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For the piano final (big-gun concerto) round, this is our take on what we (Madeline and I) heard:
- Sergey Redkin (Russia)
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Piano Concerto 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
- Sergei Prokofiev. Piano Concerto 2 in G minor, Op. 16
Redkin played it pretty conservatively in the first movement of the Tchaikovsky, but did pretty well in the grueling Prokofiev 2 (with its infamous "colossale" first movement cadenza!). This is purely a matter of taste, but we did not feel his interpretations were distinctive enough. But you never know - this year's jury may like middle-of-the-road!
- George Li (USA)
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Piano Concerto 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
- Sergei Prokofiev. Piano Concerto 3 in C major, Op. 26
Is George Li still smokin' the competition? Well. . . yes, at least in some ways. I think that, overall, Li played with the clearest articulation while risking the most with tempo. But already, I'm seeing some grumblings on various discussion boards, e.g., "all fingers and no heart" - that kind of thing. We're both very impressed with his playing on both the technical and musical levels, with Madeline sensing a high degree of drama in his playing.
- Lucas Debargue (France)
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Piano Concerto 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
- Franz Liszt. Piano Concerto 2 in A major, S. 125
In some ways, Debargue is the most original and imaginative interpreter among the finalists, but his relative inexperience in big competitions shows itself from time to time. In this final round, I felt that there was a slight sense of unease in his admitedly inventive interpretations and also just a few too many wrong notes. His placement in the prize order may depend on how willingly the jury overlooks his imperfections in favor of his creative approach to interpretation. (BTW, I read that he has been supporting himself over the last couple of years by playing in jazz clubs!)
- Lukus Geniussas (Russia/Lithuania)
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Piano Concerto 2 in G major, Op. 44
- Sergei Rachmaninov. Piano Concerto 3 in D minor, Op. 30
Make no mistake, Geniusas chose the most ambitious program of the final round, in terms of pianistic endurance: two BIG concertos, played about two minutes apart, will challenge even the most robust pianistic skills! (The lesser known Tchaikovsky 2 is much more challenging in this respect than the popular Tchaikovsky 1 is, and of course everyone knows about the difficulty of the Rachmaninoff 3.) It was a gamble that I thought didn't quite pay off. Geniusas gave an impressive performance of the Tchaikovsky, but seemed to run out of gas about midway through the Rachmaninoff, including two memory slips, about two seconds each, one in the coruscating, fantastical "poco piu mosso" section of the slow movement, and one in the finale. These mishaps occured despite the basically conservative approach (moderate tempi - sometimes too moderate) that Geniusas took in this work. Summary: he risked a lot but did not emerge entirely unscathed.
EDIT: Continuation of the OP. . .
- Daniel Kharitonov (Russia)
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Piano Concerto 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
- Franz Liszt. Piano Concerto 1 in E-flat major, S. 124
Kharitonov, only 16 and nicknamed "The Prodigy" in Russia, took the opposite strategy of Geniusas. He played the very short Liszt 1 as his non-Tchaikovsky concerto - not nearly the endurance challenge that Geniusas' choices presented. But he nailed both of his concertos IMHO. I was a bit worried at the end of the first "movement" when Kharitonov took a sappy sounding ritard at the end of his chromatic scale in sixths, and the very beginning of the concerto was awfully slow and stolid. But those were his only indescretions, and the scherzo and finale of the concerto attained Martha Argerich levels of fire and brilliance. He's played great all through the competition, and he and Li are my choices for gold and silver
- Dmitry Masleev (Russia)
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Piano Concerto 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
- Sergei Prokofiev. Piano Concerto 3 in C major, Op. 26
We did not hear Masleev's Tchaikovsky performance - only the Prokofiev 3. He seems to have a huge contingent of fans at the competition, but we were slightly less impressed with him than with a couple of others. His Prokofiev did not seem to have the drive and clarity of Li's, although he did seem to have some good ideas - just imperfectly realized. Unfortunately, we did not have time to revisit his Tchaikovsky performance.
