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The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Keys to success: the 2025 Van Cliburn piano competition, the instrument's Olympics
A distinctive line drawing of a grand piano adorns a clock face in Sundance Square. At night, it beams like a Tracey Emin installation, presiding over Fort Worth's downtown district. At the intersection leading to Bass Performance Hall the crosswalk has been replaced with an oversized keyboard, and, inside the cavernous venue, sartorial style favours black and white stripes. A pop-up gift shop in the lobby boasts an array of musical-themed memorabilia; there's the line drawing on a bubble-gum pink T-shirt, an enormous travel mug, a steak-branding fork. The theme-park feel is confirmed by a white Steinway emblazoned with Mickey Mouse – a limited hand-painted Disney edition (price on request). Welcome to piano city, smiles the sign. Every four years, piano lovers from across the world gather in this Texas enclave for the Van Cliburn international piano competition – the instrument's Olympics. It's not just about the financial reward (the gold medallist receives $100,000 (£74,000); silver $50,000; bronze $25,000, plus there's other discretionary awards): participation potentially catapults an early-career pianist into the industry's orbit. In 2022, at the postponed 2021 instalment, a then unknown Yunchan Lim took gold. Earlier this year I witnessed crowds of fans waiting to present the now 21-year-old with stuffed animals after a spectacular concert in Lucerne, where he played alongside Martha Argerich. Lim's Van Cliburn performance of Rachmaninov's third piano concerto is now the most-watched version of that concerto online, with more than 17m views. If Bass Performance Hall's painted skylight and elaborate candelabras recall a European opera house, the dazzling white balconies are all-American. Conductor Marin Alsop pulls the reins on the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Cliburn's house band. It's finals week: six pianists (from the 28 chosen to compete in the competition) perform over four nights. Every performance is livestreamed – this year's simulcast had 20m views across 145 countries – and, for the first time, is available via Apple Music Classical, along with curated playlists. A new Cliburn Keys View offers the option to watch a hands-only perspective, where disembodied lower arms deploy impeccable technique. While instructive, to do so misses the interplay between soloist and ensemble. Most major international piano competitions require their finalists to perform one concerto. There's usually a standard list of repertoire – inevitably Tchaikovsky 1 – and the concert is make or break. The Cliburn finalists (an all-male group; only four women competed in Fort Worth, two of whom made it as far as the semi-finals) play two concertos, one from a designated selection, the other can be anything. Alsop deserves her own gold medal for her openness to the challenge, which this year included the quirky choice of Bartok 2. After one concerto I stepped into a lift alongside Alsop who looked thoughtful and exhausted. Most orchestral seasons feature Rachmaninov 3, Beethoven 4 and Prokofiev 2 over the course of a few months. Alsop had done them all in one evening. The Cliburn judges heard 55 hours of music over the course of the event, as 28 pianists became 12, and then six. British pianist Paul Lewis, head of the jury, described the process as 'overwhelmingly intense'. From 2015-18 Lewis was chair of the Leeds international piano competition, the UK counterpart that feels positively quaint in comparison. Keir Starmer publicly wished participants luck ahead of last year's Leeds competition; Trump is unlikely to congratulate this year's Cliburn laureates who include competitors from Russia, Hong Kong, the US, Israel and combinations thereof. He's missing a trick: the Cliburn has always had political clout. Founder and Texan native Harvey Lavan 'Van' Cliburn charmed audiences at the 1958 inaugural International Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow, winning gold at the height of the cold war and returning to that most hallowed of US celebrations, a ticker-tape parade. While some of his recordings are historic gems (his 1958 recording with the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra and Kiril Kondrashin was broadcast with choreographed fireworks at the city's afterparty), Cliburn's main legacy is the quadrennial contest that takes his name. Set up in 1962, its importance for cultural unification was immediately confirmed. There are no public guidelines on judging, what one judge wants from their Brahms 2, say, might vary wildly from another. Aristo Sham's Mendelssohn 1 frothed; Philipp Lynov's Liszt 2 bubbled. 'Why aren't you standing up?' one lady scolded the press line, as each participant received rapturous applause and we struggled to scribble. 'Y'all have a favourite?' one Texan asked me in the loos, where I photographed the doors decorated with a stave. I did, but mine was different to hers. Carter Johnson, the 28-year-old Canadian-American threw a curveball with the Ravel left-hand concerto, a work composed for Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in the first world war. It's a brooding piece demanding technical wizardry (British left-hand pianist Nicholas McCarthy plays it at this year's Proms opening weekend); Johnson danced and pedalled with elegance. Vitaly Starikov employed some quirky tempi in the Schumann; Evren Ozel's Tchaikovsky 1 was almost as muscular and thrilling as Cliburn's own historic performance. At this level, differentiation is down to matters of taste. Unusually – judging at this level can require UN levels of diplomatic negotiation to reach a consensus, depending on individual rules – the announcement came on time, with all finalists and jury members present. (There are sometimes resignations: in 1980 Argerich left the International Chopin piano competition in protest at the elimination of Ivo Pogorelić in the third round; and there are sometimes huffs: one young pianist refused to participate