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INTERNATIONAL PIANO AWARDS 2009 RESULTS ANNOUNCED
9 November 2009
SERVICES TO MUSIC AWARD: MARIA CURCIO
A lifetime achievement award for someone who has made an immeasurable contribution in the fields of piano recording, piano playing, piano repertoire, piano education and other areas of the piano world. Maria Curcio was a piano teacher whose influence spread far and wide. Until her death earlier this year at the age of 89, few people outside the piano world had heard of this tiny Italian woman who gave advice to an endless stream of pianists – among them many of today’s foremost international concert artists – from her basement flat in north London. But within the piano world her reputation was massive. In our article, published in IP September/October 2009, five of those pianists who played for her offered their memories of a woman who left an indelible impression on their approach to piano playing.
RECORDINGS AWARDS
BEST INTERPRETATION OF STANDARD REPERTOIRE
- WINNER Debussy Complete Piano Works vol.4 – Images, series I & II. Etudes, books I & II. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (pf). Chandos CHAN10497
- RUNNER-UP Rachmaninoff Complete Preludes. Steven Osborne (pf). Hyperion CDA67700
- RUNNER-UP Satie Avant-dernières pensées. Alexandre Tharaud (pf). Harmonia Mundi HMC902017
BEST REISSUE/VINTAGE RECORDING
- WINNER Shura Cherkassky – The Complete HMV Stereo Recordings. First Hand Records FHR04
- RUNNER-UP Percy Grainger – Grieg Piano Concerto. Rex Lawson (pianola), Oyvind Bjora (vn); Kristiansand SO/Rolf Gupta. 2L 060 SABD
- RUNNER-UP Vladimir Sofronitzky Edition – Live recordings made between 1946 and 1960. Brilliant Classics 8975 9
BEST RECORDING OF NEW PIANO MUSIC
- WINNER Beat Furrer Piano Concerto. Nicolas Hodges (pf). Kairos 0012842KAI
- RUNNER-UP Simon Holt A Book of Colours. Rolf Hind (pf). NMC CD D128
DVD OF THE YEAR
- WINNER (EDUCATION CATEGORY) András Schiff (pf). Masterclass Media Foundation MMF001, 002, 003.
- WINNER (PERFORMANCE CATEGORY) Alfred Brendel Plays and introduces Schubert, vols.1–5. Medici Arts
BOOK OF THE YEAR
- WNNER The Art of French Piano Music by Roy Howat. Yale University Press
- RUNNER-UP Menahem Pressler: Artistry in Piano Teaching by William Brown. Indiana University Press.
BEST DEBUT CD
- WINNER Yuja Wang Sonatas & Etudes. Deutsche Grammophon 477 8140
- WINNER Ilona Timchenko Brahms Paganini Variations op.35. Schumann Kreisleriana. Clara Schumann 3 Preludes and Fugues op.16. Landor Records LAN 286
BEST SHEET MUSIC
- WINNER (NEW WORK CATEGORY) Alban Berg, Marvin Wolfthal Lulu Fantasy for piano. Universal Edition UE 33970
- WINNER (EDITION CATEGORY) Mozart Sonata in A K310. Wiener Urtext Edition (with facsimile). Schott/Universal Edition ISMN M-50057-283-1
- WINNER (EDITION CATEGORY) Chopin Four Ballades. Ed. Jim Samson. Edition Peters
READERS’ CHOICE AWARD FOR BEST RECORDING
- WINNER Piotr Anderszewski at Carnegie Hall. Virgin Classics 6 94688 2
- RUNNER-UP Garrick Ohlsson Scriabin Complete Etudes. Bridge 9287
The full list of winners, including citations, is published in the November/December 2009 issue of International Piano magazine.
Antique keyboard instruments brought to life
3 July 2009, London, UK
Courtesy Dr Kenny McAlpine
The harpsichords, clavichords and early pianos on display at Fenton House in Hampstead, London, have always been out of reach to most visitors, along with the secrets of how they sound. These antique instruments are too fragile to touch, and incapable of staying in tune.
Now, thanks to the efforts of researchers from the University of Abertay in Scotland, visitors will now be able to discover for themselves what these instruments actually sound like. The team, led by Dr Kenny McAlpine, has recreated the sounds of two of the instruments – a c.17th century Italian virginal and a 1777 two-manual Kirkman harpsichord – by making detailed forensic recordings of each individual note. The sounds are then ‘housed’ inside a specially built two-manual electric keyboard that visitors can play.
Listen to the instruments by visiting our new downloads section or click here.
