Another miracle in Trapani with the reappearance of the undisputed queen of the keyboard,Oxana Yablonskaya. A year has passed since her last concert and now at 86 well into her Indian Summer her playing is even more profoundly radiant and her technical prowess proves once again she is still the kitten on the keys.
Leslie Howard triumphs in Trapani with the concealed mastery of a pianistic genius. From Anton Rubinstein to Jerome Kern all wrapped up in an English Country Garden. An eclectic programme from the ‘Professor’ of the piano who looks deeply into the archives and finds hidden treasures that he has spent a lifetime bringing into the concert hall.
After careful evaluation by the jury, the candidates who will access the semi-final have been selected.
Pierpaolo Buggiani ,18 year old student of Carlo Palese, played Scarlatti and Haydn Sonatas with great clarity and character and a fine sense of style but it was the 24 Preludes of Chopin that showed even more his remarkable technical and musical command of a work that Fou Ts’ong described as 24 problems. There were none for him in a performance of musicianly mastery.Luca Cianciotta ,21, is a very solid musician and there were many remarkable things especially in the Schumann Etudes Symphoniques. Unfortunately on this occasion he was hampered by problems of memory and a certain rigidity in performance.Tetiana Donets ,25,from Ukraine. A refined tone palette with a kaleidoscope of sounds that illuminated the Clementi Sonata op 13 n.6.and brought subtlety to Scarlatti but it was the Brahms F minor Sonata that was given a magnificent performance of nobility, and ravishing beauty with sumptuous orchestral sounds and an extraordinarily mature architectural understanding.Alecsandru David Irimescu,25, Romania.A remarkable talent but completely without schooling.A fluidity of sound and agility of fingers living every moment with a ferved fantasy ,at times very convincing., He brought a certain sense of style to Chopin Waltzes but it was the Beethoven Sonata op 31 n.1 that revealed a lack of a true architectural understanding and respect for the composers indications.Sonja Kowollik,23,Germany/Poland .Wonderfully played Scarlatti full of character and colour with an extraordinary dynamic drive and total commitment .Schubert of refined beauty but the central episode was played with a rather overpowering burning intensity .It was this burning intensity and total commitment that brought the Schumann Sonata op 22 vividly to life especially with her mastery of the alternative last movement. An intensity that at times was too much and needed some moments of calm reflection and nobility. But a very remarkable artist. Xin Luo,32,China. Some remarkably beautiful playing. A sensitivity and beauty of sound combined with intelligent musicianship and a refined sense of style. Lacking a real dynamic drive in the more strenuous passages but his sensitive musicianship shone through all he did.Salvatore Nicolosi,27,Italy.A young man in love with the Great War horses of the Romantic virtuosi of the nineteenth century. It was in this music that he produced playing of remarkable technical accomplishment and a kaleidoscope of rich romantic sounds. His Haydn and Scarlatti were rather correct and colourless in comparison. His Hexameron on this occasion was rather hit and miss but showed a remarkable mastery of the keyboard. A Raymond Lewenthal figure of our times.Danylo Saienko,33,Ukraine .Masterly playing for someone who is really ‘fuori contesto’ in a league of his own .The Chopin Mazurkas op 30 were played with wonderful style and real sense of dance but slightly missing the magic and kaleidoscope of colour that Chopin imbues in these miniature masterpieces.Haydn too was masterly playing of style and musicianship .A superb technical control and aristocratic presence but missing the delicacy and colour that give give so much more character to an already monumental performance.The Schumann sonata ‘sans orchestra’ was of impressive mastery with indeed a whole orchestra in his hands of extraordinary mastery. An extraordinary artist who ought already to have a well established career.Ting Yuan,36,China . Very authoritative playing of intelligent musicianship. Lacking in Scarlatti and Beethoven a sense of colour and her sound was really quite hard at times. But her intelligence and meticulous preparation were never in doubt.It was in the ‘Ricordanza Fantasy’ and Rachmaninov ‘Corelli variations’ that she abandoned the straight jacket of classical performance and her playing suddenly had charm ,style