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The 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

Please use this thread for all discussion related to the competition, as per our 2005 Megathread. This includes: reviews, predictions, discussion on the performers and their repertoire, pictures, complaints about parking, etc.


FAQ

When and where is this competition?
It takes place in Bass Hall in Fort Worth, TX from May 22nd - June 7th. We're all interested to hear "live" reports from any PW people who live in Texas or will be at the competition. For a complete schedule, click HERE.


Who are the performers and how many times will I have to sit through the Liszt Sonata?
Find a complete list of the contestants and their repertoire, click HERE. A few people from the last competition made the cut again this year, and it will be interesting to see how far they get.

...and that's potentially five performances of the Liszt Sonata you're looking at.


Where's the live stream? I want to make fun of people who have memory lapses!
You can watch it HERE. Download their application (make sure your system matches the specs at the bottom of the page) and you're good to go.

ALSO, you can listen (audio only) via KTCU's stream: http://www.ktcu.tcu.edu/


What's at stake, aside from internet stardom?
The winner receives three years of management (covering travel), a CD recording, and a $20k prize. Read all about the prizes HERE. While the Cliburn's first prize cash award isn't as high as some others (the Cleveland Competition awards a $50k first prize), the concert schedule it awards is more extensive.


These competitions are so arbitrary! My favorite competitor was eliminated after the first round!
Yes, they are, and many wonderful pianists didn't even make it past the screening round this time. However, sometimes people who DON'T win end up getting more exposure than those who do. Examples from previous editions of the Cliburn - Naida Cole and Frederic Chiu. Although Cole is now a doctor, she had a substantial career after being eliminated from the competition in 1997. Chiu, of course, is a legend. For this year's competition, read about the panel of judges HERE.


I want to read reviews and find out what kind of food and which movies each competitor likes!
Well, stop wasting time and click HERE before anyone else does!


That's about it. I'll start off the discussion with my own prediction for this year's results:

1st Prize - Stephen Beus
2nd Prize - Spencer Myer
3rd Prize - Ran Dank or Soyeon Lee

Other finalists: Di Wu, Evgeni Bozhanov, Haochen Zhang

I wish I had near the ability to take part in the Van Cliburn Competition. The youngest competitors aren't far off my age and their repertoire is extraordinary!

Actually, I count up to 7 (EDIT: 6 now that Yue Chu has withdrawn) potential performances of the Liszt Sonata (4 prelim, 2 semis, and 1 final round). The next most popular are Gaspard de la Nuit with 6, the Bach/Busoni Chaconne with 5, and a tie between the Barber Sonata, Chopin's 3rd Sonata, Haydn's C Major Hob. 50, Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody, Schubert's Sonata D. 958, and Stravinsky's Trois Mouvements de Petroushka at 4.

Only three competitors have the Rach 2 (Sonata) programmed, putting it at the same level as the Hammerklavier, Chopin's G Minor Ballade, and Takemitsu's Raintree Sketch I (!) among many others.

Other interesting statistics:

-Besides the commissioned works, I count 6 living composers whose work could potentially be heard: Pierre Boulez(Douze Notations), Elliot Carter(Catènaires), John Corigliano(Etude Fantasy), Nikolai Kapustin(Sonata #1), Aaron Jay Kernis (Superstar Etude #2), and Carl Vine (Sonata #1, twice).

-Di Wu's programming of a Clara Schumann Mazurka is the only selected work by a female composer in the whole competition.

-27 of the (now 29) competitors have at least one work which is unique to them and not performed by anyone else--Sorry Michail Lifitz and Ilya Rachkovskiy.

-Derek Bermel has a $2,500 bet riding on Victor Stanislavsky making the semis, as he's the only competitor to choose Bermel's 'turning'.

-Vassilis Varvaresos wins my 'gutsy' award with a selection opening with the Moonlight Sonata in the prelims and closing with Islamey in the finals.

Is there a way of attaching spreadsheets to posts here? I have a list of works by composer that I'd like to stick on here but am not sure how.

i will be watching Evgeni Bozhanov, who won Richter competition last year (2nd prize with no 1st prize), my teacher told me about him then.

Final Round

Beethoven’s 1st – 1
Beethoven’s 2nd – 1
Beethoven’s 3rd – 6
Beethoven’s 4th – 6
Brahms’ 1st – 2
Chopin’s 1st – 2
Chopin’s 2nd – 6
Liszt’s 1st – 1
Mendelssohn’s 1st – 2
Mozart’s 20th – 4
Mozart’s 27th – 1
Prokofiev’s 1st – 2
Prokofiev’s 2nd – 5
Prokofiev’s 3rd – 3
Rachmaninoff’s 1st – 1
Rachmaninoff’s 2nd – 3
Rachmaninoff’s 3rd – 2
Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody – 2
Ravel’s 1st – 1
Tchaikovsky’s 1st – 7

Is it sad that I'm surprised by only 2 performances of Rachmaninoff's D minor? The surprise concerto for me is Beethoven's 3rd.

Daniel

http://docs.google.com

Also interesting,


That's unfortunate.

What are the top 4-6 competitions in the world in terms of "importance"? Can they be ranked in order?

I'm guessing Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Van Cliburn, Queen Elizabeth in no particular order.

I wonder what the percent of pianists that were Asian born or Asian descent was at the first Cliburn ccmpetition? It is 50% of the original list for this year's Cliburn.

I'm continually impressed by Italy, a country the size of Arizona, who consistently sends 2-3 pianists to the Van Cliburn every time, and they often do very well (Cabassi, Plano, Pompa-Baldi).

While reading the participant bios I was astounded to find that one was blind since birth. I have never heard of a blind pianist reaching this level(I believe Tatum had some sight and wasn't blind since birth).

Are there Braille music books? Even if yes, it would seem almost beyond belief to be able to learn so much complicated music this way. And of course there's the problem of not being able to see the keys even in the most difficult passages.

Has anyone heard of any completely blind pianist who has reached the level of being able to be a Cliburn participant?

Well, it may be the size of Arizona, but it has the population of California and New York together. Impressive nonetheless, but not quite like Arizona sending a steady stream.

I've posted a spreadsheet with the repertoire list sorted by composer, along with links to (mostly IMSLP) sheet music for each piece in the public domain.

Thanks to Brendan for the Google Docs suggestion

Very little Mozart, comparatively little Chopin (only one ballade, no scherzos, and no Grande Polonaise), usually more perform the Brahms Paganini Variations...and some surprising popular choices such as the Beethoven Op. 106, Schumann Davidsbundlertanze (and one competitor playing the Schumann Sonata #3 which is almost never performed).

You can get a list of the competitors at each competition at the Cliburn site. I count 3 each from Japan and Korea (out of 46 total) at the first competition.

Neat spreadsheet, thanks for posting that.

Playing order posted:

http://cliburn.org/index.php?page=news_detail&newsID=96&rtn=newsroom

Drei Davidsbundlertanzen????? Cool!

VERY COOL INDEED!!!!

I've got my money on Beus

Queen Elizabeth seems out of place there. What about Leeds or Hamamatsu?