| BPSE Chamber Music Competition & Gwyneth George Prize 2005 |
| A Report by Malcolm Miller
There was an impressive array of talented trios at the BPSE Beethoven Chamber Music Competition 2005, with four ensembles competing for the Gwyneth George Prize in an enthralling evening of Beethoven trios on 5 May at Steinway Hall, Marylebone Lane. The competition, which is an annual event open to various different ensembles with piano, took place before a select audience and in the presence of Gwyneth George, the distinguished cellist. The jury was led by Professor Bernard Roberts, the eminent pianist and teacher, and also included Nancy Lee Harper, President of EPTA Portugal and Alberto Portugheis, BPSE Vice-Chairman UK and the event organiser. The select audience were regaled with two contrasting accounts of the trio in B flat Op.11, in each of its alternative original instrumental versions, the first with violin, cello and piano and the second with clarinet. Also performed was the "Ghost" trio Op. 70/1, and as a climax the "Archduke" trio Op.97. The challenges of all the works were the topic of two days of masterclasses with Bernard Roberts, in which he shared his great experience of performing Beethoven’s chamber works with the gifted young players. The final concert showed the fruits of his teaching and, as Professor Roberts also pointed out in his detailed and helpful adjudication, signalled the necessary paths of development for each of the ensembles.
There was much to applaud in all the performances: an admirable account of Op.11 was given by James Young, piano, Sophie Appleton, violin and Charlotte Forsey, cello, who are students or former students at the RCM and Guildhall. The clarinet version was performed with aplomb and fresh clarity by Peter Limonov, piano, Denitsa Laffchieva, clarinet and Sagi Hartov, current and recent postgraduates at the Royal Academy of Music. Their rich sonority and crystalline articulation was impressive. Especially evocative was the rendition of the "Ghost" Trio by Trio Evocare, Marie Lee Gustafsson, piano, Anna Cashell, violin and Andrew Joyce, cello. Yet it was the Bomond Trio, Jesse Bomond, piano, Tomoko Sasaki, violin and Galiasker Bigashev, cello, who received first prize for their powerful performance of the "Archduke" Trio, with some riveting textures and exciting rhythmic impetus in the fast movements and a sumptuosly expressive slow movement. All three players are postgraduate students at Trinity College of Music and while they have played together only since March, Professor Roberts commended their cohesive and integrated ensemble. The winning trio received the Gwyneth George Cash Award and will perform in a forthcoming recital in the BPSE concert series. |
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| Twelfth Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition 2005 |
| A Report by Manus Carey
Eight pianists from the various British music colleges, excluding Birmingham, gathered together at the Austrian Cultural Forum on December 17th for this year's Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition hosted by the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe. A panel of the three eminent pianists, Sulamita Aronovsky, Kenneth van Barthold and Stephen Kovacevich, were present to listen to the variety of sonatas, which offered a synopsis of Beethoven's compositional output for piano from the early op.2 to the final op. 111. In addition to their chosen sonata, each player was required to perform the late G major Bagatelle op. 119, an enigmatic, emotionally compact and interpretatively challenging work. There was a remarkable diversity in the various performances, with two players in particular providing a thoroughly convincing reading: Yumi Tanaka made complete sense of the angular phrase structure of this miniature, with a strongly etched sense of musical line; Lulu Young provided a beautifully characterised account, combining textural clarity, drama and a sense of dance with a humour that was absent from the other performances.
Miyuki Kato opened the competition with the op. 2 no. 2 sonata, and Hiroaki Takenouchi finished the evening with an individual account of op. 111. In between two very different performances of the "Appassionata"; sonata were given. Grace Mo's was fiercely dramatic, extrovert and frequently demonic, with orchestral outbursts that pushed the piano to extremes: the third movement in particular was successful in its chilling acerbity. Yoon-Kyung Kim's was more controlled, yet an equally dramatic account, finding moments of warmth: an overall understanding of inner pulse and momentum were evident, in addition to a subtle manipulation of the moments of rest for musical effect.
The more persuasive sonata performances seemed to be those who looked beyond the piano, searching for orchestral effects and sonorites. Lulu Young's op. 31 no.1 was one such performance, whose second movement was completely orchestral in conception, with a third movement that was dramatically virtuoso, but never breathless. In contrast, Li You's op. 31 no. 3, while displaying some fine pianism, was more one-dimensional in its outlook. The most compelling piano playing of the day was without doubt Yumi Tanaka's op. 110, who was constantly musically convincing with a natural fluency and round warmth to her touch. At certain moments her reading of this sonata had too much forward momentum, perhaps at times emotionally simplistic for such a work; more beautiful than tragic. In the end she received a third placing, perhaps lower in placing than she deserved. In second place came Christopher Stokes, whose buoyant, easy-natured, almost nonchalant performance of op. 78 was impressive if a little too Mozartian in touch. Yoon-Kyung Kim received a deserved first prize for her "Appassionata"; performance. Quite surprising was Lulu Young's lack of recognition from the judges: her captivating playing of op.31 no.1, however, did not go completely unnoticed by the general public who gave her their 'audience'; prize.
