by Timothy Robson
Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt played a recital sponsored by the Cleveland International Piano Competition on Saturday evening, May 18 in Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace University. I do not remember another concert in which every aspect of the performance had the level of technical virtuosity and surpassing taste and musicianship of this program.
by Mike Telin
If you’ve ever wondered what the Cleveland International Piano Competition does during the gap years between its signature event, the answer is a lot. Last spring CIPC hosted its Young Artist Competition, and from January through May will present five free concerts at the Beachwood Community Center. And on Saturday, January 19 the Competition will kick off the 2019 Concert Series with an 8:00 pm recital by Jeremy Denk at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall.
Denk, an Oberlin alum and winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, will perform Beethoven’s Five Variations on “Rule Britannia” in D and An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98/S. 469 (transc. Liszt), Adams’ I Still Play, Bizet’s Variations chromatiques, Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses in d, Op. 54, and Schumann’s Fantasy in C, Op. 1. Tickets are available online.
“We’re very happy Jeremy is coming,” CIPC President & CEO Yaron Kohlberg said during a telephone conversation. “He’s one of the major pianists in the United States right now. He’ll be presenting a wonderful program and I look forward to a beautiful concert.”
This Saturday’s concert also marks one of Kohlberg’s first public events since he began his tenure with the Competition this past fall. Kohlberg, the second prize winner at the 2007 CIPC, is uniquely qualified for the job. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
As much fun as it is to listen to the parade of pianists who show off their prowess during the grueling rounds of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, what’s truly rewarding is to hear performances by former laureates who have followed up on their early promise by building impressive international careers. Angela Hewitt, who took third place in the 1979 contest (then the Casadesus Competition) returned to Cleveland on Saturday evening to play on CIPC’s excellent concert series in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
British/Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt is no stranger to Cleveland, having won third prize in the 1979 Casadesus Competition, now the Cleveland International Piano Competition. “I was just a kid,” she said with a laugh during a recent telephone conversation. “But I remember it very well. I remember some of the repertoire I played. I remember many of the competitors. And I remember that we all stayed in the Wade Park Manor — see, I even remember the name!”
Hewitt had already entered competitions as early as 1976, “so the Casadesus wasn’t one of the first by any means.” But she’s very happy to see how CIPC has grown over time. “People do like to follow competitions through the years. They give young musicians lots of opportunities, which is great.”
CIPC will present its former laureate, now one of the world’s leading pianists, in recital in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Saturday, November 15 at 8:00 pm. [Read more…]