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Report: Cleveland International Piano Competition Conversation — Classical Improvisation and the Cadenza (August 2)

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by Guytano Parks

GriffithThe second Festival Event of The Cleveland International Piano Competition held in the Recital Hall at The Cleveland Museum of Art, “Classical Improvisation and the Cadenza,” featured one of Cleveland’s finest improvisational pianists, Marshall Griffith. Appointed to the preparatory faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1975 and the conservatory faculty in 1982, Mr. Griffith spoke about and demonstrated the art of improvisation in an extremely engaging manner.

This morning’s enlightening conversation began with the simple question, “what is appropriate?” There are many considerations to ponder if one were to improvise a cadenza or add extra notes to the score during a concerto performance in modern-day presentations of concert music. Undoubtedly, a daunting and perhaps terrifying prospect for most, but in Mozart’s time, it was customary and second nature for the performer to not only improvise a cadenza at that special moment in a concerto, but to also add notes throughout the piece, as the solo part was rarely ever completely written down. Soloists of that period had all sorts of tricks and devices up their sleeves — scales, arpeggios, trills, themes, motives, etc. — and the technique and wisdom to know how and when to utilize them. [Read more…]

On today at the Cleveland International Piano Competition — August 4

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CIPC-ButterflyHere are the second round performers and repertory for Sunday, August 4. Listen live on WCLV, 104.9 FM or on WCLV.com or access a live video feed here.

10:30 am – Oleksandr Poliykov, 25, Ukraine. Brahms: Sonata No. 3 in f, Op. 5.

11:05 am – Beatrice Berrut, 28, Switzerland. Haydn: Sonata in F, Hob. XVI:23; Chopin: Sonata inb-flat, Op. 35.

11:55 am – Oskar Jezior, 28, Poland. Mozart: Sonata No. 12 in F, K. 332: Rzewski: Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues (1979).

12:30 pm – Ben Schoeman, 30, South Africa. Schumann: Kreisleriana, Op. 16: Chopin: Etude in b, Op. 25, No. 10 “Octaves”.

2:30 pm – Gerard Aimontche, 21, Russia. Beethoven: Sonata No. 31 in A-flat, Op. 110; Chopin: Etude in b, Op. 25, No. 10 “Octaves”; Kapustin: 24 Preludes in Jazz Style, Op. 53 (1988): No. 23 in F; No. 4 in e; No. 17 in A-flat.

3:05 pm – Ben Kim, 30, United States. J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp, WTC I: No. 13, BWV 858; Schumann: Sonata No. 1 in f-sharp, Op. 11.

3:55 pm – Julia Kociuban, 21, Poland. Haydn: Sonata in E-flat, Hob. XVI:52; Chopin: Fantasy in f, Op. 49.

4:30 pm – Andrejs Osokins, 28, Latvia. J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in e-flat, WTC I: No. 8, BWV 853; Ligeti: Etude No. 10 “Der Zauberlehrling”; Chopin: Etude in a, Op. 10, No. 2; Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in c, Op. 111

5:05 pm – Meng-Sheng Shen, 22, Taiwan. Corigliano: Winging It (2008); Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in b, Op. 58.

Review: Cleveland International Piano Competition — Round One, Session Six (August 2)

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by Daniel Hathaway

CIPC-ButterflyFive pianists appeared on the Gartner Auditorium stage on Friday evening to complete the initial parade of twenty-eight competitors and bring the first round of the Cleveland International Piano Competition to a very interesting conclusion.

26-year-old Wenbin Jin from China brought the two sides of Robert Schumann’s personality — the passionate represented by Florestan, the poetic by Eusebius — to life with an evocative performance of the Fantasiestücke, op. 12. His admirable playing (both poetic and passionate) was mitigated by his tendency to play repeated material in exactly the same way — lingering on the first notes of phrases, pausing before the last, applying rubato in identical spots — so that his expressiveness sounded formulaic rather than spontaneous. His grand conception of Ende vom Lied was appropriately valedictory. [Read more…]

On today at the Cleveland International Piano Competition — August 3

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CIPC-ButterflyHere are the second round performers and repertory for Saturday, August 3. Listen live on WCLV, 104.9 FM or on WCLV.com or access a live video feed here.

10:30 am – Ruoyu Huang, 24, China. Haydn: Sonata in E, Hob. XVI:31; Britten: Night Piece (1963); Chopin: Preludes, Op. 28, Nos. 13-24.

11:05 am – Pavel Yeletskiy, 30, Belarus. Scarlatti: Sonata in f, K. 387; Sonata in f, K. 519; Brahms: Sechs Klavierstücke, Op.118; Chopin: Etude in C Minor, Op.10, No.12 “Revolutionary”.

