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Joined: Mar 2005
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I live in the Ft Worth area and have been to a lot of the Cliburn sessions and admit that I'm getting a mite fatigued with the Tsujii mania. I haven't been very wowed by him. In fact the whole Tsujii phenomenon reminds me of the Cliburn Amateur competition where the blind pianist, who played much easier repertoire than the rest of the field, advanced to the finals.
What's everyone's opinion on whether Tsujii would've made the finals (or even semi-finals) if everyone played behind a screen anonymously?
The other thing I wonder about Tsujii is how much time he spends with his teacher weekly. He learns his music by listening to her play each piece, divided into short passages. How long does it takes Tsujii to learn a concerto, for instance? (The Cliburn requires each contestant to have 6 concertos performance-ready.)
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Some pianists at the cliburn blog such as Eric Zuber are claiming that Conlan is overstepping "his place" in the way he is rehearsing with some of the competitors. As in advising them on their interpretations or tones (he said "Play this with character" once to one of the competitors. What do you think? Well, he's always careful to tell the competitors that they need not follow his advice. I think the relationship between the two needs to be symbiotic anyway, so sharing a few ideas is a good thing whether they are put into practice or not. His tone is a bit different with different competitors. His behavior towards Zhang was a lot more like 'talking down' teacher to student than his behavior towards Vacatello or Bozhanov. At points he was advising Zhang on his actual piano technique, which doesn't really seem appropriate and that's what bugged Eric Zuber over at the official blog. If you read a lot of the posts on various blogs you'll see a lot of references to Zhang's youth and musical immaturity. I guess Conlon bought into it, even though I thought he might be above that sort of thing. Zhang personality also seems very easygoing and almost deferential, which might work against him.
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His tone is a bit different with different competitors. His behavior towards Zhang was a lot more like 'talking down' teacher to student than his behavior towards Vacatello or Bozhanov. At points he was advising Zhang on his actual piano technique, which doesn't really seem appropriate and that's what bugged Eric Zuber over at the official blog.
That does seem like a bit much. It would have been fun had Zhang shown some spirit and said, "Maybe you'd like to play the piano while I conduct?"
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i think that conductor has right to make some suggestions during the rehearsal, since it's a cooperating effort from both orchestra and soloist and they have to try to make their sound blend well together. it's not one sided that either a soloist makes the call or the conductor. they both have to make suggestions and make adjustments based on how soloist would prefer and how conductor would think the music should go. in the end, they have to make the agreement on tempi and phasing and whatever...
besides, everyone has an opinion about how to play a concerto, but in the end, they have to play together...
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I live in the Ft Worth area and have been to a lot of the Cliburn sessions and admit that I'm getting a mite fatigued with the Tsujii mania. I haven't been very wowed by him. In fact the whole Tsujii phenomenon reminds me of the Cliburn Amateur competition where the blind pianist, who played much easier repertoire than the rest of the field, advanced to the finals. I think he was worthy of being a semifinalists, but there were other semifinalists who were more deserving of finalist status. I do think, however, that he has strengths above others and is not a "pity" case. I still think that his preliminary performance was better than many others, particularly his Chopin etudes. But what bothered me about his later performances, and the orchestra rehearsal, is that he still seems to be in the mindset of a student who wants to play the pieces "properly" rather than as an "artist" who wants to say something individual with them. One other thing is that the lack of English proficiency is an even greater problem. For example, if he wins the concert, I don't think he can really go around touring with orchestras in the U.S. with his translator. I mean, he could, but watching the Cliburn rehearsals, it's just very difficult to communicate and discuss the music when you cannot see or speak directly, and as with the "student" mindset I said earlier, he is a lot more deferential and passive than other candidates. I'm sure it's different when he's in Japan and can freely speak with anyone, but it would be a big problem internationally.
Last edited by Theowne; 06/02/09 08:40 PM.
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One other thing is that the lack of English proficiency is an even greater problem. For example, if he wins the concert, I don't think he can really go around touring with orchestras in the U.S. with his translator. Theowne: All six finalists have concerts set up for them for the next 3 years by the Cliburn Foundation. That's why the Cliburn folks emphasize that competitors must be ready to hit the ground running the day after the competition. My impression is akin to yours: Tsujii seems to live in a very insular environment, which is understandable given his blindness. Unlike the others, he's going to need quite an entourage in the coming years to meet his obligations.
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The more I see of Conlon, the less I like him, Matt
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I noticed that after the rehearsal Zhang immediately got up and went over to Conlon, who seemed to try to escape into his book.
