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...)
Enjoy!
