SIPCA Stage III continued...

Two Russians to start the morning, both 23 years old, very different indeed.

Konstantin Shamray, I must confess, was listened to through a sleepy haze. I enjoyed his Shostakovich. Wonderful control, great aural presence. Big sound. The Smalley was also excellent. Mozart, unfortunately, I don't remember much about. Not Mr. Shamray's fault but mine - no coffee yet! Definitely a very fine Schumann player, full of heart and wonder. Gorgeous recital which I enjoyed very much despite my lack of consciouness...

Tatiana Kolesova. Well, I finally have a favourite. She certainly woke me up with her Wanderer-Fantaisie. Such a colourful performance! On the edge, yet still completely in control. Demented! (In the best possible way) I wanted to stand up and cheer. Haydn was totally idiomatic and flowed like the most beautiful clear stream. I adored it. The Smalley was, in my mind, the very best performance so far. Every moment was sparkling and compelling. Gerard Willems quibbled with her final choice, a Kapustin Concert Study (very jazzy), but I LOVED it. The Audience clearly loved it, too.


I don't have a lot to say, because I just thought she was wonderful.

Now we have Daniil Tsvetkov from Kazakhstan. Opening with Haydn, Sonata Hob XVI/20 in C minor. I like his sound very much. I think it's a little too meaty, though. Very fine playing, wonderful sense of line and phrasing, yet I feel it's a little too heavy-handed. I'm not sure why I feel this way, because to listen objectively it doesn't necessarily sound that way. It just strikes me as heavy-handed even though his textures are clean and beautiful. Perhaps it's the piano.

It's just not grabbing me, I'm afraid. Except for some wonderfully fleet fingerwork in the final movement.

Now the Andrew Ford is a different story entirely. It's the most gripping account of the work I've heard. Completely different to other interpretations - grander, somehow, and darker. I like it very much. Mr. Tsvetkov has won me over with this. Wonderful textures!

The Mozart/Liszt Reminiscences de Don Juan starts promisingly, with a great sense of drama, but seems rather overpedalled. A great intensity, however. I did not expect to say this about a Liszt transcription, but I find myself wanting delicacy in the fingerwork. It's very powerful and clean, yet somehow I want more sparkle!

Now, I'm wondering if he's ever listened to La ci darem la mano... There's no difference between Zerlina and Don G except the fact they're written in diffent octaves. This is not a pianistic exercise, and Liszt would not have wanted it so. Ahhh here we go, some beautiful delicacy in the fingerwork. A softer tone quality, finally. Glorious relief! I still wish he'd studied the opera a little more, though. Well here I am making rash pronouncements. I could be completely wrong...

Such wonderful bravura pianism, though! Really exciting and certainly not as bombastic as Lang Lang (thank goodness for that). But Finch'han del vino doesn't sound very bubbly. I get that it's really hard to play, but come on! Bubbles! It got a bit... bangy in the final pages. The audience loved it, though.


Interesting that I've written much about a pianist I like less than Ms. Kolesova, and comparatively little about her.

I look forward very much to Ran Dank, whose first-round performance of Scriabin's "Black Mass" Sonata has been much talked-about. I haven't heard him yet, and have a feeling I'm going to like him. Oh, yes. Immediately. Mozart KV570 - big Mozart. It's wonderful. He's playing the Yamaha, if my ears don't deceive me. Singing tone, total control, such wonderment! I have another favourite, and he's only been going for 30 seconds. Refinement and substance all in one.

It seems I have less to say about playing that I really like, for I've been silent for a good ten minutes now. Enthralling. The slow movement is very spiritual, the tone a neverending string of lustrous pearls.

*shrug* I'm quite speechless.

Now we have scintillating Smalley. Mr. Smalley stated this morning that he felt none of the competitors had quite managed what he was after. Perhaps this is it? Certainly a persuasive reading. Grittier, darker, more compelling. I love that Mr. Dank doesn't hide behind the sustain pedal. It adds colour without subtracting articulation. What a technique this man has, yet I'm so often unaware of it because the music is so present.

I just gasped when he opened the Rachmaninoff B flat minor sonata. I can't even breathe properly, this is so magical. Pointedly expressive. This is saying something, not just flurries of (admittedly beautiful) notes. Oh, magical. Everything has its place, its own special meaning. Technique ceases to exist. Such darkness!

I will close this post by saying that Ran Dank is an utterly superlative pianist and I have no doubt I will be listening to him again.