E-competition

[westley]

Users of this forum might find this interesting - this competition is streamed live from www.piano-e-competition.com.     Its definently a major competition - the winners the past two were Mei-Ting Sun and Jie Chen - so there should be a lot of great performances. Mei-Ting at least seems to be known to some members of this forum.

I think they also have archived performances from the 2004 competition, which are definently woth checking out although the sound is poor (extremely quiet and also somewhat colorless and dry). 

I'd be curious to hear the response of people on this forum to the contestants - I had a lot of fun attending last time it was held and am planning to see about 2/3 of the recital rounds this time around - maybe we can start a betting pool . . .

[nicco]

wow so cool

watching rui shi right now, shes playing a haydn sonata, very good actually.

And now brahms sonata no 1

and islamey..and rach 3 for the finals...im officially impressed

[BoliverAllmon]

are the vids quiet like they were last year?

[xhunterjx]

the piano tech is fun to watch.

[nicco]

are the vids quiet like they were last year?

nope, better sound this time

the guy playing the liszt sonata had a serious rush

[westley]

I just got back from watching two of the recitals.  I saw Darret Zusko and Yang Shen today.

Zusko was very interesting.  His playing was pretty intellectual, very well thought out and controlled, at least until the Liszt.  I really like his Mozart and Debussy, although both were pretty unusual.  The Mozart was the opposite of "pretty" with an emphasis on form, sometimes at the expense of drama.  It had a sort of "drive" to it though that kept me riveted the whole time.  The Debussy was much louder than I've heard these pieces played before - the "goldfish" sounded awfully violent . . . It was also convincing though although Debussy with his idea of the piano sounding "hammerless" would ahve been awfully shocked.  After that things seemed to go downhill.  I'm not sure if the playing was really worse or if I just got tired of his really harsh sound.  The Liszt sonata was unbelievable - His octaves are incredible! - but overall it was not a good performance of this piece: too fast and rushed at times.  I wouldn't be surprised if he made it to the next round though, he had some good things goin for him.

Yang shen was not bad although a lot less interesting.  The Clementi sonata was extremely boring.  Debussy was a lot more "normal" than Zuskos, but well performed.  The main thing that detracted from her performance to me was her lousy stage presence.  The Mussorgsky in particular had some really good moments but overall I just couldn't get really excited for her playing.  I'd be surprised to see her in the next round.

Yesterday in general seemed a bit stronger.  I saw Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan, Hanna Shybayeva, and Gregory DeTurck.  They all had a lot to recommend them, especially Victoria.  She has been the only one so far who really swept me away in parts of her recital, especially in her Liszt and Schumann.  Combining that impression with the fact that she got second in the 2002 competition she's definently my early favorite to win.  She's a lock for the next round at the very least. 

[Kassaa]

The Liszt sonata was absolutely awesome, the Mussorgsky lacked climax and speed. Bydlo is supposed to be FF, the yaba thing is supposed to be fast etc, worst thing was the lack of climax in the last part, the Great Gate of Kiev.

[westley]

Its true that Baba Yaga was a dissappointment, but I liked every other movement with the exception of the very beginning.  I had no problems with the last movement either.  But on the other hand, none of it was so good that its really worth defending so perhaps you are right.

We'll just have to disagree on the Liszt Sonata though - none of the slow or quiet  parts really carried any significance for me the way he played them and the sound was fairly monochromatic.  I really just wanted it to end so my ears would stop ringing.  The only interesting part for me was his octaves.

Did you hear any of the rest of the recital?  I'd be curious to hear what you think of the other performers too . .

[nanabush]

Whoa I caught the guy from Israel today (forget his name tho), he played my etude!!!!!!!!!!  The rach Eb minor followed by my favorite Eb major....I caught end of symphonic etudes, not fmailiar with them so I have no idea how he played them... debussy preludes, those were awesome, so was the Rach prelude and etudes.... missed the prokofiev.

