Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The News from Poland: A Stacked Deck?

Inquiring minds will wonder no doubt.

Here's the finalists for the International Chopin Competition here.

Interesting bit in English from Radio Poland:

"..the absence of Ingold Wunder from Austria in the finals is comparable to the jury decision to eliminate Ivo Pogorelich in 1980. But then every competition has its 'famous losers'.
There's no doubt that all lovers of Chopin's music will keep their fingers
crossed for Rałaf Blechacz. For the first time in many years, a Polish
pianist stands a great chance of winning one of the top accolades at the
Warsaw Competition."

No and No. We're a very long way from anyone near a Pogorelich having been passed over. And, yea, if Polish pianist Blechacz wins I'll only be mildly surprised. Surprised that a Japanese pianist didn't win. Not that I'm casting any votes. Fast than you can say Dang Thai Son the winner will likely fade and be forgotten this round. Hopefully, I'm wrong on that score. On the flip side, I'm keep my ears open of Mr. Wunder.

Ugh.

3 comments:

Hucbald said...

I personally don't "buy in" to the whole competetion thing, as music is an art, and not a sport. That being said, if you do participate in those events, you have to be prepared to deal with the mercurial nature of the judges and expect some prejudice from time to time.

I think if I was competing internationally now, I'd just say "Hi, my name is George, I'm a libertarian, and I voted for Bush!" before every performance. That way, any placement short of last would be a surprise, given the invariably "liberal" (cough, hack, wheeze) nature of those sorts of folks.

Point is, there is no such thing as objective judging. In fact, judges at those types of events tend to be prejudiced in the extreme (It would be impolite to ask how I know that).

pianoplayer0123 said...

I think that elimination also depends on stage anxiety. SOme great performers can play accidentally not so successfully due to performance anxiety, and some not so great pianists can play the most successful performance in their life. Also, the hall is so big that it's difficult to control themselves for performers.

The Well Tempered Blog said...

Sadly competition seems to be an inescapable rite.

Lyudmila, I enjoy reading your blog and appreciate your sharing with us your experience in Warsaw.