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From 16 to 26 September 2010, the fourth edition of the International Piano Competition “Republic of San Marinoâ€. Compulsory pieces, two new works by Uri Caine, who will play a concert on 17 September at Teatro Concordia in Borgo Maggiore. Rich prize: 80,000 euros. To the winner also a management contract with the agency Studiomusica and the possibility to record a CD with the record company Naxos. Media partners of the event: San Marino RTV, Radio Rai 3, Classica, Classic Voice. President o f the jury the famous Polish piano player Adam Harasiewicz.
The competition, taking place every two years, is divided in two sections: “Solo players†(up to 30 years old) and “Piano Duets†(up to 30 years old). Candidates’ performances, divided in heats, semi-finals and finals, all opened to the audience, are taking place in ten days and streaming broadcast on the websites www.sanmarinortv.sm , www.allegrovivo.org and www.classicvoice.com .
The final are also being broadcast by Radio Rai 3 from 8.00 p.m. The 63 solo players and the 18 piano duets, coming from 33 countries and admitted on the basis of their curriculum and of the DVDs they sent, have arrived in San Marino in these days and they are getting ready to take the sceptre away from Daniil Trifonov (who won the first prize at the previous edition with a wonderful performance of Prokof’ev’s Third Concert for piano and orchestra op. 26) and from the Sulkhanishvili sisters.
A mixed blessing for the competitors and the competition will be the two jazz compulsory pieces, written every year by big names of the piano scene. In 2008, it was Chick Corea, this year Uri Caine, who has composed Aria (Air) for piano and orchestra and Double Helix for piano duets. The famous American piano player, guest of the competition, will perform a free concert on 17 September at Teatro Concordia in Borgo Maggiore at 9.00 p.m. The programme includes music by Mozart, Waller, Lennon/Mc Cartney and Monk, and two original medleys: Mahler and Othello. Uri Caine, who is enthusiastic about this event because it is the only one on the international scene of instrumental competitions which supports the meeting of different genres – classical music and jazz – being originally far from one another, said: «In Double Helix, "double" refers not only to the two performers playing one with and against the other, but also to the two styles being in contrast. The music structure is made up of a dramatic and dynamic component mixed with a slower and more thoughtful one. It is the contrast and combination of these two elements which shape this piece. Aria, for piano and orchestra, is formed by brief sections linked in three different contrasting movements. The first one is unpredictable, “mercurialâ€, light and rapid, with a piano part which makes slaloms in and out of the orchestra composition. The second one is softer and more lyrical. The music collects its energy to get to an intense and suspended end. Finally, the third part is assertive, virtuoso and dramatically ending».
The prize will be very rich too – 80,000 euros. 22,000 euros will go to the winner of the “Solo†section, who will win also a two-year management contract with the agency Studiomusica and the possibility to record a CD for the record company Naxos. 8,000 euros will go to the winners of the category “Piano Duets†and this partly explains the “attracting effect†of the competition on the young winners’ process of artistic and professional consolidation.
Web listeners will award a web prize, offered by San Marino RTV, to the best piano player. You can vote on the site www.sanmarinortv.sm. To the voters USOT will offer two week-ends for two people in San Marino as a prize.
Being the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth, a special prize, offered by San Marino Lions Club, will be awarded to the best performer of one of the Polish composer’s pieces. Besides the above mentioned special prizes, on 25 September, on the day of the final of the category “Solo playersâ€, another prize will be awarded by reviewers.
Finally, the fame of the event will be increased by the members of the jury, this year presided over by the famous Polish piano player Adam Harasiewicz: Lilya Zilberstein, Tamás Vásáry, Alan Weiss, Joseph Paratore, Maurizio Zanini, Philippe Entremont.
In the finals, the latter will conduct the Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of San Marino, which cooperates for this event with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Being a member of Alink-Argerich, the Dutch reference fundation for international piano competitions, this year the event will have RadioTre RAI, San Marino RTV, Classica and Classic Voice as media partners.
You can find a thorough real-time archive of news concerning the competition, the candidates, the programmes and the calendar on the Association’s web-site www.allegrovivo.org .
The “IV International Piano Competition Republic of San Marinoâ€, organized by Allegro Vivo Music Association, takes place in San Marino at Concordia in Borgo Maggiore from 16th to 26th September 2010. All candidate’s performances as well as every part of the Competition, will be broadcasted live streaming video on the Internet, through San Marino RTV website www.sanmarinortv.sm.
Every piano lover can vote his favorite pianist directly on San Marino RTV website participating in this way in the awarding of the “Web prize†offered by San Marino RTV.
Among all voters, there will be drawed two coupon (voucher) valid for a Weekend (2 nights) in the Republic of San Marino offered by "Unione Sammarinese Operatori Turistici (USOT)". Each voucher includes accommodation B&B in a 4 stars Hotel and a dinner with typical menù for two person. All prizes are expressed in their amount and exempt of taxes. The purpose is to make known the International Piano Competition and the Republic of San Marino to the wide international community of piano lovers.
Rules
The user of the site www.sanmarinortv.sm can vote, compilating a form. In the card they must insert their own name and last name, address, telephone number and e-mail. Compiling the form will be sent through mail a password, necessary to access the page of the votes. You can vote just one name for the "Soloist" category. You can vote just one time otherwise your vote will be considered avoided. You must send your preference within and not over 12.00 pm on Saturday September 25th 2010. The formalities of execution of the drawing, for the assignment of two week end in San Marino, will be select to unquestionable judgment of San Marino RTV.
Hey, Allegro Vivo, are you just posting rules? Join up and talk to us? Why the disparaging remarks about Jazz? Too unrefined? Too American? What?