It's much harder to pick the winners from this final round, but here are my picks:
- Gold - Kharitonov
- Silver - Li
- Bronze - Geniusas (based on his Tchaikovsky 2, and despite my negative observations about his Rachmaninoff 3)
Madeline's picks:
- Gold/Silver - Kharitonov/Li (Toss up)
- Bronze - Can't decide, but possible edge to Redkin
We'll see!
p.s.: One final edit - on Sunday, we caught the last two movements of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto extremely well played by Alexandra Conunova, the Moldovan babe finalist in the violin portion competition. What gave this performance additional interest was that the conductor for the violin finals was Yuri Simonov (with the Moscow Philharmonic), an always interesting conductor and, sometimes, a bit of a character (who can, at the same time, conduct the most profound music with deep insight). Half of the violin finalists were (possibly) babes, and the presence of Simonov as the conductor lends additional fascination to these performances. You can bet I'll be watching those videos too (even though I'll already know the outcome by the time I access them.)
Edits: 06/30/15 06/30/15 07/01/15Follow Ups:
I have not had time to actually listen to any of the competitors. And frankly, the prospect of listening to the Tchaikovsky 1st over and over and over and over -- well, I don't love it that much.
But I'm glad to read through your notes. I'm not a big fan of competitions and have a basic distrust of the process, having talked to some "insiders" in the past about the politics involved. Yet, I do think that the most talented competitors do show up in these competitions, even if they do not win.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
. . . (just announced minutes ago):
Gold - Dmitry Masleev
Silver (Tie) - George Li, Lukus Geniusas
Bronze (Tie) - Daniel Kharitonov, Sergey Redkin
Fourth -
Fifth -
Sixth - Lucas Debargue (plus special prize from Moscow music critics too)
This is assuming we heard it right with the ties. ;-)
n
Several years ago, someone asked me if a woman would ever win first prize in the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition. (Nobody won first prize in 2007.) I told him a woman did win it. Ayako Uehara from Japan, in 2002. (He didn't realize Ayako Uehara was a woman.)
I may be getting old but I can sometimes tell the difference.
I really thought Ayako was going to be a true star in the classical world.... The most amazing thing about her was she had the dynamic control and "explosiveness" that many would associate with "male" performers.... I think she overachieved, hit the proverbial "wall", and burned herself out.
I once played a clip of her for someone, and he started calling her "Herwitz"......
Her most recent performance..... She still has that dynamic "explosiveness"..... But her repertoire is too limited. She's in essence a Tchaikovsky specialist.
The person saw the name, and presumed it was a "he"...........
Alas, you once again confirm that, for me at least, competitions are a bummer. I've only been to one world-class one in person (a violin competition where one of the jurors was Gidon Kremer -- I sure wished he was performing and not sitting with me in the audience), but of course I've watched online. (One of the four finalists in the violin competition I attended, who did not win, was Joel Smirnoff. The other three have had good careers, but he is by the far the most prominent of the four.)Even the best players are seldom at their best, and the lesser ones usually are very clearly lesser, as you observed in this one. A necessary evil, I know, but music just isn't a sport.
And all that tired old repertoire! Is the piano a dying instrument? If Tchaikovsky were alive, he would ask, "Why are you still playing my first concerto five times in the final? Hasn't anyone else written a good one in the last 120 years?"
Debussy wrote his wonderful Premiere Rhapsodie for clarinet and piano as a competition piece for the Paris Conservatoire, and then had to sit on the jury and hear it played 11 consecutive times. I forget his exact reaction to his juror experience, except that he definitely didn't want to hear it a 12th time.
Edits: 07/01/15
So true - and what we get with a competition in any case is a snapshot of a moment in time. Competitions can be fun, entertaining, and even (on occasion) maddening. They can be dramatic too (not always!). I think it will always be interesting to get to know the best of the new talent in such a concentrated fashion - even if we don't always agree with the judges' decisions. I don't think competitions will be going away anytime soon - even with 12 Debussy Premiere Rhapsodies (or 5 Tchaikovsky 1's!) in a row! ;-)
I like his Tchaikovsky PC1.