and colour . A remarkable pianist but not really a competitor but a formed artist ready probably with a career already well established .Anastasia Barabanova, 22, Russia . A student of Ilya Kondratiev at the RCM London. Her Mozart was a lesson in delicacy, style and control. Beautifully played as were her two Brahms Ballades where unexpectedly she filled the piano with sumptuous rich sounds. Her Schumann Sonata op 22 had a kaleidoscope of colours and character all played with extraordinary mastery and refined good taste.It contrasted with the Scarlatti Sonatas that I found rather strait laced and a little hard edged . A real artist of intelligence with a refined palette of colours and temperament. Rongrong Guo,23,China .Some very musicianly playing and always a beautiful sound.I remember hearing her last year and she she is now a much more assured artist .Her Clementi op 40 n.1 was really exceptional but it was in Chopin and Liszt that she excelled. An architectural shape of dynamic drive to the Chopin Scherzo but with ravishing delicacy and fearless abandon too .Liszt 12th Rhapsody was played with great style and a kaleidoscope of sounds. Her control of the final bars was quite extraordinary as Liszt’s knotty twine becomes ever more frenetic .Before the results, a birthday celebration for Vincenzo Marrone d’Alberti Madame Yablonskaya in party mood The five finalist announced after the semifinal round : Xin Luo,Sonia Kowollik,Tetiana Donets,Danylo Saienko,Rongrong GuoThe five finalists together with two special scholarships awarded to Alecsandru Irimescu and Luca Cianciotta Announcement of the winners by the Jury Danylo Saienko 1st PrizeTetiana Donets 2nd PrizeSonja Kowollik 3rd PrizeRongrong Guo 4th PrizeLeslie Howard awarding First Prize Oxana Yablonskaya awarding 2nd Prize NinaTichman awarding 3rd PrizeDanylo Saienko Finalist n. 4. First Prize His Scarlatti was beautifully ornamented and enriched with fantasy and intelligence where he created a whole world in just a few pages. A masterly performance of the Brahms Handel Variations was followed by the ravishing beauty and dynamic drive of a Debussy Prelude and Etude .Followed by a breathtaking account of Bartók’s sonata where he created the sounds of a whole orchestra that was astonishing and exhilarating.Obviously at 33 he is an established artist of authority and mastery..Tetiana Donets Finalist n. 1 Second Prize. An amazing performance of the Weinberg Sonata op73 n. 6 with a kaleidoscope of sounds of desperation and astonishing mastery. Her Scarlatti was multicoloured ( she was awarded the special Scarlatti Prize too ) with a sense of style and a palette of sounds of radiance and crystalline clarity.A masterly control in Schubert’s ‘Drei Klavierstücke’ that showed a real understanding with an architectural shape of poignant meaning, as Schubert’s sublime melodic outpouring was allowed to flourish with simple radiance and beauty. A wonderful fluidity to the second with a kaleidoscope of refined delicacy of intimate meaning .Sonia Kowollik Finalist n. 2 Third Prize A quite remarkable control in Agosti’s Firebird with a vast range of sounds and a work that suited her volatile temperament .The Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Suite sprang to life with subtle colouring and characterisation. There was a classical clarity and buoyancy to her Bach almost completely with pedal that lacked some of the wonderful colours she was to find in her other performances.Rongrong Guo Finalist n. 5 Fourth Prize A beautifully flowing Bach of clarity and beauty.Chopin played with poetry and fearless beauty – the ‘Raindrop’ prelude played with the architectural shape of a real tone poem of aristocratic poise and menace. Quite extraordinary mastery as she climbed Ligeti’s diabolical staircase . And Brahms was played with the sumptuous golden sounds she had produced in all she did.Xin Luo Finalist n. 3 Finalist Certificate .Such delicacy and beauty of Bach played with a sensitivity and real understanding of Bach’s mighty 5 part fugue. His playing of the Liszt sonata was played with a beauty of sound and architectural understanding .Sumptuous full sound in the passionate climaxes with a radiance of tone in the more intimate confessions .A wonderful sense of balance and ravishing beauty of tone. A remarkable achievement that one or two blemishes must be ironed out to complete the miracles he already achieves.Oxana Yablonskaya with Giacometta Marrone d’Alberti with Leslie Howard with Carles Lama with Luca Leone
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 