The 2022 Van Cliburn competition - Russia vs Ukraine edition

[SD Tav]

@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!

[SD Tav]

The winner is 18 year old Yunchan Lim from Korea. An absolute phenom, incredibly talented.
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.

Link to video

Link to video

[George K]

@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.

[George K]

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.

[SD Tav]

@George-K I'm going to follow Lim. He can have the type of career that Yuja Wang has had. He's that talented!

[SD Tav]

@George-K His virtuosity in the Liszt Transcendental Etudes is jaw-dropping. Especially the tempos. He's deadly accurate even when playing very fast.

[taiwan_girl]

Wow!!! Crazy good and only 18 years old!!

Thanks for sharing that! I will have to watch in more detail later

[Klaus]

I haven't watched the videos yet. Does he play better than Jon?

[taiwan_girl]

@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

[89th]

@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.

@George-K:

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.

[Klaus]

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.

[89th]

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!