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I was also happy to see some Grieg waltzes thrown in there. And inbetween all of the standard war horses, I'm happy to see that there are some pianists doing interesting and lesser played repertoire. Look through the programs - we have Medtner, Debussy etudes, Busoni, Scriabin 10, heck, someone is doing a...Purcell suite?! Here's a short list of candidates whose programs appealed to me:

Alezey chernow, sean chen, luca buratto, jayson gillham, alessandro taverna, scipione sangiovanni, tomoki sakata

How would you feel if somebody programmed Fur Elise? Or, closer to the level of the Grieg waltzes, C.P.E. Bach's Solfeggieto?

Well, I wonder for how many candidates that is true, really. I would guess it goes for quite a few of these pianists.


Looking at it from another viewpoint, though, I understand if someone decides to be very picky with competition repertoire provided that this musician keeps him/herself busy with a lot of other repertoire and projects outside of the competition. Two fairly young cellists I know, both winners of some of the most prestigious cello competitions in the world, entered most of their competitions playing the very same repertoire, but at the same time they were busy doing all sorts of other projects inbetween competitions. That's a healthy way of approaching competitions, IMO. But these pianists that just go from one competition to the next playing the same stuff....why, why?

I saw that. I didn't know it, so I looked it up on Youtube. Not the most interesting pieces, to say the least.

As far as I remember, the last winner of the Honens competition included both Kinderszenen and the Moonlight sonata in his program. Programming is a matter of taste. I don't understand why it would be a problem that someone goes for doing a few short and easy pieces inbetween the war horses. Would anyone consider Gaspard, Petrushka and Prok 7 in one go to be a good program...?

I'm surprised you need to ask!!

(Same answer as in that last post.)

It would be different if it were in an amateur competition or some such. But for this.....to me it absolutely means what I said.
At least to me.

If the Grieg Waltzes are the ones from his Lyric Pieces(I can think of only two or three in that collection) I think this is a bizarre choice. There are plenty of non virtuoso works are really great music and musical challenges(Chopin Mazurkas, Brahms 116-119, Schumann Kinderscenen, etc.) so why program works like the Grieg which are very minor pieces even among his Lyric Pieces? Even from just a timing point of view, why would one include several pieces, each of around one minute length, in such a major competition?

If the Grieg Waltzes are the ones from his Lyric Pieces(I can think of only two or three in that collection), I think this is a bizarre choice. There are plenty of non virtuoso works that are really great music and great musical challenges(Chopin Mazurkas, Brahms 116-119, Schumann Kinderscenen, etc.) so why program works like the Grieg which are very minor pieces even among his Lyric Pieces? Even from just a timing point of view, why would one include several pieces, each of around two minutes long, in such a major competition?

My guess is that these are not the well known Waltzes from the Lyric Pieces.

1) Just because it's unusual doesn't mean you should program Grieg waltzes.

2) Seriously? Do you know which waltzes have been programmed? Take a look at those, and then get back to me.

I think the Grieg is programmed more for its shock value than anything else. I welcome unusual programming, but my main objection is that there are 10,000 other pieces far, far, far more worthy to be programmed for such a competition. For somebody to pick something so blatantly easy, it's bordering on mocking the entire competition itself.

Hey, you're not paying attention!

The reason I said that -- the reason, the only reason! (and I so indicated in that post) -- was because you had said:


....and it was in reference to that.
Of course I didn't mean that this in itself is a justification to program something (although I agree with you that it is of value) -- and I wouldn't have indicated it as a sole reason (and didn't).


No. I would mean that other reason with regard to any pieces of the nature that you described. It would be applicable if the programmed pieces were from "Teaching Little Fingers to Play."

All I'm saying, really, is that the candidate has something interesting in mind and it will be interesting to see how it comes off. I realize that you don't see it that way (to say the least) but I'm not sure what you are meaning to imply about it. Are you saying that the candidate doesn't have any more-challenging pieces in his/her repertoire? I wouldn't think so, because that's impossible. Do you mean that he/she is stupid, or isn't thinking? That doesn't seem very possible either -- not because nobody would be capable of that but because such a stupid or negligent applicant would never have been admitted to the competition. (Right?) I'm willing to see it in some way other than that it's an interesting repertoire choice, but it would have to be something plausible, and I can't see it.

P.S. OK -- -- I got curious enough to go and see exactly who this is, what the Grieg pieces are, and what's the person's other repertoire.