[avetma]

I am looking forward to hear Bogdan-Claudiu Dulu today and his Liszt sonata 

[stevie]

I am looking forward to hear Bogdan-Claudiu Dulu today and his Liszt sonata 

zavagely raped by da ZEUZ

[westley]

The Israeli guys was really good . .  a lot of rhythmic energy.  I thought all his pieces sounded a little "samey" though and the debussy definitely played fast and loose with the score . . . but I had fun watching him and I hope he makes the next round.

So far my favorites are Victoria Korchinskaya Kogan, Gregory DeTurck, Konstantin Krasnitsky, Michael Navirovsky, and Henry Wong Doe . . . but I missed a few recitals along the way.  It also kind of painful to choose becuase almost everybody played at least one piece extremely well.

Zusko's Liszt Sonata has reached "infamous" proportions . . . Its been mentioned on every minneapolis public radio segment on the e-competition so far.  The radio segments are amusing.  Their choices of excerpts have been inconsistent.  First they played Hanna Shybayeva Finale from Prokofievs second sonata which was great.  The next day they played "Poissons d'or" from Zusko's performance and feux de artifice from Yang shens, which were both pretty good.  Today though, they PLayed Edisher Savitski's rendition of the finale from the Symphonic etudes which was easily the worst of the three interpretation of this piece that have been played so far.  I dont quite get it . . .

Man I can't wait to hear the Rimsky-Korsakov/Cziffra flight of the bumblebee tonight . . .

I also cant wait for them to finally archive this years performance so more people can watch them and we can have a real discussion . .  like about why Krasnitsky's Liszt is ten times better than Zusko's . . . .

[alwaystheangel]

I see people walking around.... and a lonely piano.  And now it's gone and... now it's back this is so awesome!

[avetma]

I didn't liked Liszt much...

btw. I would like to jump on stage and try this piano soo muuchhhh

[tompilk]

what's that piece that is played when you click on "so how does it work?", the one playing when the title comes up?
I remember it from somewhere...

I think this is very cool on camera - excellent quality for a "web-cam" if that's what they call it...
I still don't see how it can be as good as seeing the person live though... the atmosphere would be non-existant!

How do the times match up with GMT from the website?
oh! someone just came on stage!!!
Bye
Tom


Oh, and more importantly, can someone capture the videos because I've workjed out the time to be 6 hours ahead and i cant stay up that late... i'd die.
and im on holiday
I really dont want to go on holiday to france cos im missing the piano festival near where i live too. Im going sailing for 2 weeks... but mymum and dad just shove me on a plane... i really dont want to go... maybe i could skive off for 2 months and go to the La Roque De Antheron Festival ... 
And im not looking forward to the heat as I'm going to thailand for another 2 weeks... and im going crazy in the heat here in England!
Tom

[sissco]

Omg this woman is excellent  I started today to recrod everything, I hope somebody has the other days for me  Chopin sonata now...see you 

Edit: That was beautifull! Wonderful! Magnificent! Tremendous  She's 15? 

[instromp]

Did anyone see the young girl Claire Huangci play the Don juan, i missed it and i really wanted to see how she played it.

[sissco]

Yeah I have it...but the sound is low quality.

[nicco]

I think they will put out everything when they are done, so i wouldnt worry about missing anything. But be sure to catch the concert finals

[sissco]

I think they will put out everything when they are done, so i wouldnt worry about missing anything. But be sure to catch the concert finals

Ah I hope so!  No I'm not going to miss that 

[instromp]

Yeah I have it...but the sound is low quality.

could you send it to my email fresh2deaf15@aim.com

[westley]

I just got back from the announcement of the winners and it was and extremely strange experience. 

All the judges walked out on stage.  The head judge made what I imagine is a fairly typical spiel about how it was the most difficult competiton to judge with the highest level of playing of any competiton he had ever seen, the weird thing being  it was totally believable. More than that, it was glaringly, obviously, true because the attitude of all the judges seemed to be that they were extremely uncomfortable and wished they were somewhere else.  I never expected this sort of moment to be so depressing.

