The 2022 Van Cliburn competition - Russia vs Ukraine edition
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@Copper said in The 2022 Van Cliburn competition - Russia vs Ukraine edition:
How about some equity?
Well Clayton Stephenson seems to be of black (maybe black & asian?) ethnicity. Additional background:
A native of Brooklyn, NY, 2022 Gilmore Young Artist Clayton Stephenson’s youthful, exuberant playing earned him recognition in 2015 when he won prizes at the Cliburn Junior International Piano Competition. In 2016 he was also recognized with prizes at the Cooper International Piano Competition and received From the Top’s Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award.
In 2020, Mr. Stephenson was named a Gheens Young Artist. Also a Lang Lang International Music Foundation Young Scholar, Mr. Stephenson is a passionate and active arts educator.
Mr. Stephenson trained for two years in the Juilliard Music Advancement Program before being admitted into the Juilliard Pre-College program at age ten. In 2017, he was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts. He is currently pursuing a dual degree program from Harvard, where he studies economics, and the New England Conservatory, where he studies piano performance with Professor Wha Kyung Byun.
Mr. Stephenson has been featured on NPR and WQXR and has given recitals at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, BeethovenFest in Bonn, and Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. As a guest artist, he has appeared with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Louisville Symphony, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, and more.
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I've started watching/listening to the first round.
2022 Cliburn
One competitor, George Osokins, has the guts to play something off the beaten track: Scriabin's 9th Sonata 'Black Mass'
He plays it well.Stephen Hough (now he's SIR Stephen Hough) was commissioned to write a required piece: Fanfare Toccata. It's a nice piece, listenable.
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The pianists need to go through six rounds, which includes three piano concerti?
Wtf? That's just insane. I need weeks to prepare a 5min piece to a standard that would still result in immediate expulsion from the competition. And they need to prepare, what, 4-5 hours of the most difficult repertoire, to be played at the highest standards???
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@Klaus said in The 2022 Van Cliburn competition - Russia vs Ukraine edition:
The pianists need to go through six rounds, which includes three piano concerti?
Wtf? That's just insane.
Yeah, imagine a X-country’s Got Talent TV show where the surviving contestants have to go through six rounds with songs spanning four genres with three operas or musicals … the TV show will never make it to the network.
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@Klaus It seems the competition is more of a stamina-type contest where the pianist who plays with the fewest mistakes over a 3 week period can possibly make it to the podium. It's excessive in my opinion. I would feel most judges could make a decision about most of the competitors within 2 rounds. Also, 2 concertos should be enough!
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The winner is 18 year old Yunchan Lim from Korea. An absolute phenom, incredibly talented.
Link to video Link to video
I was stunned by how well he played the Liszt Transcendental Etudes and the final round concerto. He played Rach 3. One of the best performances I've ever heard. -
@SD-Tav thanks for the link. I'm only a bit into it, but really REALLY enjoying it.
I love how, in the first few minutes, after the theme is introduced, he understands that the piano takes a "subordinate" role - fleshing out the thickness of the movement. He becomes a part of the orchestra, rather than the "look at me!" soloist.
Just wonderful.
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Wow. Just f'ing WOW.
I skimmed through parts of it, but the ending, the last three minutes, were amazing.
What really struck me was the conductors use of rubato (see about 42 minutes or so) and how Lim was right there with her. He followed and led her conducting.
Wonderful. Just freaking great.
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Wow!!! Crazy good and only 18 years old!!
Thanks for sharing that! I will have to watch in more detail later
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@Klaus said in The 2022 Van Cliburn competition - Russia vs Ukraine edition:
I haven't watched the videos yet. Does he play better than Jon?
That is a debate and depends on if you talk to Yuchan Lim or @jon-nyc
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@SD-Tav Thanks for highlighting this. I agree that Rach 3 was really great. Very clear and a nice mix of sharpness that quickly evolves into a fluid sustained sound. He also had a few slight pauses which I enjoyed... sometimes a half a second of silence can pull the listener in closer.
he understands that the piano takes a "subordinate" role - fleshing out the thickness of the movement. He becomes a part of the orchestra, rather than the "look at me!" soloist.
Very true. I have zero music education, but have always pictured Rach 3 as an epic battle between the piano and orchestra. Almost like a boxing match where each player throws haymaker knock-out punches at times, round after round competing but in the end working together harmoniously. I'd be happy to pick out time stamps if anyone wants examples. Love it.
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I'm going to disagree with you guys, and the jurors.
I found the finale of the Rach concerto absurdly fast. The orchestra could in part not handle the speed. More importantly, the pianist couldn't really handle it either and sacrificed clarity and precision for speed.
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Just finished watching the full thing.
- 26:00... always love watching how the pianist tackles this section, it's mesmerizing to watch
- 30:00 and 39:00... @Klaus is right, these two parts in particular he rushed a bit and was losing sync with the orchestra
- Always nervous when I see some sweat beads fly onto the keyboard, you don't need that at those speeds!