In order to make the sounds authentic, the team captured some very delicate sounds such as the jacks and the plectra as they make contact with the strings and return to rest. McAlpine said: ‘There’s always the question of balancing the needs of access to old, fragile instruments and preserving them for future generations. Our process answers that “red velvet cord” problem.’
McAlpine says he now plans to digitalise the sounds of the other 19 instruments in the collection.
Visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-fentonhouse
The Editor's blog from the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Sunday 7 June – last day of the finals
8 June 2009, Fort Worth, Texas
(From left to right): Second Prize winner Yeol Eum Son, and joint-First Prize winners Nobuyuki Tsujii and Haochen ZhangCredit: Altré Media
Last day of the finals. After hearing his earlier performances of Chopin’s First and Rachmaninoff’s Second concertos, I was looking forward to finding out how Tsujii would fare in recital, where his musicianship would be more transparently on display. He chose for his programme Beethoven’s ‘Appassionata’, Chopin’s Berceuse op.57 and the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody no.2, and gave musical and assured readings of each, with some moments of real beauty. The ‘Appassionata’ was technically secure, if rather drilled, although the second movement was sensitively handled; the Chopin Berceuse was nicely shaped and developed; and he got into his stride with the Hungarian Rhapsody, which he played with impressive emotional depth, insight and abandon.
Try as one might, it’s impossible to shake off the sense of astonishment that he has learned to play these scores by ear (including the Hammerclavier in the semifinals); but beyond technique Tsujii also displays a kind of innate, natural and unforced talent for the piano. His renditions may lack a true understanding of the music, and a sense of having something individual to say, but this is possibly due to the way that he learns the music: Tsujii used to study Braille music but found it so time-consuming he started learning pieces by listening to recordings. The problem with this is that he is learning the music through someone else’s interpretation; if he is to develop as a musician he will need to find his own way of understanding the music he plays, independent of the interpretation he has heard in order to learn the notes.
Zhang’s performance of Prokofiev’s Second Concerto was nothing short of brilliant. It’s incredible to think of a 19-year-old playing this piece with such maturity, technical ease and calm confidence. This is widely regarded as the composer’s most taxing piano concerto, and yet by the end of the performance he seemed to have barely broken out into a sweat. Every note was there, every detail of the score scrupulously observed, the whole thing perfectly paced and controlled, with an eye constantly focused on the work’s overriding architecture. This was a nigh-on faultless reading, with strong support from the Forth Worth Symphony Orchestra and James Conlon. Zhang is currently studying at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he has three years to go before he graduates. He gave his debut recital at the Shanghai Music Hall at age five, performing all of Bach’s Two-Part Inventions; made his orchestra debut age six, and five years ago performed the complete Chopin Etudes op.25 at the International Chopin Festival in Poland. With this sort of technical facility, and with age and experience, Zhang might turn a faultless reading into an inspired one.
No piano competition is complete without at least one outing of Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto, which here received an airing at the hands of Di Wu. In 2005 Wu failed to advance past the preliminaries of the Van Cliburn Competition; having advanced so far this time round, she appeared absolutely determined to go all the way. There was plenty to like about this performance – it had flair, power, beauty and there was plenty of Russianesque struggle and angst in her rendition. She also has a superb technique, but her rendition lacked cohesion and the narrative felt disjointed, with little sense of overall architectural narrative. There were also a couple of occasions when pianist and orchestra were out of sync with one another. The audience didn’t seem to mind any of this, and rewarded Wu with a standing ovation.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS
From 225 applications, 157 worldwide screenings, 71 performances, there can only be one winner – or rather two. The jury voting procedure dictates that at least one gold medal must be awarded. Thereafter, any combination of gold and silver medals may be awarded up to a total of three medals. A single crystal award will only be awarded if only one gold and one silver are awarded. When the time came for Van Cliburn to announce who had won what, the first big surprise was the Vacatello did not receive a medal: she, Wu and Bozhanov were not placed; although Vacatello did win the audience vote (Tsujii came a close second, Son third). The second big surprise was the announcement that no crystal prize (third place) was to be awarded. This meant one of two things: two golds and a silver, or two silvers and a gold. The announcement that Son had won silver and Tsujii and Zhang tied first-place gold has to be one of the most controversial outcomes of any Cliburn competition, and will no doubt be debated for a long time to come. This is the first year that the medals have all gone to Asians, and the first to award first prize to a blind pianist (although Tsujii is not the first blind pianist to enter the Cliburn). Both top-prize winners are the youngest entrants of the competition.