in the celebratory performance at the conclusion of last year's Hamamatsu international piano competition in Japan.) And, all prizes were awarded (the Tchaikovsky competition regularly withholds gold if a clear hierarchy of winners cannot be agreed, with joint silver given instead). Sham took the top spot, becoming the first pianist from Hong Kong to win in the Cliburn's history. The unassuming polymath – Sham is a former child star (featured on Channel 4's 2009 documentary The World's Greatest Musical Prodigies) who studied economics at Harvard and music at Juilliard – was a surprise choice to the press, but not to Cliburn viewers – he won the Audience award by more than 9,000 votes. Starikov won silver and Ozel placed third, also winning the Mozart Concerto award. I was disappointed not to see Lynov's talents recognised – he was too; it was some time before he appeared at the reception, but crucially, he attended. Talk was all about the verdicts; everyone had a different top three. After the huge success of Lim, the pressure to find the Next Big Pianist was palpable. But Lim is exceptional; competitions spit up dozens of superb musicians and only one in a generation will have his distinctive touch. The latest clutch of piano olympians gathered at a small table, looking as if they wished it was a piano stool. Journalists asked the necessary inane questions and received the necessary inane answers (Q: how does it feel? A: good). At one point Starikov, fatigued or bored, passed on the microphone to Ozel. All three wore shiny medals and consulted unseen bank accounts, blinking into bright futures. Listen to live performances from this year's Cliburn competition on Apple Music Classical: watch all the finals round concerto performances at
Irish Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Dublin International Piano Competition 2025: ‘As a jury member, I feel terrible for those poor kids playing in front of us'
The 26 musicians who made it through the first round of the 13th Dublin International Piano Competition are about to compete in the quarter-finals. By next week just three will remain, to contest the final at the National Concert Hall on Friday, May 16th. They'll be judged by a seven-strong jury chaired by the Irish pianist Finghin Collins . Four of the judges talk about their roles. Anne-Marie McDermott Winner, Young Concert Artists auditions, New York; artistic director/curator of festivals in Colorado, Florida, Oklahoma and San Diego Anne-Marie McDermott: 'To me, what makes a great winner is a great musician where their whole focus is about being a great musician, not having a great career.' Photograph: Sophie Zhai Who was the first competition winner to make an impression on you? Ivo Pogorelich was quite striking to me at the time. It was a long time ago, at the Chopin Competition where Martha Argerich walked off the jury when Pogorelich was eliminated. It was a very dramatic story at the time. But maybe even before that Van Cliburn at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. What was your first full encounter with a piano competition? When I was on the jury of the Cliburn competition in 2017. I had judged some smaller competitions but nothing of that magnitude. And then I was fortunate enough to be on the jury of the Dublin competition in 2022. READ MORE What are piano competitions for? Whether you win or not, it's a great way for people to become aware of you. I think it's a great motivator to really push yourself as a young player to get a lot of repertoire to the highest level. Every jury is different. Music is subjective, and there's never any guarantee. Do juries get it right? It really is all dependent on the jury that is put together – who the people are, and what aesthetic those jury members have. That's critical. Do the audiences always get it right? I feel in general that audiences can recognise great over good. What makes a great winner? To me, what makes a great winner is a great musician where their whole focus is about being a great musician, not having a great career. To do that you need to, foremost, have such a passion and a dedication to the art form. [ Irish drummer Kevin Brady: 'Most nights you're able to hear great live jazz. But we need something like classical has in the NCH' Opens in new window ] Noriko Ogawa Third prize, Leeds International Piano Competition 1987; professor of piano at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in London Noriko Ogawa: 'At the end of the day we have to choose a pianist that you would pay to hear again.' Photograph: Patrick Allen/Opera Omnia Who was the first competition winner to make an impression on you? Probably Maurizio Pollini , though at first I didn't know him as a winner. I only knew him as a pianist, with this kind of immaculate technical ability and precision in performances which were also full of insight. What was your first full encounter with a piano competition? I entered the Japanese national student competition's primary-school edition, and I won the first prize. I was pretty lighthearted about it. My teacher had very casually said, 'Why don't you enter it?' and I said yeah. But when the preparation started my teacher became such hard work. So although I won the first prize, the memory became really quite negative. What are piano competitions for? Piano competitions are for pianists who don't have useful connections yet. There are some fortunate people, like the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, who are recognised early by very big names, and then their career is pushed forward. Most of us don't have those connections, and competitions are very useful for reaching the public and all kinds of people in the music business. Do juries get it right? The pianists are young, and there are many years after the competition is over. They might survive for 40 years or not, but we can only adjudicate on what they show us. Some winners survive for a very, very long time. Sometimes lower-ranking pianists do better in the real world. Do the audiences always get it right? I cannot use the word 'always'. But at the end of the day we have to choose a