Whereas with Vacatello and Wu Conlon immediately came over to the piano.
Well, I have to admit that I'd come over to the piano too, if Di Wu was there.
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Tsujii's already proven he can do it. He's already completed concert tours in Asia. When I played for Valery Kuleshov years ago, he spoke very little English and traveled with his wife who did most of the translating for him. One other thing is that the lack of English proficiency is an even greater problem. For example, if he wins the concert, I don't think he can really go around touring with orchestras in the U.S. with his translator. Theowne: All six finalists have concerts set up for them for the next 3 years by the Cliburn Foundation. That's why the Cliburn folks emphasize that competitors must be ready to hit the ground running the day after the competition. My impression is akin to yours: Tsujii seems to live in a very insular environment, which is understandable given his blindness. Unlike the others, he's going to need quite an entourage in the coming years to meet his obligations.
"If we continually try to force a child to do what he is afraid to do, he will become more timid, and will use his brains and energy, not to explore the unknown, but to find ways to avoid the pressures we put on him." (John Holt) www.pianoped.comwww.youtube.com/user/UIPianoPed
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I noticed that after the rehearsal Zhang immediately got up and went over to Conlon, who seemed to try to escape into his book.
Whereas with Vacatello and Wu Conlon immediately came over to the piano.
Well, I have to admit that I'd come over to the piano too, if Di Wu was there. In other words: par for the course as far as conductors go.
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Such is the problem with conductors.
If you have the audacity to think you can lead a group of highly trained musicians by waving your hands around and can sell that to the board who hires you, you're probably a bit of a self-absorbed egomaniac.
If you're the kind of person who would rather take a backseat and let the musicians and soloists take center stage and make brilliant music, then you probably will never get hired as a conductor because the board and audience members will wonder what on earth they're paying you for.
As you may have guessed, I have a very low opinion of 98% of the conductors on the planet. The ones who are good musicians don't seem to have the personality or charisma to lead and handle the politics effectively, and the ones who can handle the politics and musicians seem musically undistinguished.
Having seen Conlon live many times and having observed his rehearsals first-hand (not at the Cliburn), he's actually in the 2% I like. (Along with Gustav Meier and James DePriest.)
"If we continually try to force a child to do what he is afraid to do, he will become more timid, and will use his brains and energy, not to explore the unknown, but to find ways to avoid the pressures we put on him." (John Holt) www.pianoped.comwww.youtube.com/user/UIPianoPed
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Apparently there'a a session of the final tonight.
Does anybody know who's playing?
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Vacatello's Final Recital Bozhanov's Chopin No 1 Wu's Beethoven No 2
Daniel
Currently working on: -Poulenc Trois pièces -Liszt Harmonies du Soir -Bach/Brahms Chaconne for Left Hand
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If you have the audacity to think you can lead a group of highly trained musicians by waving your hands around and can sell that to the board who hires you, you're probably a bit of a self-absorbed egomaniac. That's kind of simplifying the role of a conductor, isn't it? It's what the public sees, but the conductor is most important during a rehearsal, right? I'm not liking Conlon even more here. I already don't like the fact that he is changing the pianists' interpretations in a piano competition final round, but his unequal treatment of different performers irritates me. When Bozhanov wants to rewrite the accelerandos in the Rachmaninoff concerto, Conlon goes along with it, but when Zhang says that the orchestra is a bit loud during one passage, Conlon basically ignores the comment. Yes, Zhang is younger, but people involved in a competition are not supposed to be influenced by that sort of thing. P.S. Is it just me or did they remove the 1 on 1 rehearsals from the archives?
Last edited by Theowne; 06/03/09 06:20 PM.
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I already don't like the fact that he is changing the pianists' interpretations in a piano competition final round...
I wondered about that also. If the jury likes or dislikes something in a competition, shouldn't it be the competitor's interpretation/ideas they're evaluating? On the other hand, I suppose one could argue that some of the ideas in a competitor's performance were suggestions fron their teacher.
Last edited by pianoloverus; 06/03/09 08:19 PM.
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I don't think those 1 on 1 rehearsals were going to be archived.
Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons.
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But they were archived. Then they were removed.
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strange, they removed all rehearsal with Conlon videos. why did they do that?
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Hmmm, that's strange. I distinctly remember Jade Simmons commenting on the last day of semis that the rehearsals would not be archived, so don't miss them.
Where were they before the removal?
Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons.
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On another "note", I am happy to see that Vocatello will be playing the Chopin Op. 16 Introduction & Rondo.
Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons.
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