 In the past my attitude towards those people who say "competitions are evil" has been something like "yeah, whatever" but after what I've seen at this one I have a bit more sympathy towards that point of view. people were cut from this competition who didn't just play well but who made (to me) complete and convincing artistic statements with their recitals.  They weren't cut because of outrageous decisions by the jury either - there just wasn't enough room.

Because its not yet posted on the official site, here is the list of who goes on to the next (Schubert Sonata) round.

Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan
Gregory Deturck
Konostantin Krasnitsky
Angelo Arcelione
Michael Mordvinov
Edisher Savitski
Ryo Yanigatani
Einav Yarden
Claire Huangci

I saw every one of these with the exception of Ryo Yanigatani.

Here are three I wish there was room for

Hanna Shybayeva
and especially
Henry Wong Doe
Michael Navirovsky

In place of:

Angelo Arcelione
Claire Huangci

But again, neither of those are bad choices.

They should get the archived videos up tonight or at latest tomorrow, and I'd be curious to hear others' thoughts on the selections.

[kevinatcausa]

Interesting statistic: The 9 semifinalists between them chose only 3 of the 7 possible Schubert Sonatas (2 picked D845 in A Minor, 3 picked D959 in A Major, 4 picked D960 in B-flat Major).

However, they picked 9 different concerti for the final round.

[nanabush]

Einav Yarden played the most interesting stuff!  Those short 'game' pieces by Kurtag were awesome IMO, I wanted her to move on.  Claire Huangci, is she on crack or something... a 15 year old with an INSANE repertoire played so well, and all first prizes from comps. holy crap...

[apion]

I'm surprised that none of the finalists are performing Rach 2 or Rach 3 (or Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini) in the concerto portion of the e-competition.

[Kassaa]

I'm surprised that none of the finalists are performing Rach 2 or Rach 3 (or Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini) in the concerto portion of the e-competition.

Someone's going to play the Rach1, that's sooooo awesome.

[tompilk]

yup and we have a 15 year old playing paganini rhapsody!
Tom

[nicco]

yup and we have a 15 year old playing paganini rhapsody!
Tom

not in the finals

[tompilk]

not in the finals

really?!??! oh, i thought she got through! ah well, bet it was rubbish anyway
  Not stereotyping in any way 
Tom

[sissco]

Claire Huangci, is she on crack or something... a 15 year old with an INSANE repertoire played so well, and all first prizes from comps. holy crap...

not......fair

[tompilk]

probably beaten as a child until she practised...

[nicco]

Concerto Finals - Orchestra Hall
Opening Concerts of the Minnesota Orchestra Sommerfest
Wednesday, July 12
7:30PM-8:15PM Mikhail Mordvinov (Schumann)
8:15PM-9:00PM Gregory DeTurck (Rachmaninoff #1)
9:00PM-9:15PM Intermission
9:15PM-10:00PM Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan (Prokofiev #2)


Thursday, July 13
7:30PM-8:15PM Ryo Yanagitani (Saint-Saens #2)
8:15PM-9:00PM Einav Yarden (Ravel)
9:00PM-9:15PM Intermission
9:15PM-10:00PM Edisher Savitski (Beethoven #5)

so guys, whos your favourite? Personally i really like the interpretations of mikhail mordvinov, although im not too fond of his concerto choice...but hey, maybe he will deliver a new fresh interpretation..thats what im hoping for

[00range]

I'm personally looking forward to the Prokofiev and the Saint-Saens.

[raymagini]

i actually went to this competition last monday and tuesday since it only an hour from my house

i think the CG award goes to Howard Na, who got DQed for playing his pieces in under the required time (i.e. too fast)

Its unfortunate that only about 30-40 people showed up, this comp shoudl be more widely advertised in the twin cities area

[nicco]

wow the last 4 contestants today all play the same brahms quintet 

must be a drag for the jury

[kevinatcausa]

They still have it better than the Jurors from the 2001 Cliburn. 