The three medalists each receive $20,000, a CD recording on the Harmonia Mundi USA label and professional career management for the next three years – including concert tours and recital dates. All finalists receive $10,000 plus US concert tours and career management for three years. Jury Discretionary Awards went to Alessandro Deljavan, Lukas Vondracek and Eduard Kunz; the chamber music award went to Bozhanov and Son; and the best performance of a new work to Tsujii.
For the three winners, and for all the candidates for that matter, taking part in the Cliburn will, if nothing else, have provided a world platform from which they can be heard. Son’s career is already well established – she has performed with most of the leading orchestras in South Korea, as well as with the Israel, Tokyo and Warsaw Philharmonics, and in 2004 she toured with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel in Asia. Tsujii already has his following in Japan, and has debuted (at age 12) at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. He has also performed with several of Japan’s leading orchestras, and released a CD. Winning the Cliburn will help him get the break into the US he’s been looking for. Zhang has performed with the China National, New Jersey, and Shanghai and Shenzhen Symphony amongst others, and at 17 he became the youngest winner of the China International Piano Competition. It is going to be very interesting to see what happens next for each of them.
Recordings of four of the competitors from this year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition can be found on our Downloads page. Simply go click on the Features and Reviews tab, then select the Downloads option.
Chloe Cutts
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Blog: Day 4 of Finals – Saturday 7 June
7 June 2009, Fort Worth, Texas
Nobuyuki Tsujii performing Rachmaninoff's Second ConcertoCredit: Altré Media
Yeol Eum Son performing the Prokofiev Concerto no.2 in G minor op.16Credit: Altré Media
Mariangela Vacatello performing the Prokofiev Concerto no.3 in C major op.26Credit: Altré Media
The penultimate day of the finals comprised an afternoon and an evening concert, allowing the audience to hear all six finalists perform in one day. The afternoon concert began with this year’s youngest contestant, Zhang, performing Brahms’ Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel op.24 and Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, which he dispatched with his customary faultless technical precision and assurance. Zhang has a rather serious and precise artistic temperament, and this translated more successfully to the Brahms, which had moments of real beauty. Gaspard is an altogether different kettle of fish, and while Zhang negotiated the technical demands of the work with consummate ease, it was a rather obedient reading. All the gestures were there, and every marking was impeccably observed, but the work’s characterization and otherworldly subtext eluded him.
Yeol Eum Son here concluded her three-day finals marathon with Prokofiev’s Second Concerto. Of all the finals candidates, Son is the only one to have really put her stamp on a concerto – as she did here with the Prokofiev. The Second is most technically demanding and musically outlandish of Prokofiev’s concertos, and Son demonstrated that she had the energy, tenacity and dynamism to negotiate its colossal four-movement architecture magnificently. This music is not for the faint-hearted – the terrain is extreme, the temperament darkly wild and catastrophic, the atmosphere barbaric and full of menace. Son played dangerously - teetering on the knife-edge between control and wild destruction, yet she never lost the plot. She kept control whilst creating the illusion of being on the brink of losing it, and all the while maintaining constant communicating with conductor and orchestra. She karate chopped her way through the audacious five-minute long first movement cadenza like a thing possessed, yet never was her playing affected or self-indulgent.
Nobuyuki Tsujii, who performed Chopin’s First Concerto on Thursday, here gave a sensitive and thoughtful reading of Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto. He recovered admirably from the temporary loss of cohesion between pianist and orchestra at the beginning of the piece to deliver a performance that was admirable and at times extremely moving. Tsujii’s blindness compels him to play with his hands close to the keys, and this restriction of physical movement unfortunately has an impact on his sound, which is rather small. Often his playing was submerged within the orchestra, and climactic moments never fully bloomed. He was far better suited to the Adagio sostenuto, which was very beautiful and moving, but in the finale his presence receded again. Nevertheless, this was an emotionally charged and engaging performance and deserving of the standing ovation.
The evening concert opened with Di Wu’s recital of Bach’s Toccata in F sharp minor BWV910, Schoenberg’s Klavierstucke op.11 and Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit. The Bach was beautifully etched; the Klavierstucke – not the easiest piece to understand and communicate to an audience – engrossing. Wu is an intense and intelligent player, and her programme was perhaps designed to demonstrate an ability to get inside the sound worlds of widely varied repertoire. This worked well with the Bach and Schoenberg, but Gaspard is an ambitious piece for such a young pianist to tackle, and as with Zhang I felt that while the notes were all there, it was the characterization and the real understanding of the work that that was lacking.
