I was not very surprised that Giltburg did not advance. I was listening on high quality Bose speakers, and granted the broadcast itself may have been suboptimal, but the quality of Giltburg's sound was rather pale, especially in the Chaconne. I could be wrong but that was what it was to my ears.
Loved Alexei Chernov. Beautiful OP. 111 which I liked a lot more than Yeol Eum Son's, though she is quite good. His program was rich and impeccably delivered. His Tchaikovsky was gorgeous and his Mephisto managed to be both devilish and beautiful.. It was a real treat.

I concur. Although I really like Giltburg, I felt he gave a much stronger performance at the Rubinstein competition. It also looked like he was not feeling very well.

Looking forward to Round 2.

Hmmm...it seems a shame that Yeol Eum Son chose to play Kapustin's Variations in Round II. Quite risky since the jury didn't seem to know it.

Then shame on them, since half the jury is Russian.

Well she did pass to Phase II. Shocked that Kunz did not. He was an audience favorite.

And Kapustin is a graduate of Moscow conservatory. Still, I think he is the one of the greatest composers of our time.

You're still here!

This is frustrating - how do I find out what the competitors are playing? The organization on the Cliburn site was far superior to the this.

Go to "Competitors" and select the name of the pianist of interest. You will see a short bio and a list of their pieces.


I noticed the absence of Nelson Freire from the jury today. Apparently he quit after the first round because he is "exhausted" !! One wonders if there is more to this story. There were a lot of disgruntled people about Eduard Kunz not advancing to Phase II.

I question a couple of those who did advance to the next phase.

Pray Tell??

I watched Pavel Kolesnikov (I think it was the Round II, Phase I performance). Great choice programming Scriabin's Sonata #2. Such a lovely sonata, and I thought he did a wonderful job with it.

On this forum, we often complain about excessive facial expressions and/or body movements. However, Pavel may be suffering from the opposite. He is such a stoic at the piano that he looks as if he doesn't care about the music. I'm sure this isn't the case, but unless the judges closed their eyes perhaps they would receive the wrong non-verbal message.

Hi remline,

I couldn't agree more. I became aware of Pavel Kolesnikov a couple of years ago through u-tube, and greatly liked what I heard.

When I saw that he was in the final 30 for the Tchaikovsky, I decided to follow his progress. I watched "Round I" and said to my wife (who is a musical neophyte .. don't tell her I said that!), that despite how good I thought he was, he would probably not progress, for the very reason you seem to suggest.

He seems to have, as you say, that certain "stoic" persona at the piano. A characteristic I have observed in a handful of other pianists that have emerged over the years from the Russian Conservartories (though maybe that is changing).

I tend to liken his style of visual performance to that of Ashkenazy, or Lugansky (one of his teachers, so maybe no coincidence), neither of whom seem to display these excessive facial expressions/body movements that you refer to. Certainly other competitors at the Tchaikovsky seem to exude more, and maybe you're on to something here in relation to its ultimate effect on the audience/judges.

Gerard

I was really hoping that Eduard Kunz would be chosen for the next phase. His performances in Round I and Round II Phase I really resonated with me. He is 30 years old now, so this is his last and only chance for the competition, I believe. :-(

Kunz is a wonderful pianist with a big personality on stage. (And he ain't bad looking either!) I think he will have a very, very nice career. I'm not sure if it will be a BIG career. Alot of that has to do with management and how driven he is.

Pavel most impressive. His even demeanor doesn't bother me
at all. But did you hear the pounding damper pedal?
Too bad he didn't realize just how loud it was and make
necessary adjustment.

Chernov leading, I would think. His bio., repertoire, portrait, etc.missing from the web site line-up.

Just had a chance to catch up on some of the performances in the archives. I have to give some love to Yeol Eum Som. What a risk taker, programming both the Tchaikovsky-Feinberg and Kapustin!

I loved her Schumann, another risky competition choice. She has a real personality in her playing amd a wonderful stage presence. But alas, I think it will be many, many years before a woman wins the Tchaikovsky.

how are the subsequent rounds judged? are round 1 results included?

Given that I am just an adult re-learner who is unfamiliar with the concert pianist world, I have no insights as to why Kunz did not move on to the next phase. Would you by any chance have any thoughts on this?

Given that I am just an adult re-learner who is unfamiliar with the concert pianist world, I have no insights as to why Kunz did not move on to the next phase. His performances just simply touched me. Would you by any chance have any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance!

I loved her Kapustin! The judges were all grinning at each other after.

The Kapustin variations was amazing!

I watched y.e.Soms's archived performance of the Kapustin. It
was terrific! She captured the spirit perfectly and tossed it
off with brilliance. Then her Spanish Rhapsody was the best
I've ever heard -- fast passages were the fastest I've every heard and played with precision. "I 'bout came out of my
shoes!" as they say...

Today we hear/watch the last 4 competitors play their Mozard
Concerti. Any favorites so far?

Last night I was watching the Mozart rehearsals. I couldn't believe how easily Son tossed it off, it was so brilliant, every note perfectly in place. They showed her warming up a bit before the rehearsal, that was very interesting to see. She at one point played a 4 octave C major scale, it must have been about 208.

The finalists are


Yeol Eum Son (who has been n perfect form throughout this competition)

Daniil Trifonov (Mozart to die for)
ALexei Chernov
Alex Romanovsky
Seon Jin Cho


Yeol Eum Son received the Jury prize for the best Schedrin interpretation (the piece composed for the competition) and Trifonov received the best Mozart concerto award.

Something remarkable happened after the semi-finalists were announced and people left the stage. A huge wave of lengthy applause ensued around Alexander Lybyantsev who was surrounded by friends and fans. It was really moving. They gave him a huge send off. He is a remarkable pianist who did not make it to the last round.
But I have to say that Yeol Eum Son is looking like a shining star, very different in style from the Russians and even more impressive than her Cliburn performance which was already stellar.
This is not to disregard by any means the amazing Russian grads.. Those conservatories and music schools continue to produce the most amazing musicians..

Actually Yeol Eum Son also shared the Mozart prize with Trifonov! I loved the two cadenzas she played in the Mozart concerto, one by Malcolm Bilson, the other by Lili Kraus. They had lots of humor in them.

You are right. I see it listed on the site. Somehow I missed that when they made the announcement. I am hoping to catch her Mozart concerto in the archives soon.

On a non-piano note, I'm really enjoying going through the various violin semifinalists and seeing the different approaches they take towards the Corigliano commission.

is the archive complete? because from the paraclassics webcast it doesn't nearly have everything. does somebody have a link to the complete archives?

should be pretty hilarious. you can see why nigel runs away with that prize.