Hmmm, I didn't see any disparaging remarks about jazz. Or are you referring to this statement: "A mixed blessing for the competitors and the competition will be the two jazz compulsory pieces, written every year by big names of the piano scene."?
My understanding of its being a mixed blessing is that on the one hand it gives the pianists a chance to stretch themselves with an unfamiliar genre and on the other hand it gives the pianists a chance to screw up in a major way because they don't understand the jazz idiom. For example, it is impossible to notate "swing" precisely in jazz and so those classical pianists who didn't grow up listening to jazz will play everything straight and it just won't sound like jazz. I don't think Allegro Vivo was disparaging jazz at all. Au contraire, pas du tout.
"Playing the piano is my greatest joy...period."......JP
Just wondering ... how many otherwise potential candidates the compulsory jazz pieces will eliminate from the competition. I also wonder how many good (competition-ready) classical pianists are comfortable enough in the jazz idiom to perform jazz as part of a competition.
Surely, this will be a considerably refined group of competitors.
Anyone has links to pieces by those or similar composers ? "Jazz" is pretty vague, and frankly, doesn't mean much to me ; sort of like "romantic", I'd even think "baroque" is more precise (though that might be my lack of knowledge speaking.)
Read my very first post in this thread. I did not hit allegro vivo over the head with a sledge hammer. The wording in their advertisement is indeed opaque. Perhaps it is a mere misunderstanding, but that choice of language is both confusing and potentially off-putting. Your explanation is indeed plausible, and allegro vivo would have shown us here a bit of courtesy by at least considering the potentially poor translation into English of his group's actual intent.
On the other hand, a reasonable person could interpret the remark as a casual diminishment of the genre. A mixed blessing for the competitors? Well, yes, there is a certain risk, but only because it presumes that jazz is somehow odd, esoteric and weird. A mixed blessing for the competition? Come on. That suggests it can produce bad outcomes because some fine Italian pianist who is God's gift to Chopin could be unceremoniously dumped because he is unfamiliar with that uncouth north American mixed breed stuff.
Yes, I'm pushing the envelope of interpretation here (to use a musical metaphor). But I'll stand by the claim that "more felicitous" ways could have been found to express their point, whatever that point might be. And yes, that point remains clear as mud.
Just wondering ... how many otherwise potential candidates the compulsory jazz pieces will eliminate from the competition. I also wonder how many good (competition-ready) classical pianists are comfortable enough in the jazz idiom to perform jazz as part of a competition.
Meh. If someone doesn't like the requirements, he can enter one of the other 10,000 piano competitions.
... which is one reason why I'm left scratching my head as to why a spokesperson for the event would use language that suggests ambivalence about value and the wisdom of the competition's own requirements.
I would also note that the spokesperson doesn't interact, instead choosing to use PW as a billboard only.
On the other hand, a reasonable person could interpret the remark as a casual diminishment of the genre. A mixed blessing for the competitors? Well, yes, there is a certain risk, but only because it presumes that jazz is somehow odd, esoteric and weird. A mixed blessing for the competition? Come on. That suggests it can produce bad outcomes because some fine Italian pianist who is God's gift to Chopin could be unceremoniously dumped because he is unfamiliar with that uncouth north American mixed breed stuff.
You could interpret the statement in exactly the opposite way, too, that the reason it is a "mixed blessing" is because classical players are too inept to be able to deal with jazz idioms, and so probably won't do too well.
It seems fairly obvious that the translation is askew, though, since if they are commissioning "jazz" pieces, they must respect the genre. But of course, how much real jazz improvisation is required? I didn't see any mention of that. And what is the point, anyway?
Oddly enough, just yesterday I listened to a BBC Radio 3 archived broadcast of a recital given by Steven Osborne that touched on this stuff. There was some sort of loose theme about American music and jazz. Besides Joplin and Gershwin and a very fine performance of the Ives 3-page Sonata, he did some of those Kapustin "jazzy" preludes that sort of go in one ear and out the other, pleasant though they may be while in progress. What was more interesting was that he did a free improvisation of his own, which was pretty good, and he played a spectacular Oscar Peterson solo that he had transcribed from a recording. That was fun, and quite unusual for a "classical" pianist. I think the boundaries are getting blurrier.
With all truly due respect to jazzyprof, I don't think his explanation was plausible. I think he missed the part about it being perhaps a mixed blessing "for the COMPETITION."
I can see a way that we could say it wasn't a put-down of jazz: if there was a "language-barrier" factor and the OP simply didn't intend or realize the implication of what he was saying. But otherwise.....
Hmmm, I didn't see any disparaging remarks about jazz.....
Please see above post. (And you too, WR.)
Although you did quote the part about "....and [for] the competition," I don't see how your suggested interpretation takes account of that.
Because it's a "mixed blessing" for the competition that some competitors can't deal very well with the jazz stuff, while it will allow others who can handle it to shine. So the competition would get mixed results from adding the jazz element.
But really, that's all neither here nor there, since it is obviously just poor translation (there are other badly Englished things elsewhere in the post, too). It seems that Piano*Dad was just looking for the opportunity to vent some kind of misplaced xenophobia or whatever it was he was getting all bunched up over. As I pointed out earlier, they would not likely be disparaging jazz if they are making the effort to include some flavor of it in an otherwise classical competition; they just wouldn't. Looks to me like they are doing the opposite and are trying to honor it.
I would also note that the spokesperson doesn't interact, instead choosing to use PW as a billboard only.
Yes, this is something that I've also noticed and I'm not too sure about. But indeed a promoter is here to promote and not to chit chat about anything (sadly)... The rest is just miconceptions and misunderstanding I think...