. . . then his Prokofiev 3 should follow in a couple of minutes on the same file (after a couple of minutes' pause while the orchestra resets).
Dmitry Masleev plays Tchaikovsky's First Concerto with good articulation, but doesn't have the dynamic "explosiveness" or control..... He also "slaps the keys" somewhat, creating a sound that was somewhat "monotone" for my tastes. His "pianissimos" were more like "mezzo-fortes".
Nice performance, but it struck me as somewhat boring.... I guess "dainty" would be how I would describe it.... (I was a little surprised over the enthusiastic applause afterwards. I don't know if this is typical for a Tchaik Competition audience.) Some performances of the Tchaik First Concerto send me reeling.... But not this one.
Wow, the kid is good!
Trifonov part II in making but less sweating and contortions? :)
Actually, Debargue was awarded 4th Prize.
After Masleev's Tchaikowsky the audience went wild with rhythmic clapping. He refrained from taking a second bow. Clearly a crowd favorite, as was Li.
The only two pianists I thought had something a bit more special were Geniusas for his Bach and Beethoven (vary nuanced, shades of Wm. Kempff...) and Debargue - a wonderful Gaspard.
I've since been listening to Geniusas' Liszt Sonata on YT which I like. Debargue's jazz piano is rather painful, but I'm sure he enjoys it, like Samson Francois used to.
The rest I thought were pretty mediocre, especially the Russians. Sounds like Putin said "I want our boy to win this year" and this was an offer which could not be refused.
I think it's rather high-handed of you to characterize everyone except Geniusas and Debargue as "pretty mediocre". I don't agree with that assertion at all. Kharitonov and George Li mediocre? Really?
BTW, there were a couple of Russian language sites that covered the competition - someone on Google groups published a Google translation of juror (and former winner) Denis Matsuev's comment on one of those sites:
"All the musicians of the jury is [are] different, everyone has their own views, and each vote[s] as it [he] sees fit. I hope to publish the lists of jury voting, and everyone will see who and how to vote. We have nothing to hide: no one is pulled [coerced?], not has engaged not incited. But I am sure that each of our six laureates will be [a] profound musician and will find its [his] place on the stage. . . "
There was an earlier comment to the effect that the jurors who marked down Debargue were not the Russian judges, but the Western judges! And if you've read my posts about the competition, you'll see that neither Madeline nor I would have elected to award a medal to Debarge, as excellently as he played SOME of his repertoire.
.
. . . was on neither of our lists (although, to be fair, we did not hear his Tchaikovsky) and also that Kharitonov only tied for third. One of the announcers mentioned afterwards that Masleev had lost his mother just before the competition.
Here are the results in the other categories:
VIOLIN
I prize and a gold medal: - (no first prize awarded)
II prize and a silver medal: Tseng, Yu-Chien
III prize and a bronze medal: Kazazyan, Haik; Conunova, Alexandra; Milyukov, Pavel
IV prize: Kang, Clara-Jumi
V prize: Kim, Bomsori
CELLO
I prize and a gold medal: Ioniță, Andrei
II prize and a silver medal: Ramm, Alexander
III prize and a bronze medal: Alexander, Buzlov
IV prize: Ferrández, Pablo
V prize: Kang Seung Min
VI prize: Roozeman, Jonathan
VOICE (Women)
I prize and a gold medal: Matochkina, Yulia
II prize and a silver medal: Moskalenko, Svetlana
III prize and a bronze medal: Galoyan, Mane
IV prize: Vesenina, Antonina
VOICE (Men)
I prize and a gold medal: Ganbaatar, Ariunbaatar
II prize and a silver medal: Wang, Chuanyue
III prize and a bronze medal: Yoo, Hansung
IV prize: Grigoriev, Dmitry
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