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Cleveland International Piano Competition: Round 2, Session 6

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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.

[Read more…]

Cleveland International Piano Competition: Round 1, Session 6

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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…]

And the Winners are….

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The winners of the 2009 Cleveland International Piano Competition:

Fourth Prize – Evgeny Brakhman

Third Prize – William Youn

Second Prize – Dmitri Levkovich

First Prize – Martina Filjak

Other prizes will be announced at the ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

UPDATED 8/9/09

Junior Jury Prize –  Martina Filjak

Audience Prize – Dmitri Levkovich

Baroque Prize – Hoang Pham

Beethoven Prize – Martina Filjak

Cairns Family American Prize – Sean Chen

Chopin Prize – Soo Yeon Ham

Contemporary Prizes – Evgeny Brakhman and Martina Filjak

Mozart Prize – Evgeny Brakhman

Program for August 4-5: Semi-Final Round

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cipcTuesday, August 4

Session 1
1:00 pm – Dmitri Levkovich
Haydn: Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI: 48
Debussy: Pour le piano
Rachmaninoff:  Preludes, Op. 32, (Nos. 4, 13, 5); Sonata No. 2 in B flat Minor, Op. 36 (with elements from 1913 and 1931)
Intermission
2:15 pm – Evgeny Brakhman
Messiaen: Cloches d’angoisse et larmes d’adieu (Préludes, No. 6) lle de feu I (Quatre études de rythme, No. 1)
Debussy: Pour les arpèges composés (Douze études, Book II: 11) L’Isle joyeuse
Rachmaninoff: Études-tableaux, Op. 33, Nos. 8, 2, 3; Op. 39, Nos. 1, 2, 9; Sonata No. 2 in B flat Minor, Op. 36 (1931)

[Read more…]

32 up and 32 down: Round 2, Session 6

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The first and last of the final five competitors to be heard for the second time on Sunday evening thoughtfully chose very interesting repertory, a boon for ears that were about to get a bit weary.

Marina Radiushina (USA) began with a bravura performance of Leighton’s impassioned ‘Fantasia Contrappuntistica (Homage to Bach)’, went on to a beautiful and shamelessly pianistic reading of Handel’s Chaconne in G and ended with a finely paced version of Schumann’s austere Variations on a Theme of Clara Wieck. Elegant, graceful and demonstrating an excellent sense of style and technique, Radiushina made a fine impression.

[Read more…]

Announcement of Semi-Finalists

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Tonight, following the conclusion of Round 2, the CIPC jury will vote, selecting 8 contestants to advance to the semi-final round. The announcement is expected around 11:00 pm Eastern. Check back later for the decision and the semi-final round schedule.

UPDATED The Semi-Finalists in performance order:

Dmitri Levkovich
Evgeny Brakhman
Pallavi Mahidhara
Martina Filjak
Yunqing Zhou
Kuok-Wai Lio
William Youn
Soo-Yeon Ham

Program for August 2: Round 2, Sessions 5 & 6

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cipcSunday, August 2

1:00 pm – Sangyoung Kim (Korea): Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in F sharp Minor, WTC II: 14, Schumann’s Carnaval, Op. 9. 1:40 pm – Kristhyan Benitez (Venezuela): Schumann’s  Kreisleriana, Op. 16, Ruiz’s Merengue (1994). 2:20 pm – Martin Labazevitch (USA): Scarlatti’s Sonatas: K. 162 in E Major, K. 87 in B Minor, K. 125 in G Major, Chopin’s Nocturne in E flat Major, Op. 55, No. 2 Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52. 3:15 pm – Anna Bulkina (Russia): Gubaydulina’s Chaconne, Beethoven’s Sonata in E flat Major, Op. 81a (Les Adieux), Chopin’s Etude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 11 (“Winter Wind”). 3:55 pm – Edward Neeman (USA/Australia): Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in F sharp Minor, WTC II: 14, Brahms’s Sonata No. 1 in C Major, Op. 1.

