Hats off to Marcella Crudeli who in her 80th year is still very much at the helm of the competition she created for Rome thirty years ago.
Teaming up with that other tireless supporter of young talent Valerio Vicari of Roma 3 Orchestra.

An orchestra that he had founded over 15 years ago to give a much needed platform to young highly qualified musicians recently graduated from major conservatories.
It is not so much the competition result that counts as much as the competing itself and the amount of enthusiasm it generates.
Bringing the excitement and exhilaration that only a competition atmosphere can create.
In the past thirty years the competition has seen participants from 80 different countries with a jury from 25!
And this morning after performances of Tchaikowsky,Mozart and Beethoven concerti we discover that the jury had gone more for flamboyance than subtlety.

The very shy Chinese contestant Yijia Lin gave a superb performance of Beethoven Fourth Concerto full of refined phrasing,delicacy and crystal clear sounds.But she was so shy she hid behind a great shroud of hair that made her look more like the black widow than the angelic messenger sharing with us the glory of Beethoven’s most perfect creation.

She was voted in third prize as the two young men from Serbia and France swept caution and intellect to the wind in return for performances of playing to the ‘Gods’with Tchaikowsky’s old B flat minor war horse and Mozart’s most loved concerto K488 in A.

In fact it was to Mozart and the young French contestant that the Premio Chopin was awarded: Slava Guerchivitch.
Runner up was the young Serbian Ivan Basic for his heroic performance of Tchaikowsky at 11 in the morning!

Tonight the indefatigable Marcella Crudeli will delight in awarding prizes to all the various categories as well as letting us share in part of the prize winning performances that we were treated to this morning.
A special thanks must go to the Roma 3 ,their superb orchestra and in particular Valerio Vicari for looking after Madam Crudeli with such affection and professionalism and overseeing the quite considerable organisation needed.Thanks too to Pawel Gorajski,the very fine but totally exhausted conductor after uniting all the inexperienced strands before him into as near perfect whole as his excellent musicianship would allow.

Two pianos,a full orchestra on stage and a Gala evening streamed world wide for the delight of the many people who could not make it to the Eternal city this time,no mean task indeed!
But it is the infectious joy of music that unites and provides Marcella with the energy and enthusiasm to ignite and guide for thirty years such a rare cultural event.
https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2021/07/31/sorrento-crowns-marcella-crudeli-a-lifetime-in-music/