by Mike Telin
Since winning first prize at the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition and 3rd Prize at XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition, as well as the special award for the best concerto performance, Spanish pianist Martín García García’s world has — in his words — changed drastically.
On Tuesday, March 7, at 7:30 pm in Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall, Tuesday Musical will welcome García García back to Northeast Ohio. His program includes Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13 and Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in f. Tickets are available online.
I caught up with the pianist by phone and began our conversation by asking him why he chose two large works rather than presenting a selection of smaller showpieces?
Martín García García: These are two great abstract works from the past which have not more musical value but more transcendent value.
Almost all the great composers have works like these. They don’t take any of the imagination away from their shorter pieces. But composers always put so much effort into the bigger works — the symphonies, sonatas, and operas — and I tend to lean toward these kinds of pieces.
On Saturday evening, August 7 at Severance Hall, the jury of the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition awarded the Mixon First Prize to 24-year-old Martín García García of Spain.
The audiences for the Concerto Round of the Cleveland International Piano Competition on August 6 and 7 — both in-person and online — were eager to hear the four finalists play, but they were also about to enjoy the extra treat of hearing The Cleveland Orchestra live, back on its home turf, and at full strength for the first time since March of 2020.
Why put international piano competition finalists through a chamber music test between their solo and concerto rounds? Because there’s no better indicator of musicianship than one’s ability to function in a team. And since pianists tend to spend long hours all by themselves in practice rooms, collaborating in chamber music with other musicians is a healthy, socializing activity that can produce wonderful results. (Photo: Yaron Kohlberg welcomes the audience on August 3.)
Following the conclusion of the Semifinal rounds on Sunday afternoon, August 1, Piano Cleveland announced that Byeol Kim (South Korea), Yedam Kim (South Korea), Lovre Marušić (Croatia), and Martín García García (Spain) would advance to the Finals of the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition.
Following the fourth session of the Semifinal Round at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Sunday afternoon, the jury named the four finalists in the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition. They will play chamber music with the Escher String Quartet on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Art Museum and concertos with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra on Friday and Saturday at Severance Hall according to the following schedule:
Two splendid solo performances distinguished the third session of the Semifinal Round of the Cleveland International Piano Competition on Saturday afternoon in Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art, but the truly amazing feature of the afternoon was its finale.
Following the Sixth Session of the Second Round on Sunday afternoon, July 25, PianoCleveland announced the names of the eight pianists who will advance to the Semifinals of the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition. Having reached this point through videos recorded at locations around the globe, they will now be performing live in Cleveland.
Roman Lopatynskyi (27, Ukraine) opened session four of the second round with three etudes by Chopin. The slow and gentle Etude in c-sharp, Op. 25, No.7, is full of shifts in character and mood. Some transitions were smoother than others, but his musical interpretation was thoughtful and made an emotional ending. He performed the following Etude in D-flat, Op. 25, No. 8 with a graceful lightness before segueing smoothly into Etude in G-flat, Op. 25, No. 9, which featured fluttering right-hand melodies appropriate for this etude’s nickname of “Butterfly.”