AZN, I could not disagree with you more. I'll take it further: You're being flat-out unfair to the contestant, and you're just wrong when you say stuff like "there are 10,000 other pieces far, far, far more worthy to be programmed for such a competition. For somebody to pick something so blatantly easy, it's bordering on mocking the entire competition itself."

I assume the person you're talking about is Alexey Chernov. I went and listened to the pieces on YouTube. I have to disagree with your characterizing them as being so "easy." Sure, 'the notes' are easy -- but the notes of many challenging pieces are easy. Would you say that someone who plays Bach's 1st Prelude in a competition is mocking it? Or Chopin's A minor Waltz from Op. 34? Playing these Grieg pieces in a routine, ho-hum way would be easy, but there is a whole world of possibility to give them the needed "lilts," and to make them fresh and interesting. I'd bet my bippy that Chernov is intending to do that, and that he will.

And anyway, again assuming that you mean him, I simply cannot make any sense of what you said in view of the rest of his repertoire. Here is his entire 1st round:

Preliminary Recital, Phase I
BACH Toccata in G Minor, BWV 915
SCRIABIN Three Études, op. 65
RAVEL Gaspard de la nuit

Preliminary Recital, Phase II
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, op. 111
LIGETI Étude VI: Automne à Varsovie
GRIEG Waltz in A Minor, op. 12, no. 2
Waltz in E Minor, op. 38, no. 7
Valse-impromptu in E Minor, op. 47, no. 1
LISZT Mephisto Waltz No. 1

Especially placed in a program in such a manner, I think the Grieg pieces are wonderful, whether in a competition or in a regular recital. I am at a total loss to understand your being so intensely negative about it.

http://www.qeimc.be/

Just sayin'...

I agree completely. They should be a beautiful diversion from the standard repertoire that most other candidates are performing and I'm looking forward to hearing them.

If you recall the 2005 competition, Roberto Plano's prelim recital offered nothing terribly substantial (Danzas Argentinas, Brahms op. 118, and some Scarlatti Sonatas), but he played with a such amazing artistry and style (compared to other candidates who cluster-bombed their way through Prokofiev 7 and the Liszt Sonata) that passing him on was a no-brainer.

I also agree with Mark and Brendan.

I think the inclusion of the third Waltz, which is not on the beginner level, at least partially justifies the inclusion of the other waltzes. I would have preferred selecting different Lyric Pieces than the first two waltzes because I think those two are such slight works(both technically and musically) that they don't really belong on a competition recital. I'd guess Chernov chose them so he could have the programming idea of playing three waltzes, but I don't think there is much any pianist can say of significance when dealing with such minor works. I don't think the first two Waltzes really allow the contestant to show much artistry, so substituting more significant Lyric Piece(s) would have been better.

For those who liked the three waltz selections, would you feel the same way if Chernov had chosen the very last Lyric Piece(also a waltz) instead of the Valse-Impromptu?

WOW! Thanks for the link.

I just skimmed through a few semifinal videos and guess what?

I stopped by Boris Giltburg and gave his (another) Liszt Sonata a chance.

Well, I wouldn't have imagined myself listening to whole of it, especially with Giltburg's utmost control in every note he plays. But, to my surprise, I ended up listening till the end. Had he performed the last octaves a bit better, I would have left with utmost satisfaction.
Nevertheless it is worth giving it a try.

http://www.qeimc.be/cgi?usr=sajtcua...ecorig1648&id=5547&flux=65417999

There are a ton of Rach 3's, but I see two Brahms 1's, a Brahms 2, and a Rach-Pag in the finals, so I'll try to catch those. Also, I see an Alkan Symphony, Rachmaninoff 1st sonata, Beethoven Op. 101, and Busoni Indianisches Tagebuch, so I'm interested to hear those.

Overall, I'm also intrigued to follow Alessandro Taverna for the entire competition, hehe.

I will try to keep up with this thread very often.

I agreed with Mark before he made his first reply to AZNPiano's first post. Or, should I say, Mark agreed with me, and posted first.

But is that not the wonder of it? The genius of the selections for this program?? What will the artist do to bring these pieces to the level of the sublime??? Is there some as-yet undiscovered nuance in these pieces to be brought forth the first time in history???????? (I would like to think, maybe so!)

Or, are these pieces simply turkeys, and everyone knows what happens when you try to put lipstick on a turkey?

Oh, the suspense!!!