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Review: Cleveland International Piano Competition — Round Two, Session Four (August 4)

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by Daniel Hathaway

CIPC-ButterflyGerard Aimontche launched the Sunday afternoon session with Beethoven’s A-flat sonata, op. 110, then went on to play Chopin’s “Octaves” Etude (op. 25/10) and three of Kapustin’s 24 Preludes in Jazz Style from 1988. Though he seemed to be skimming the surface more than penetrating in the Beethoven (it sounded unsettled), he obviously connected with the audience, who broke into applause for the first time in the middle of a set. Aimontche held the pedal down for the Chopin and flew through its contrasting middle section, making an admirably long, slow crescendo back to the precipitous opening theme. He played three Kapustin preludes nos. 23, 4 and 17) back to back with a fine sense of jazz style.

Ben Kim began his set with a graceful reading of J.S. Bach’s F-sharp prelude and fugue (WTC I), subtly pointing up its details with interesting, mixed articulations. Long, well-shaped crescendos and diminuendos showed a good sense of the fugue’s points of tension and release. [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…]

Cleveland International Piano Competition — video interviews with four of the pianists: Qi Xu, Julia Kociuban, Konstantin Shamray and Ben Kim

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by Mike Telin

CIPC-ButterflyThe 2013 Cleveland International Piano Competition officially kicks off on Tuesday, July 30 with a 6pm opening ceremony in Gartner Auditorium of the Cleveland Museum of Art. After the performance of a Mozart concerto by 2011 winner Alexander Schimpf and CityMusic Cleveland, piano fans will meet and greet this year’s 28 contestants in person for the first time.

CIPC has kindly arranged for ClevelandClassical to follow some of the contestants during the competition, and four pianists have graciously agreed to be interviewed by Mike Telin from time to time. Our initial conversations were conducted the last week in June and the first week in July via Skype video, when we got to know more about the personalities of four of these interesting and engaging musicians, who range in age from 18 to 30. Each spoke about how they began playing and talked about their personal interests and activities. Many thanks to the competition and the four contestants for making these conversations possible. [Read more…]

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