. . . with Chopin Competition XVIII in Warsaw. (They use Roman numerals like the Super Bowl does.) We heard the first five competitors last night and will no doubt listen to more today. Here are my impressions:
Xuanyi Mao (China). Piano: Steinway. Program:
- Nocturne in C minor Op. 48 no 1
- Etude in G flat major Op. 10 no 5
- Etude in G sharp minor Op. 25 no 6
- Fantasy in F minor Op. 49
Although Xuanyi Mao had all the notes down, her playing was extremely careful and uninspiring. She never passed up an opportunity to slow down in order to show how "expressive" she could be. Dullsville. I'd be VERY surprised if she makes it to the next round.
Tomasz Marut (Poland). Piano: Steinway (the other one!) Program:
- Etude in E flat minor Op. 10 no 6
- Etude in C major Op. 10 no 1
- Etude in A minor op. 10 nr 2
- Scherzo in E major Op. 54
More Polish pianists than usual in this year's competition, and more Polish members on the jury this year. I wasn't too excited by this guy either, and I hated his mugging for the audience. Nevertheless, given the make-up of the jury, he could advance, since there was nothing seriously wrong with his playing per se. (Well. . . aside from a few split notes in Op. 10 No. 1. I have to wonder why competitors play this particular Etude in a competition anyway, since practically no one ever emerges unscathed in a live performance of it!)
Yupeng Mei (China). Piano: Yamaha. Program:
- Nocturne in B major Op. 62 no 1
- Etude in F major Op. 10 no 8
- Etude in B minor Op. 25 no 10
- Fantasy in F minor Op. 49
Finally, a much more interesting pianist, who did a fantastic job on Op. 10 No. 8 in terms of leggiero playing and clarity, as well as speed. He made a few more mistakes than one might expect at this level, so his advancement to the next round depends on how each juror takes account of those mistakes. IMHO, they were inconsequential, especially given the otherwise interesting nature of his playing. He wisely did not include Op. 10 No. 1 in his selection of Etudes! ;-)
Arsenii Mun (Russia). Piano: Yamaha. Program:
- Nocturne in F sharp minor Op. 48 no 2
- Etude in C major Op. 10 no 1
- Etude in A minor op. 10 nr 2
- Ballade in G minor Op. 23
For me, this guy was the best so far, and the least encumbered by technical limitations (even though he too did not get through Op. 10 No. 1 without a blemish or two - LOL!). His Op. 10 No. 2 was yowza-worthy in terms of brilliance - and he didn't use any trick fingerings either (which you can do in order to get greater reliability in your articulation - Badura-Skoda suggests some in his edition of the Etudes - but some judges grade you down if you use trick fingerings, which seems kind of ridiculous to me!). I could possibly see some jurors thinking that Mun was too aggressive in his approach, but you sure can't deny his virtuosity.
Szymon Nehring (Poland). Piano: Steinway. Program:
- Nocturne in E flat major Op. 55 no 2
- Etude in A flat major Op. 10 no 10
- Etude in C major Op. 10 no 1
- Ballade in F minor Op. 52
Nehring, who looks a bit like a young Van Cliburn (with the curly hair), seemed like a more mature artist than the other Polish pianist we heard (Marut), but I was frustrated by his playing because he kept undercutting the intensity by dropping his dynamic level down when, IMHO, he should have maintained it. Nevertheless, he's Polish, and there are more jurors from Poland this time around. So he might make it. One odd thing about this guy was that he seemed to be sweating gallons as he played - maybe he managed to keep the sweat off the keyboard, because his accuracy didn't seem to suffer. (Well. . . except in you know what piece!)
Another interesting thing about these big competitions like the Chopin is that the competitors get their choice of pianos. In this competition, they have the following to choose from: two different Steinways, a Yamaha, a Fazioli, and a Kawai. Three quarters of the pianists chose one of the Steinways. Here's the verbiage from the site:Participants had to make a decision within 15 minutes. Some of them used that time to try out all available instruments, and others decided to sit at a selected piano from the very beginning.
The most popular instruments among the participants of the 18th Chopin Competition are those produced by Steinway - they were selected by as many as 64 pianists (so around 75% of participants). 9 people selected a Yamaha piano and 8 a Fazioli piano. The least frequently played will be a Kawai piano, which will be used only 6 times in the first stage.
It is interesting that Steinway pianos have a longest tradition of presence in the almost 100-year-old Chopin Competition. During the first editions [of the competition], there were also pianos by Bechstein, Bösendorfer and Pleyel. The choice of the instruments took place one day before the performance of a participant. The videos are on YouTube if you'd like to sample some of the playing for yourself.
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