7:00 pm – Marina Radiushina (USA): Leighton’s Fantasia Contrappuntistica (Homage to Bach), Op. 24, Handel’s Chaconne in G Major, HWV 435, Schumann’s Variations on a Theme of Clara Wieck from Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 14. 7:40 pm – Ju-Eun Lee (Korea): Scarlatti ‘s Sonatas: K. 119 in D Major, K. 96 in D Major, K. 394 in E Minor, Chopin’s Sonata No. 2 in B flat Minor, Op. 35. 8:20 pm – Alexander Osminin (Russia): Scarlatti’s Sonatas: K. 247 in C sharp Minor, K.118 in D, Karamanov’s Rondo in E Minor, Schumann’s Carnaval, Op. 9. 9:15 pm – William Youn (Korea): Scarlatti’s Sonatas: K. 87 in B Minor, K. 436 in D Major, Brahms’s  Sonata No. 2 in F sharp Minor, Op. 2. 9:55 pm – Soo-Yeon Ham (Korea): Chopin’s 12 Etudes, Op. 25.

Getting to Know (all 32) of You — Round 1 ends at the Cleveland International Piano Competition

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2009 CIPC Contestants. Photo: Sam Hubish

As of Thursday evening, all thirty-two contestants have had their first thirty minutes to introduce themselves musically to the two juries, the audience at the Bolton Theatre and, through WCLV broadcasts and CIPC webcasts, to thousands more listeners and viewers in Northeast Ohio and around the world. And we’re happy to note that as of midnight Thursday, more than 2000 people have read this blog’s CIPC coverage.

The last five to be heard in the first round were Marina Radiushina (USA), Ju-Eun Lee (Korea), Alexander Osminin (Russia), William Youn (Korea) and Soo-Yeon Ham (Korea), and their playlists last night gave us two chances to hear Chopin’s ‘Winter Wind’ Etude and Yun’s 5 Klavierstücke in the same session.

[Read more…]

Program for July 30: Round 1, Sessions 5 & 6

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cipcThursday, July 30

1:00 pm — Sangyoung Kim (Korea): Haydn’s Sonata in c, Hob. VXI:20, Chopin’s Etude in g sharp, op. 25, no. 6 & Dutilleux’s Choral & Variations (Sonata). 1:35 pm — Kristhyan Benitez (Venezuela): J.S. Bach’s Toccata in e, BWV 914, Chopin’s Etude in C, op. 10, no. 1 & Beethoven’s Sonata in E-flat, op. 81a (Les Adieux). 2:10 pm — Martin Labazevitch (USA): Haydn’s Sonata in C, Hob. XVI:50, Radzynski’s Mazurka (2008) & Chopin’s Etude in b, op. 25, no. 10. 3:00 pm — Anna Bulkina (Russia): Scarlatti’s Sonatas K. 11 in d and K. 239 in F & Brahms’s Paganini Variations, op. 35. 3:35 pm — Edward Neeman (USA/Australia): Beethoven’s Sonata in C, op. 2, no. 3, Babbitt’s It Takes Twelve to Tango & Chopin’s Etude in b, op. 25, no. 10.

7:00 pm — Marina Radiushina (USA) Beethoven’s Sonata in a-flat, op. 110 & Chopin’s Etude in a, op. 25, no. 11 (‘Winter Wind’). 7:35 pm — Jun-Eun Lee (Korea): Yun’s 5 Klavierstücke, Chopin’s Etude in A-flat, op. 10, no. 10 & Beethoven’s Sonata in E, op. 109. 8:10 pm — Alexander Osminin (Russia): Beethoven’s Sonata in C, op. 2, no. 3 & Chopin’s Etude in a, op. 25, no. 11 (‘Winter Wind’). 8:55 pm — William Youn (Korea): Haydn’s Sonata in C, Hob. XVI:50, Chopin’s Etude in b, op. 25, no. 10 & Yun’s 5 Klavierstücke. 9:30 pm — Soo-Yeon Ham (Korea): Scarlatti’s Sonatas K. 208 in A & K. 209 in A, Haydn’s Sonata in C, Hob. XVI:50 & Ligeti’s Etude No. 6, Book I (Automne a Varsovie).

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