By Daniel Hathaway

Cleveland, OH — August 1, 2011

Contestants 23 through 26 stepped up to the Hamburg Steinway on Monday evening to conclude the second round, after which eight pianists would be tapped to advance to the Semifinals.

Ms. Soo-Yeon Ham (25, Korea) chose Chopin’s Twelve Etudes of op. 25 for her second time at bat. She was consistently impressive in her technique, touch and articulation, but underwhelming in her range of dynamics and sense of drama. The tenth piece, the “Octave” Etude began softly with much rubato and pedal and achived the highest dynamic level so far. Her “Winter Wind” (No. 11) was surprisingly gentle. Overall, her playing was cheerful, pretty, polite and polished.

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by Daniel Hathaway

Cleveland, OH — July 29, 2011

By the end of Friday evening’s session, all twenty-six competitors had been heard for the first time. Here’s our impression of the final four.

Ms. Soo-Yeon Ham (25, Korea) competed in Cleveland in 2009, when she won the Chopin Prize. Tonight, she began with two Scarlatti Sonatas, both in A major, went on to Haydn’s C Major Sonata No. 60 and finished off with Shostakovich’s Prelude & Fugue in d, no. 24. The first Scarlatti was a slow aria, the second a bouncy, fun piece based on a theme that played with octaves. Both these and the Haydn Sonata seemed to suit her proclivity for light, elegant textures. The Haydn was full of persistent motives and surprising harmonic turns, all of which she pointed up nicely, though she allowed herself some liberties with rhythm. The Shostakovich seemed an odd choice for the first round. It’s a bleak piece that wears many shades of grey, but eventually ends triumphantly. Ms. Ham found appropriate metallic sonorities for the beginning of the prelude and dialed up her digital intensity as the fugue gained momentum. But she really seemed most at home in the first three pieces. [Read more…]