were 29 pianists staring the competition in the first round. 12 continued to the 2nd round. Last night, after 2 days listening to 12 master pianists who played every piece from their impressive and beautiful repertoire so precise, emotional and absolutely delightful to the ears, I was lost. I didn't know how the jury could pick only 8 to continue to the 2nd part of the 2nd round. It was obvious that the jury felt the same as it took them about an hour and 45 minutes to make their decision. Not so sure if I completely agree with their choice, but it was definitely not an easy one to make and as always in art, each individual has a different taste.

Today the pianists are practicing with the chamber orchestra their Mozart concerto to be played in the next part of round 2 (Thursday and Friday) and I have a day off. I guess the ears needs a bit of a rest after the last week to be able to continue listening with full enjoyment.

At the end of the 2nd round on Friday night the jury will have to make another cut and choose 5 finalists out of the 8. Saturday and Sunday the 5 finalists will practice their 2 virtuosic concertos with the orchestra which will be played during the following 4 days, Monday-Thursday.
Each of the competitors is required to play in the 3rd round 2 concertos, either the concerto no.1 or no.2 by Tchaikovsky and another concerto of their choice. Well, it seems that all the 8 competitors that are now in round 2 all chose the 1st concerto by Tchaikovsky which means not only that it will be heard 5 times in the final but that this is a great opportunity to compare between the pianists and their interpretation of this magnificent concerto.
Now to the 2nd concerto of their choice. There can never be a piano competition without Rachmaninoff in the final round. No wonder the No. 3 is my favorite, not only mine it seems. Just as an example, out of the 29th pianists starting this competition, 9 chose the 3rd concerto by Rachmaninoff!! As it stands now, out of the current 8 pianists, the 3rd concerto will be played 4 times, but it can still change.

Last note, if you enjoy classical music I highly recommend getting on the competition Webcast (link below) to view the following concerts. All info including schedule, repertoire, regulations etc. can be found on the website.

Tchaikovsky XIV Competition Webcast


Enjoy!

Tomatoes

Mama tomato and papa tomato walked down the street with their son tomato.
Son tomato was lagging behind so papa tomato said to his son:
"ketchup!"
:)

Yum...

My first home made from scratch Humus.
pretty good for a first timer.. or in general!

Giant Xylophone

Amazing performance by Martien Groeneveld and his son at the Percussion festival Ruigoord, June 2011.

Multifunction own designed instrument... 2.5 meters high also used as a ladder, climbing up to the high notes...

Patat!

Cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce with bacterias, the only "safe" thing left to eat is original Dutch patat...