11:55 am – Jin Uk Kim, 29, South Korea. Rameau: “L’Enharmonique,” “L’Egyptienne” from Nouvelles Suites de Pieces de Clavecin; Chopin: Etude in g-sharp, Op. 25, No. 6; Beethoven: Sonata No. 4 in E-flat, Op. 7.

12:30 pm – Konstantin Shamray, 28, Russia. Ligeti: Etude No. 4 “Fanfares”; Chopin: Etude in A-flat, Op. 10, No. 10; Schumann: Sonata No. 1 inf-sharp, Op. 11.

2:30 pm – Nino Kotrikadze, 27, Georgia. J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in b, WTC I: No. 24, BWV 869; Schumann: Kreisleriana, Op. 16.

3:05 pm – Qi Xu, 18, China. Brahms: Sonata No. 3 in f Minor, Op. 5.

3:55 pm – Gehui Xu, 22, China. Chopin: Etude No.1 in C, Op. 10, No. 1; Schumann: Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13; Babajanian: Poem (1966).

4:30 pm – Jiayan Sun, 23, China. J.S. Bach: Contrapunctus I and IX from The Art of Fugue: Chopin: Etude in e, Op. 25, No. 5; Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in c, Op. 111.

5:05 pm – Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev, 20, Russia. J.S. Bach: Partita in G, BWV 829; Kapustin: Eight Concert Etudes, Op. 40 (1984): No. 1 in C “Prelude”; No. 2 in A-flat “Reverie”; No. 6 in B-flat “Pastorale”; No. 7 in D-flat “Intermezzo”.

5:40 pm – Annika Treutler, 23, Germany. Lachenmann: Five Variations on a Theme of Franz Schubert (1956); Schumann: Fantasie in C, Op. 17.

Review: Cleveland International Piano Competition — Round One, Session Five (August 2)

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by Daniel Hathaway

CIPC-Butterfly

Friday afternoon’s opening set by 22-year-old Taiwanese pianist Meng-Sheng Shen was a bit puzzling. He gave undue emphasis to the bass line in J.S. Bach’s b-flat Prelude and punched out the subject in the fugue. Ebbs and flows in tempo and inconsistent articulation gave an unsettled quality to Chopin’s A-flat Etude (op. 10/10). In Beethoven’s opus 110 sonata, over-pedaling, exaggerated bass lines and an emphasis on secondary details visited the first two movements. In the finale, Shen held the sustaining pedal through chord changes and seemed not to know what to do with the spate of right hand repeated notes. Though the fugue was nicely voiced, an enormous bass line nearly overpowered everything else at the end.

29-year-old Russian pianist Stanislav Khristenko opened with a weighty account of Bach’s c minor prelude (WTC I). [Read more…]

Review: Cleveland International Piano Competition — Round One, Session Four (August 1)

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by Daniel Hathaway

CIPC-Butterfly

On Thursday evening, 21-year-old Gerard Aimontche from Russia led off the session with music by J.S. Bach and Chopin. His intimate reading of the Prelude in a (WTC II) with its subtle crescendos and diminuendos starkly contrasted with a vigorous and highly articulated fugue. His performances of Chopin’s e minor Etude (op. 25/5), b minor Scherzo (op. 54/4) and the A-flat Polonaise (op. 53) revealed his prodigious technique as well as his high level of musical sensitivity. His even playing in the Scherzo linked its disparate elements together and he capped it off with a brilliant coda. His Polonaise was proud and spirited. His left hand octaves in the midsection were formidable. Aimontche is a player to keep track of as his interpretive powers mature.

US pianist Ben Kim, 30, began his set boldly with Frederick Rzewski’s evocative Dream (2013), playing its insistent trills, forearm clusters and catalogue of nocturnal events with a keen ear for suspense and surprise. [Read more…]

Report: Cleveland International Piano Competition Conversation — a HIP approach to piano Music (August 1)

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by Guytano Parks

Breitman&WigginsThe first of the “Festival Events,” new to the 2013 Cleveland International Piano Competition — Competition Conversations: A HIP (Historically Informed Performance) Approach to Piano Music — took place on Thursday morning, August 1 in the Recital Hall at The Cleveland Museum of Art. Webb Wiggins, Associate Professor of Harpsichord at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music prepared the notes discussing Baroque Elements in Performance as compared to Romantic style interpretations — with the added byline “all notes are not created equal.”