pianist that you would pay to hear again. So an audience prize does say a lot, I think. What makes a great winner? Most of them are perfect technically. Nowadays the kind of ability Pollini had has become almost normal. But on the other hand there are some pianists who sound a bit digital to me; the dynamic range is a bit narrower; and although the musical expression seems correct, it doesn't sound like it's coming from the heart. If you could change one thing about piano competitions, what would it be? Maybe even more freedom for repertoire, that kind of thing. [ 'It's really a coup': Irish Baroque Orchestra to make BBC Proms debut with Handel 'Dublin' oratorio not performed since 18th century Opens in new window ] Michel Béroff Winner, Olivier Messiaen Piano Competition; professor emeritus at Paris Conservatory; also active as a conductor Michel Béroff: 'Today there are so many competitions, it's like a sports thing.' Photograph: Lyodoh Kaneko Who was the first competition winner to make an impression on you? When I was really young, Jean-Bernard Pommier, who was a student of my teacher Pierre Sancan, went to Moscow, to the Tchaikovsky competition. He didn't get the first prize, but Khrushchev liked very much his Mozart and Shchedrin and gave him a kiss. He was as famous as if he won the competition. What was your first full encounter with a piano competition? I wasn't much involved in competitions. I just did one, which I won, the Olivier Messiaen competition for contemporary music. I met Olivier in 1961, when I was 11, and played some of his music for him. In the competition I played a lot of Messiaen, Boulez, Stockhausen, Berio, plus some Bartók. I was 17 at that time. It was really nothing special. I was just playing some repertoire, and going to a competition didn't mean so much. I don't think I became more nervous playing for the jury. Now, as a jury member, I feel terrible for those poor kids who are playing in front of a jury. What are piano competitions for? It is a way of getting some attention. Maybe 20, 40, 50 years ago it was something which was quite big. Today there are so many competitions, it's like a sports thing – which has nothing to do with music, because music has nothing to do with competition. Do juries get it right? Since nothing is right, nothing is wrong. Everything is subjective. I remember once I was with Robert Levin on a jury. And after the result of the first stage, there is always a jury member who says, 'Oh, I have all the names, I have all the names.' So he said, 'If you have all the names we don't need you, because we want people with different opinions.' Do the audiences always get it right? In the short term audiences are wrong, but in the long term they're always right. What makes a great winner? A winner is just a great musician, making music not for his ego but just to be humble and to know he is playing the pieces of some geniuses. That's the responsibility. Even if everything is subjective, you have to have to try to transmit as much as you can while being transparent. If you could change one thing about piano competitions, what would it be? That's a really, really difficult question. Because you do have to have a winner. Katie McGuinness Chief artistic officer, Dallas Symphony Orchestra Katie McGuinness: 'I feel like every time there's been the Dublin International Piano Competition it's had some part in my life.' Photograph: Sylvia Elzafon Who was the first competition winner to make an impression on you? The pianist who stands out is Daniil Trifonov . I saw him with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where I was working at the time. I have no doubt that he is the greatest living pianist. I think he is today's Richter, Van Cliburn or Glenn Gould, without doubt. For me that was the moment where I was, like, 'Okay, competitions actually can find outstanding, exceptional artists.' What was your first full encounter with a piano competition? The Dublin competition. I was born in 1983. The competition started in 1988. My mother took me to concerts at the National Concert Hall all through my childhood. When I was 12 I became a student of John O'Conor 's. I feel like every time there's been the Dublin International Piano Competition it's had some part in my life. I've had friends who've competed in it. There are the people that open up their homes, their pianos, to competitors. They're their family. They feed them. They make sure they're sleeping. They give them a shoulder to cry on if they don't get through. It was a life lesson for me, honestly, because now I see it in what I do today. [ Irish composer John Buckley: 'I never try to write music that's difficult to play. It's just the way it emerges' Opens in new window ] What are piano competitions for? I have to steal a phrase from my teacher Emil Naumov. I'm paraphrasing. He said winning a competition can make you, show you off as a good pianist, but preparing for a competition is what makes you a great pianist. Competitions are for preparing works to as close to perfect as you can. It's the preparation that makes the great pianist. Do juries get it right? I would say no if it weren't for Daniil Trifonov. But maybe if he hadn't won that competition [the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011], would we know who he is today? Do the audiences get it right? The audience will pick somebody that they love, and you can tell by their reaction. But there's a caveat. They may not realise that they're influenced by the concerto they're hearing. And also they haven't heard the playing at every round. If you could change one thing about piano competitions, what would it be? I would love there to be a round where we actually get to meet them as a person, because that's so much part of the career as well. The semi-finals of Dublin International Piano Competition are at the Royal Irish Academy of Music from Friday, May 9th, to Wednesday, May 14th; the final is at the National Concert Hall on Friday, May 16th. Since this article was written, Hugh Tinney has replaced Anne-Marie McDermott on the jury; the full panel also includes Piers Lane and Dénes Várjon
