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Talents Show Up!
Wednesday, 05 October 2005
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The first two days of the 15th Competition are over. Among the 80 participants who qualified for the first stage, 27-year-old Fumio KAWAMURA from Japan was first to play. He is an experienced pianist who attempts to create the proper atmosphere of Chopin music as much as possible. The Scherzo in B Minor, with big contrasts between the dramatic and lyrical fragments, was a strong point in his recital. He also skillfully developed the multi-theme form of Fantasia in F Minor, but I would prefer a more sophisticated Waltz in A Flat Major op. 42.
This was a good beginning. We are wondering how other artists from Japan-18 more-will perform.
The first stage of the 15th Competition, is, to apply sport terminology, the "moment of truth." It includes everything a candidate should present. So-called competition tactics are no help here. The competitors have to play everything-the etudes of course, but also epic forms (ballads, Fantasia in F Minor, Barcarolle), a nocturne and a waltz, as well as other works of choice from quite a long list that includes, among others, preludes, rondos, impromptus, dance forms and variations. Each pianist has to play a 45-minute recital in which, apart from the interpretation itself, the final assessment may also take into account the choice of works and their sequence.
In the first stage, the most numerous group includes 20 young Poles. We have already listened to three of them-the youngest, Jacek KORTUS, Szczepan KOŃCZAL and Jędrzej LISIECKI. These were promising performances. Szczepan Kończal attracted listeners' attention with well balanced interpretations in terms of harmony and performance manner.
In the case of 17-year-old Jacek Kortus, we experienced what we always await at the competition-a flush of talent and youthful spontaneity. Moreover, this young virtuoso was able to produce a deep and varied sound from Steinway. A great talent!
Among other candidates who stood out, I would include the very young, less than 18-year-old Belarusian Kiril KEDUK, who is studying in Poland. He played Variations in B Major op. 12 and Scherzo in B Minor with artistry, delivering a full, rich sound.
Does 19-year-old Olga KOZLOVA from the Moscow Conservatory, whose personality radiates from nearly every measure of music she performs, stand a chance of winning the Chopin award? Her "open emotionality" style is very impressive, but it also raises significant controversy. Her performance may send some into fits of delight, while others consider it mannerist. These are the yet not fully comprehensible secrets of message, of the artist's influence on the listeners. Kozlova, in her bid to compete in the Chopin Competition, has set her sights on such a confrontation.
Among the seventeen candidates who have performed so far, there are mature pianists, like Wei-Chi LIN, Ka Ling Colleen LEE, Timo Herman LATONEN and Ben KIM, who follows the principle of virtuosity, Shinya KIYOZUKA and Yusuke KIKUCHI. The 18-year-old Rachel Naomi KUDO needs more work, but given her sensitivity, she may achieve a lot in the future.
The 45-minute recitals forming an artistic task for the participants in the first stage, provide a satisfactory "dose" for jurors and at the same time are attractive for the audience. Even more so as each of the recitals has delivered something special so far. Here, I have to mention Hiroko KAWAMURA, who has attracted attention with a sound technique that perfectly matches the brillante style in Variations in B major op. 12. Dmitri LEVKOVICH composed his program in excellent style-it included Etudes de la Methodes... and Tarantella.
Finally, Dong Hyek LIM-the pianist who came to Warsaw with a strong intention to compete with the best. He comes from South Korea and studied in the Moscow Conservatory under Lev Naumov. Etude in C major op. 10 no. 1 in his interpretation provides much food for thought. Of course, Chopin means also the etudes-but not only. Let us wait until the end of the first stage. For the time being, it has been very interesting.
Jan Popis
This article appears courtesy of The Warsaw Voice.
You will find more articles in connection with the 15th International F. Chopin Piano Competition in a competition Gazette at www.konkurs.chopin.pl and www.chopin.warsawvoice.pl
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