David Breitman, Director of Historical Performance at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music joined Mr. Wiggins in this enlightening conversation as they compared approaches to music and performance practices on instruments of the Baroque and Romantic periods using instruments from the Museum’s collection. What may have at first seemed to be a rather intellectual subject aimed at serious performers, turned out to be just the opposite as both speakers clearly and congenially presented their views. [Read more…]

On today at the Cleveland International Piano Competition — August 2

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CIPC-ButterflyHere are the first round performers and repertory for Friday, August 2. Listen live on WCLV, 104.9 FM or on WCLV.com or access a live video feed here. Follow the links below for more information about the contestants

1:00 pm – Meng-Sheng Shen, 22, Taiwan. J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in b-flat, BWV 891; Chopin: Etude in A-flat, Op. 10, No. 10; Beethoven: Sonata No. 31 in A-flat, Op. 110.

1:30 pm – Stanislav Khristenko, 29, Russia. J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in c, WTC I: No. 2, BWV 847; Brahms: Sonata No. 1 in C, Op. 1.

2:00 pm. – Henry Kramer, 26, United States. J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in g-sharp, WTC I: No. 18, BWV 863; Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35.

2:45 pm – Maria Mazo, 30, Russia. Beethoven: Sonata No. 8 in c, Op.13 “Pathetique”; Bolcom: “Butterflies,” “Hummingbirds” (12 New Etudes, Book II); J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in F, WTC II: No. 11, BWV 880; Chopin: Etude in c, Op. 10, No. 12 “Revolutionary”.

3:15 pm – Quang Hong Luu, 22, Vietnam. Scarlatti: Sonata in d, K. 9; Sonata in d, K. 1; Vine: Five Bagatelles [1994]; Chopin: Etude in G-flat, Op. 10, No. 5 “Black Keys”.

7:00 pm – Wenbin Jin, 26, China. Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 12.

7:30 pm – Cahill Smith, 27, United States. J.S. Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in a, BWV 904; Mozart: Sonata in D, K. 311.

8:15 pm – Kwan Yi, 28, United States. Dutilleux: Prelude No. 3: Le jeu des contraires [1988]; Brahms: Seven Fantasies, Op. 116.

8:45 pm – Francois Dumont, 28, France. J.S. Bach: English Suite No. 3 in g, BWV 808; Mozart: Sonata No. 8 in a, K. 310)

9:15 pm – Miao Huang, 29, Germany. Mozart: Sonata No. 9 in D, K. 311; Corigliano: Fantasia on an Ostinato [1985]; Chopin: Etude in g-sharp, Op. 25, No. 6.

Review: Cleveland International Piano Competition — Round One, Session Three (August 1)

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by Daniel Hathaway

CIPC-Butterfly

Annika Treutler (23, Germany) opened the third session of the first round on Thursday afternoon with a well-conceived performance of J.S. Bach’s f minor prelude and fugue (WTC I), marking arrivals at important harmonic moments, pointing up each entrance of the fugue subject and giving the fugue an expressive profile through subtle crescendos and decrescendos. The balance between hands in Chopin’s F Major Etude (op. 10/8) was admirable, her right hand filigree strong-fingered and lucid. Treutler ended her set with Beethoven’s op. 109 sonata, creating a light, airy texture at the outset and shining little lights on details. Aside from a few boomy moments, her playing was well-balanced and quasi-playful in the right spots.

Ukrainian pianist Oleksandr Polivkov, 25, is a big guy but can play with a soft touch, as he demonstrated from the outset in his elegant voicing of J.S. Bach’s c# minor prelude and fugue and later in graceful passagework in Haydn’s A-flat sonata (Hob. XVI:46). [Read more…]

Preview: Barber’s cello concerto at Blossom — a chat with Cleveland Orchestra soloist Mark Kosower

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by Mike Telin

KosowerFor reasons unknown, Samuel Barber’s Cello Concerto in A minor has never garnered the attention that is enjoyed by the composer’s violin concerto. But on Sunday, August 4 beginning at 7:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, Cleveland Orchestra principal cellist Mark Kosower hopes to do his part in changing that when he performs the Cleveland Orchestra premiere of the work. The concert, under the direction of Bramwell Tovey, also includes Walton’s The Spitfire: Prelude and Fugue and Holst’s ever popular The Planets.

We spoke with Mark Kosower by telephone and began by asking him why he decided to perform Barber’s concerto.

Mark Kosower: I’ve always had an affinity for the piece ever since I learned it back in 1996. It was a piece I came across in 1995 and I immediately fell in love with it. The combination of the beautiful lyricism of the writing combined with motoric and rhythmic drive make the piece really exciting from beginning to end. [Read more…]

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