the finalists at the gala concert

The Gala Concert (24 September 2006)

The results had been decided the evening before, and so there was little or no stress leading up to the Gala Concert, a solo recital by all six finalists. Apparently this was the first time such a recital is being held after the Grand Finals, so there was a further excuse for me to tarry one day longer in Leeds. I have grown to love this old-fashioned but yearning-to-be modern English city. The people are polite and seemed to genuinely care about others; they even thanked the bus drivers upon alighting. If that ever happened in Singapore, there is certainly no need for that “Four Million Smiles” charade and countless courtesy campaigns!

In front of a packed Great Hall (we’re back at the University), the pianists each received a facsimile copy of Beethoven’s manuscript of the Emperor Concerto. The audience was then subjected to the usual litany of self-congratulatory speeches, orations and citations. Dame Janet Baker spoke (as opposed to sang), as did a gentleman from the McGregor clan kitted in a kilt. By the way, the pianists played in reverse order of their final placings.

6th place: GRACE FONG

I can now totally understand why she was picked for the finals despite a somewhat erratic semi-final showing. Her performance of Handel’s Suite No.3 in D minor was a total joy. I never really cared for this music on the harpsichord, but on the piano its myriad possibilities are fully realised. Even if this wasn’t a transcription, it sounded like one.

With judicious use of the pedal and varying shades of dynamics, the once brittle-sounding music came alive. Fong can sound masculine and robust when she chooses to, but her utter clarity in the fugue, overall polish and tender caress of the keyboard distinguished her as an artist. In the final Variations, she never let the buoyancy or pace slacken, finishing the work with true bravura. In 2005, she was the winner of the Baroque Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition. I am not surprised.

	the two Kims with Dame Fanny Waterman

5th place: KIM SUNG-HOON

The Wagner-Liszt Tannhäuser Overture is not something one should try at home, lest one wishes to court pianistic disaster and severe disappointment. When played indifferently, it is the musical equivalent of a train crash. Under Kim’s hands, the piano becomes an orchestra. The opening Pilgrim’s Chorus evokes reverence but once it reaches full throttle, all Venusberg breaks loose. Here, his adroit handling of Liszt’s diabolical fingerwork in the Venusberg Music is admirable, with scarcely a detail escaping from his reach. The final apotheosis is a magnificent one, and I dare say no other finalist can match the sheer volume of sound and endurance needed to overcome this monster of a transcription. If he performs this in Singapore at the 2008 piano festival, it would certainly be a Singapore premiere. 

(above: )

4th place: SONG SIHENG

Of the three virtuoso warhorses Song played in the semifinals, I thought his view of Ravel’s La Valse the least convincing. Although he manfully gets all the notes in (and there are plenty of them), he misses out on its fin-de-siecle charm, decadence and the whiff of decay that Ravel was trying to portray in contemporary Vienna. Here was a super-fast, super-efficient, supermarket version of a work that had much more to say. Even Alexander Markovich’s over-the-top and bordering on vulgar performance of the same at the 2006 Piano Festival had more colour and character. Song’s Ginastera would have been a better final toss of the dice.

3rd place: DENIS KOZHUKHIN

In place of the originally scheduled Szymanowski Variations on a Polish Folk Theme, Kozhukhin played a selection of varied Rachmaninov Préludes. He is a natural in this repertoire, clearly relishing the étude-like intricacies of Op.23 No.8, surging arpeggios on both the right hand (No.7) and the left (No.2), as well as the more intimate and cantabile charms of Op.23 No.6 and Op.32 No.5 and 12. A very well chosen set, performed with much sympathy and adroitness. Now I wished Yurie Miura had also been invited to perform the Szymanowski Variations. Now that would have been a nice touch.   

2nd place: ANDREW BROWNELL

Andrew Brownell and Grace Fong proudly fly the star-spangled banner

Having given one of the best semi-final recitals, either the Bach Partita No.3 or Brahms Four Ballades Op.10 from Brownell would have been equally welcome. As the perfect foil to Grace Fong’s Handel, Brownell’s Bach was every bit as refined and vivid. Again, he found a wealth of dynamic subtleties and nuances that would have eluded the harpsichord.

The souvenir programme lists Brownell as an Organist in Residence at Westminster Abbey, which ought to have given the listener a clue to his palette of sonorities. I state again that Brownell is the one pianist who stands to benefit the most from this competition. He is 27 and probably the most ready to take on the impending flurry of engagements to come. The Londoners had better find a new Organist in Residence soon.

1st place: KIM SUNWOOK

Having not heard him earlier in Rachmaninov’s Corelli Variations, I am glad to report that young Kim’s performance was equal to the expectations engendered by winning the 1st Prize. It was clean, non-idiosyncratic and full of the brio and colour to be found in a Rach score. The La Folia theme was stated with simplicity and sincerity, and the variations that followed were fleet-fingered and revealed no hint of strain to his impeccable technique. Although this was late Rachmaninov, it elicited a youthful and vibrant response. Kim plays everything with a polish and freshness that is untainted by mannerism, yet there is little that is student-like or scholarly about his delivery.

At only 18, there is great potential in him, and providing that he receives the right career and further musical guidance, a bright future beckons. 

	Bela Siki with a fan

A Legend in Our Midst

By this evening, most of the judges had packed up and left (probably onward to the next international piano competition). One who remained was Bela Siki, the most senior of judges on the panel. A former-student of Dohnanyi and Kodaly, he has been a regular judge at “The Leeds” since the 1966 competition. He currently resides in Seattle, Washington where he also teaches. Unfortunately, he no longer performs publicly.

More topically, Siki gave the Singapore premiere of Bartok’s Third Piano Concerto with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1981, and also performed in 1988 Dohnanyi’s Variations on a Nursery Tune and Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain in the same concert! He remembers conductor Choo Hoey with great fondness, describing him as a “great musician”.

He also recounted his first visit to Singapore in 1954. He stayed at the Raffles Hotel and gave a recital at Victoria Memorial Hall, which included Liszt’s Sonata in B minor. He remembered stagehands installing electric fans next to the piano. The reason: to keep out flying insects from disturbing the performance!

by Chang Tou Liang

 

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