May 2007

There's a strange new feeling that accompanies listening to a music competition when one is already aware of the results. The change in atmosphere feels about as sudden as someone flipping a switch, but the contrast isn't so much a difference between black and white, or dark and light, as it is merely changing hues on a nice-looking picture.

(I should mention before I begin that everything I've wanted to say about my day two commentary has been said in my two or three very clunky-sounding comments on Buri's and my blog entries, so I won't repeat myself yet another time here. Unfortunately, I completely forgot that while I have an edit button for my blog entries, as well as for comments on the discussion boards, such luxuries are not afforded my comments on blog entries. That, combined with the fact that my proofreading wasn't exactly top-notch last night, means that I'll just have to live with the awkward prose for the rest of eternity.)

Yesterday was quite an eventful day. Besides Sendai, it was also the first day of the finals of the Queen Elisabeth competition; I managed to fit in some practicing and listen to the first day of the QE before leaving for a doctor's appointment. I had also planned to listen to and write on the third day of the Sendai semifinals that evening, but after the six or seven blood tests that followed the doctor's appointment, I wasn't feeling particularly up to it. So, I had a listen to them this morning instead.

The last day of the semifinals featured three candidates playing Prokofiev, and another playing Bartók. I'm pretty sure that competition organizers did not produce the day three programme simply by photocopying the day two programme, but they could have; other than the names of the soloists, the two programmes were item-for-item identical.

The first Prokofiev came by way of Japan's Sayaka Chiba. Chiba gave me the impression that she was playing for enjoyment: that of the audience, of course, but more importantly, her own enjoyment. As far as I was concerned, the hall could have been completely empty, and the performance would not have suffered one bit for it. To be sure, the third movement sounded more on the methodical side than the tense melodies of the first two movements, but I came away from the performance feeling full of soul and spirit.

My first reaction to hearing American competitor Erin Keefe play was to notice the broad colour palette at her disposal. The thing that troubled me throughout, however, was that her Bartók was otherwise unmemorable. If you asked me to recall it hours later, I could tell of the many wonderful scenes she painted with the vast array of tone qualities under her control, but I would be unable to recall how those pictures moved, or in what direction the music was headed.

Korean competitor Suh Minjeong's Prokofiev was the only performance of the semifinals that I took an almost immediate dislike to. The opening tone was consistently thin and frequently scratched, and early intonation problems didn't help in the slightest. My biggest concern, however, was how she dealt with transitory passages throughout the piece. They sounded like, well, transitory passages. They had all the excitement of border signs: "Now leaving Canada. Now entering the United States. Please have your passport ready and open to the picture page." One transition caught my attention in particular – Suh made a very big deal out of the ritard over the return to the first theme. It was an interesting effect, but it came at a somewhat significant price: the orchestra did not follow her very cleanly, and the stagger was quite noticeable.

The transitions got less blocky as the performance went on, however. She also sounded much less nervous by the middle of the first movement; the third even sounded confident, boisterous at times. The tone, however, did not ever improve to my liking, and was anorexic through the rest of the performance.

Yao Shanshan of China performed the seventh and last Prokofiev of the semifinals. She's the only one out of the twelve that I've heard live, and one of the two that I'd heard at all previous to these semifinals. (I heard Wang Zhijiong's semifinal performance at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis last September.) My memory of her playing was one of impeccable technique.

She did not disappoint in this regard. The sound she produced, however, was disappointing: not consistently scratched like Suh's, but still weak. It is quite clear that she has the fingers to accomplish anything she wishes on the instrument on a technical level, but these semifinals have not been for lack of technical ability. Making it to the semifinals of an international music competition is no small task.

The finals of the Sendai begin June 1st and feature concerti by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, and Saint-Saëns.

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Moments Like These

May 27, 2007 23:52

The second day of the semifinals of the violin section of the Sendai International Music Competition featured concerti by Prokofiev, Bartók, Prokofiev, and did I mention Prokofiev?

The first Prokofiev No. 2 came courtesy of Russia's Andrey Baranov, who, incidentally, is the lone male remaining in the competition. His vibrato was quite noticeable, especially in the first movement – significant, but not to the point of being overdone. Another feature in his playing was lightness and grace he put into the waltz-like second movement, though at times it was light to the point of being weak, and then he failed to cut across the members of the Sendai Philharmonic supporting him.

(N.B. The video feed cut out between the first and second movements of Baronov's performance, which meant it was that much harder to convince myself that the performance wasn't taking place in a stairwell. The reverb on the audio has been so irritating throughout that at times, I've wanted to comment that the candidates were overusing the pedal.)

Alena Baeva of Russia was next up with Bartók. Throughout the first movement I was wishing the performance would keep my attention a bit more. As it was, I found it rather bland. (The more-than-infrequent intonation problems weren't helping, either.) That all changed in the second movement: Baeva picked up both emotion and intensity, which carried through to most of the third movement. I was particularly disappointed in the finish, though. It could have used a lot more power and zest.

Following that: Aya Kiyonaga from Japan, playing Prokofiev, and quite convincingly at that. Ever have one of those happy, carefree, joyful moments where it seems the world has stopped but for a second? That was me during the first theme of the second movement. Menahem Pressler, a regular on the juries of several major international piano competitions, once said audiences go to concerts for the experience, for moments such as these, and Kiyonaga has shown that she's more than capable of creating them. A brooding first and frenetic third sandwiched the lyrical second movement, making for a well-structured and spectacular performance.

Aska Kawamata, also from Japan, finished off the evening with another solid performance of Prokofiev. It carried energy, enthusiasm, and (what's another word that begins with e?) excitement through from the first note to the finale. I felt it could have edged toward the personal side and used a little more emotion, but did she ever have drive.

At about this time tomorrow, we should know the results of the semifinal round. In the meantime, the Prokofiev is starting to grow on me.

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