Not only did 4 of the six finalists choose the same concerto (Rachmaninov's 3rd), but every competitor had to perform each of their concertos twice, leading to 8 performances of the same concerto in the finals. 

[sissco]

so guys, whos your favourite? Personally i really like the interpretations of mikhail mordvinov, although im not too fond of his concerto choice...but hey, maybe he will deliver a new fresh interpretation..thats what im hoping for

Wheeee...Where is the 2nd concerto of chopin?  He's not in the finals? Damnit

[walking_encyclopedia]

anyone go see concerto performances live today? i heard 'em live on mpr. de turck was amazing. dude's on crack or something...

i think i was most impressed with prokofiev's second, played by victoria korchinskaya-kogan. she was out of this world.

i certainly wouldn't want to be on the jury of this one

[viking]

Yeah the prok 2 was quite amazing.  Does anyone know if the concerto performances will be archived?

[westley]

I agree with the above two posters . .  Victoria's Prokofiev second was a large step above the other two performances. 

I was a bit disappointed by Mordvinov's performace, as much as I loved his his recital and schubert round performances: I felt his constant changes of tempo pretty much destroyed the concerto . . . too bad.

[nicco]

well guys, the videos has been posted

https://www.piano-e-competition.com/ecompetition/videos_2006.asp

[apion]

I was a bit dissapointed by Mordvinov's performace  . .  as much as I loved his his recital and schubert round performances. I felt is constant changes of tempo pretty much destroyed the concerto . . . too bad.

I never viewed the 3rd mvt of Schumann's A Minor Piano Concerto as highly difficult until I witnessed Mordvinov's struggle with this beast.  It's like: "OMG, this is nearly as tough as Rach 3" !

[viking]

well guys, the videos has been posted

https://www.piano-e-competition.com/ecompetition/videos_2006.asp

Yes, but where are the concerto performances?  Anyone record them out there?  Will they be archived?

[chozart]

I didn't liked Liszt much...

btw. I would like to jump on stage and try this piano soo muuchhhh

actually, I have played on one of the two they used on that stage for my auditions
wonderful instrument
the best auditions I played, too
and probably the best performance I gave of my pieces (which shocked me because I was nervous as hell prior to starting lol)

[chozart]

My friend and I attended yesterday's piano concerto finals (I also went July 4th and heard Rui Shi, Darrett Zusko, and Yang Shen)
I've got to agree with most of you, of course, that Victoria was the highlight
both Mordvinov and DeTurck were fantastic, but something about Mordvinov's performance touched me more - contrary to how it seems most people felt.. but whatever

I won't be able to attend today

but I'm going tomorrow :-)

[sergei r]

Just saw Yanagitani's Saint-Saens 2 and it was awesome! Can't really comment on Yarden's Ravel though because I don't really like that concerto. Really looking forward to the Beethoven 5 coming up next.

EDIT: Just finished watching the Emperor and it was fantastic, especially the final movement. Just wish my video stream hadn't kept cutting out during the first movement...

[apion]

Cool, Edisher Savitsky garnered First Prize.

I would HATE to have been a juror for this competition (so many first-rate performances ! ! ! Ughhhhh)

[chozart]

The results are:
1 - Edisher Savitski
2 - Ryo Yanagitani
3 - Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan
4 - Mikhail Mordvinov
5 - Einav Yarden
6 - Gregory DeTurck
Schubert Prize: Ryo Yanagatini

what

I wanted Victoria to win.. at least second... >_>
and I wish Mordvinov would have placed a tad higher. Third would have been satisfactory.

Anyway, I'm rather disappointed, although Edisher is alright, so 1st prize I can let aside as pretty deserved. But the rest... uh... eh...

Blah...

[cygnusdei]

I listened to random parts of the Barber sonata by Gregory Deturck and Esther Park. I thought Park was very convincing in this while Deturck was kind of half baked, yet he went to the finals while Park was weeded out (?). Can someone offer an explanation? Was she not convincing in the Clementi or Chopin?

[houseofblackleaves]

Korchinskaya should have won.