There can have been few middle of the road responses to Bozhanov’s performance of the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto this evening. His performances in the preliminary and semifinal rounds had been widely praised, and many tipped him as a favourite to win the competition. Watching him perform the Rachmaninoff Second, I found myself wondering whether the pressure of competing in such a high profile competition is starting to take its toll on his playing. If his finals recital rather went off the rails at times, his performance of the Rachmaninoff Second lost the plot entirely. Bozhanov has polarized opinion from the outset of this competition; for some tonight’s performance was flamboyant, dangerous, inspired, energizing, beautiful; for others it was erratic, self-indulgent at the music’s expense, messy, undisciplined and immature. I’m afraid I found myself in the second camp. He may still be the competition’s most compelling personality, but with this performance he took things too close to the edge for my tastes.
Vacatello is a pianist who has gone from strength to strength throughout these finals. Here she launched into a hair-raisingly high-octane performance of Prokofiev’s Third Concerto, negotiating the work’s devilish acrobatics with aplomb, maintaining a relentless forward momentum throughout and all the while maintaining dialogue with the orchestra. The reticence that had marked her recital a few nights back had here completely evaporated. The problem with her performance – and this was also the case with her recital – was that she has a tendency to rush, and occasionally she raced ahead of the orchestra. That aside, she had all the intensity of focus, the magnificent technique and the seriousness of purpose to make this a captivating performance.
For me, then, Vacatello and Son are the most mature and interesting players. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings – the final day of the finals.
Recordings of four of the competitors from this year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition can be found on our Downloads page. Simply go click on the Features and Reviews tab, then select the Downloads option.
Chloe Cutts
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Blog: Day 3 of Finals – Friday 5 June
6 June 2009, Fort Worth, Texas
Evgeni Bozhanov performing his finals recitalCredit: Altré Media
Yeol Eum Son performing Chopin's Second ConcertoCredit: Altré Media
Mariangela Vacatello performing Beethoven's Fourth ConcertoCredit: Altré Media
Day three, and all six finalists have now given one finals performance – either a recital or one of their two concertos. With the second round of finals performances there is a sense of the candidates upping their game. The concertos may be the crowd-pleasers, but the recitals expose the candidates’ skills at imaginative programming and their ability get inside the sound world of different composers. Bozhanov, who had performed Chopin’s Concerto no.1 on the first day of the finals, is probably the competition’s most compelling musical personality, having attracted as much attention for his facial gymnastics as for his playing. This evening’s recital performance should focus attention on his playing, for it is deserved: he chose an imaginative programme of Toru Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketch 1, Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze and the Gounod-Liszt Faust Waltz, and demonstrated a clear understanding and sympathy with each piece. His temperament was particularly well suited to the Schumann in particular, with its multiple themes and extremes of dynamics, colour and shade.
Interviewed in the interval preceding Yeol Eum Son’s performance of Chopin’s Second Concerto, conductor James Conlon described the path to understanding the music of Beethoven and Chopin as ‘a lifetime pursuit’. In this respect one has to remember how young these finalists are, particularly when one is confronted with playing of the maturity of Son. She is the only finalist to perform three days in a row (she certainly has the stamina to be the next Cliburn gold medalist), and yet she has approached each of her performances with the laid-back elegance and poise of a seasoned pro. This is the third time I have heard Son play, and I have found myself captivated each time. Last night we heard the second of two Chopin Concertos no.1 performed by Bozhanov and Nobuyuki Tsujii respectively; this evening Son presented Chopin’s Second Concerto. Every line was so clearly and naturally phrased, and she maintained constant interaction with conductor and orchestra. A serious contender for one of the top three prizes.
Mariangela Vacatello’s cut-glass technique was developed at the Accademia Pianistica Incontri col Maestro in Imola, Italy, where she studied for 13 years with Franco Scala. She performed Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto with the same fleet-fingered precision that had been the hallmark of her recital, but while her recital performance had been a rather nervous affair, the Beethoven saw a far more confident player emerge. A word here about the pianos: pianists have a choice of three Steinway instruments – two New York Steinways (a very new instrument and a Cliburn-owned older instrument) and a Hamburg Steinway. Son had chosen the new New York Steinway for her recital, and Vacatello the Hamburg Steinway, and the difference in tone was striking – far brighter on the Hamburg. Vacatello is a serious musical personality with a rather intense approach to piano playing, and her playing sometimes lacks warmth and humour as a result of this. Having said that, there was much to admire in her rendition, particularly in the cadenza.
Tomorrow there are two finals concerts, with Tsujii’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second and Son’s Prokofiev Second probably the most eagerly anticipated. At this stage my feeling is that Son is going to be the one to watch.
Recordings of four of the competitors from this year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition can be found on our Downloads page. Simply go click on the Features and Reviews tab, then select the Downloads option.
Chloe Cutts
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