Manus Carey |
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| The 2005 Beethoven Junior Intercollegiate Piano Competition |
| The winner of the 2005 Beethoven Junior Intercollegiate Piano Competition held on 15th December 2005 was Joseph Sloan. The BPSE's annual Junior competition was again held at the Austrian Cultural Forum thanks to the hospitality of its Director Dr Johannes Wimmer, and attracted talented young pianists from four of the UK specialist schools, who each played Beethoven sonatas and, as in previous years, a compulsory Bagatelle Op.33 No.4 in A major. BPSE Vice Chairman Alberto Portugheis introduced the event and the distinguished Jury of Professor Deborah Sobol from Chicago and Professor Raphael Terroni, who announced the results and decided to award just one prize, commending the generally high standard. The winner receives a cash award, a recital in the BPSE series and copies of the Society's journal Arietta no.5, were given to all four participants. The first competitor Huw Morgan (Chetham's School of Music) played the sonata Op. 31, No. 2 "The Tempest";, showing much finesse in his handling of textures and details of articulation and dynamics. The young Fumi Sakuma (Croydon Centre for Young Pianists) whose sparkling account of the first movement of the Sonata Op.14, No.1 in E was coupled with a playful reading of the Bagatelle. Next came Joseph Sloan (Junior Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama) who projected a dramatic performance of the Sonata Op. 90 in E minor and a compelling Bagatelle, while the final participant, Leo Nicholson (Junior Royal Northern College of Music) rounded off the programme with an ebullient "Waldstein" Sonata Op 53 in C major.
Malcolm Miller |
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| Outstanding Russian Pianist at RNCM wins 2005 BPSE Competition! |
| There was an international flavour to the 2005 13th Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition held on 16 December at the Austrian Cultural Forum, Rutland Gate, London, thanks to the hospitality of its Director Dr Johannes Wimmer. The eight competitors, drawn from UK colleges, included pianists from Russia, Japan, Romania, China and Portugal. In the final of three sessions there was a capacity audience to hear the winning performance, that of the accomplished young Russian pianist Mikhail Shilyaev, a postgraduate student at the Royal Northern College of Music, whose masterly performance of the Sonata Op.111 in C minor, followed by the compulsory Bagatelle Op 119/3 formed the climax of the event. Second prize went to the Japanese pianist Yoko Misumi (Trinity College of Music) and third prize to Diana Zavalas (Birmingham Conservatoire) from Romania.
The BPSE's UK Chairman Malcolm Troup introduced the Competition's distinguished jury, Deborah Sobol, Raphael Terroni and Alan Walker. Deborah Sobol from Chicago is a Professor at North Western University and director of the Chicago Chamber Players a leading ensemble in its 20th anniversary. Raphael Terroni, former Professor at the London College of Music, has recently recorded several CDS including premiere recordings of works by Arnold Cooke. Alan Walker, the Liszt scholar and Professor Emeritus at McMaster University, Ontario made some sparkling opening remarks in which he congratulated all the participants on their achievements. He emphasised that while there were qualities to all the performances, the Jury decision on first prize had been unanimous, and their choice was borne out by the Audience Prize choice. Certainly the standard all round made this one of the best competitions to date. Alberto Portugheis introduced each of the participants beginning with Madalina Rusu (Guildhall School of Music & Drama) one of the two Romanian pianists, who gave a sensitive account of the Sonata Op. 28 in D major "Pastoral". Next came a propulsive Sonata Op. 53 "Waldstein" by Su Ti (Royal College of Music) and a thoughtful interpretation by Portuguese-born Joao Rosa (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama) of the Sonata Op.111 in C minor. The second session featured the Japanese pianist Yoko Misumi (Trinity College of Music) in an ebullient and crystalline rendition of the Sonata Op. 2, No. 2 in A major, followed by a purposeful Sonata Op. 10, No. 3 in D major played by Anastasia Chernysheva (Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama) originally from St Petersburg, and an impressively dynamic Sonata Op. 53 "Waldstein" by the Romanian Diana Zavalas (Birmingham Conservatoire). The final session began with a finely honed and beautifully textured account of the Sonata Op.109 in E by the Japanese pianist Saki Hosoda (Royal Academy of Music), and the winner's exciting, dramatic performance of the Sonata Op 111, in which the colours and sonorities of the final variations were both keenly controlled and enthralling.His decision to follow his sonata with the Bagatelle rather than precede it (as had done all the other pianists) proved to be effective, both making the sonata's start more impressive and highlighting the continuity in Beethoven's late-period style. During the award ceremony, the Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, John Fowler, awarded Shilayev the Company's Beethoven Medal, while the cash award was offered by its donor Eugenie Maxwell of Blüthner Pianos. All competitors received publisher's music vouchers and copies of Piano Journal and the BOSE journal Arietta. Shilayev's powerful performance of Beethoven's last sonata, extraordinary for one so young, was awarded the audience prize, which entails a professional engagement in recital at Hurstwood Farm invited by Richard Dain. All three prize winners receive recitals as part of the BPSE series in the summer of 2006, for which details will be announced on BPSE publicity and the new website at www.bpse.org.
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