The jury speaks, finally
First, the results. The jury did not take too long to deliberate. Even before the appointed time of 11 pm on the final concerto evening (17 September), Chairman of the jury Vladimir Ashkenazy strained to be heard above an excited throng at the foyer of Hong Kong City Hall. He stated unequivocally that there was “utmost integrity” in the process of judging, bearing in mind that two finalists were students of two jurors. He also elucidated the very simple scoring system applied by the nine jurors: 6 points for a 1st placing, down a sliding scale to 1 point for a 6th placing. Then he reiterated and reconfirmed the integrity (no corruption, that is) of his panel.
Rather anticlimactically, Ashkenazy announced the placings from first to sixth, so timidly that virtually everybody (including the winner) missed out the name of the first prizewinner on his first attempt! The final placings were as follows:
47 points (out of a possible total of 54): Ilya Rashkovskiy (1st)
39 points: Wen Yu Shen (2nd)
30 points: Kim Sung Hoon (3rd)
26 points: Mei Yi Foo and Andrei Ponochevny
20 points: Colleen Lee
I shall not speculate too much on the voting process, but given the disparity of points between with the first three placings, it probably was not a close decision. Also the relatively small gap between the joint fourth and sixth placings suggests there could have been bloc-voting to favour the homegrown talent.
The final rankings were not too dissimilar from my own, although I would have placed Ponochevny ahead of Kim, but the former could have suffered by performing his concertos too early (two days earlier) while the latter was still fresh in the memory. And a special unclassifiable talent like Foo could have placed anywhere; a jury of Argerich, Pogorelich, Gould and Gulda could have very well given her top prize or simply walked out!
Gala Concert
Attempting to walk up Tai Mo Shan (Hong Kong’s highest point) on the morning of the Gala Concert in the wake of Typhoon Signal One being raised wasn’t one of my wisest decisions. The bronchial cough, that I am still trying to shake off today, had to be suppressed for most part of the prize-presentation ceremony and solo performances. After the awards and rigmarole of speeches, with the most profuse of thanks to the sponsors (where would we be without them?), jury and participants in that order, the recital began with the 3rd prizewinner Kim Sung Hoon (above, pictured after the competition with Vladimir Ashkenazy)
His choice to open with Beethoven’s final Sonata in C minor Op.111 gave the proceedings a sense of gravitas. It was well-judged and accurately delivered, reminding once and for all that one should not judge a book by its cover; beneath his less than totally attractive physical exterior was a sensitive and musical soul. But good as it was, his performance did not efface the sense of awe and wonderment created almost a week ago in the same piece by the lower placed Andrey Ponochevny.
Next up was 2nd prizewinner Wen Yu Shen. (here pictured with Leon Fleisher after the competition) He had a change of programme, substituting Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka with Liszt’s Reminiscences de Don Juan. An innocent enough switch it may have seemed at first, but it was to be an audacious act of gamesmanship* one will be unlikely to witness for some time to come. Needless to say, his performance was a near perfect portrayal of the diabolical, summoning all the forces from the Dark Side with that last bit of oomph. If you remembered viewing Lang Lang’s outrageous account of the same on his Carnegie Hall Recital DVD, this was much, much better!
After receiving all the applause and bravos, he left the keyboard only to make a U-turn and perform an unscheduled encore, Morton Gould’s Boogie Woogie Étude. There was no subtlely nor charm à la Cherkassky in his aggressive, no-prisoners-taken look at this playful tongue-in-cheek piece, only percussive ranting and raving. A vulgar moment, which also had the audience in a rapture.
All this calculated to make 1st prizewinner Ilya Rashkovskiy’s immaculate yet passion-laden reading of Rach-maninov’s Second Sonata (in its 1931 revision) seem tame and low key by comparison. With no encore of his own to offer, the gracious Rashkovskiy took his bow and retired to what seemed like an anticlimax of sorts. The best pianist had won, but the best entertainer had won the crowd. (above: Rashkovskiy receives his just applause from the adoring crowd)
Epilogue
My ten days in Hong Kong seemed more like a month and had given me a good overview of a remarkable piano competition in its birth throes. A second competition has been promised for October 2008, and judging by the success of this edition, the next should be no less exciting. That would be enough good reason to return.
* At the 1992 Sydney International Piano Competition, 2nd prizewinner and audience favourite Oliver Cazal – upset that he was not placed first – altered his programme and performed Chopin’s Funeral March at the Gala Recital. At the 2003 Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, 3rd placed Dong Hyek Lim staged a protest by refusing to accept his medal and certificate. Thus no 3rd placing has been recorded in the annals for that edition of the competition. Guess who pipped him to 2nd place? Wen Yu Shen!
More pictures
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A casual moment for Domenico Codispoti, Cristina Ortiz, Mei Yi Foo and Andrey Ponochevny after the Gala Concert |
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Dr Andrew and Anabella Freris of the HK Chopin Society |
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Mei Yi Foo is a regular Argerich-next-door |
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Chang Tou Liang is the Artistic Director of the Singapore International Piano Festival and chairs the advisory committee of the National Piano and Violin Competition.
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