Chappell Gold Medal and much more besides with a sumptuous display of superb piano playing but above all of music making of the highest order

Awaiting the results from a distinguished jury but they are all winners today as the world awaits these wonderfully trained musicians

Chappell Medal to Ruka Ogihara for an astonishing Sonata by Miyashi .Some very musicianly performances of Bach and Beethoven as you might expect from a student of Dany Driver. It was the Sonata by Miyoshi, however, that unlocked her classical restraint and respect as she was freed by the extraordinary demands of Akira Miyoshi’s 1958 Sonata. Extraordinary mastery of the keyboard as her arms became suddenly like rubber allowing her to create a kaleidoscope of colours with a dynamic natural freedom that was breathtaking in it’s audacity.

Hopkinson Gold Medal and Cyril Smith Prize to Zvjezdan Vojvodic for his mastery and supreme artistry. Opening with the extraordinary demands of Hamelin’s ‘Pavane Variée’ played with the same astonishing natural mastery as its composer. His Haydn ‘Presto’ sounded more like an impressive perpetuum mobile rather than with the charm and colour he brought to the ‘Andante con expressione’ first movement of the C major Sonata Hob XVI /48. It was his complete self identification with Liszt, that he brought to the ‘St Francis preaching to the birds’ and the Dante Sonata, that showed off his great temperament and supreme artistry where authority and showmanship combined to masterly effect.

Hopkinson Silver Medal and Peter Wallfisch Prize together with best undergraduate performance to Jiaxin Li for her hair raising Kapustin Etude that was anything but ‘Pastoral’ and her musicianly playing of Les Adieux. Her Kapustin Etude immediately showed her remarkable crystal clear clarity and refined rhythmic energy with a dizzying stream of notes .Beethoven showed off her superb classical training, that combined with her precision and respectful musicianship brought Les Adieux vividly to life. It was in Scriabin and Liszt that she could combine her technical mastery with musicianship in performances where she could carve out an architectural line of delicacy and power allied to a refined poetic fantasy.

I would have awarded some special recognition to Leo Little despite an unfortunate lapse in Scriabin 5 as he was about to pass the winners post. As this ‘outsider’ astonished us with a fearless performance of Carl Vine’s Piano Sonata n 1. Some astonishing performances of undemonstrative mastery of a pianist with a natural feeling for sound and colour. A passionate intensity and concentration that he brought not only to Vine but with the washes of sound and colours of self identification and total commitment that he brought to Debussy and Auerbach. An overwhelming performance of Scriabin’s fifth Sonata where he lost the thread towards the end, which cost him the recognition he deserved , but inspite of that he bravely brought the sonata to its demonic conclusion.

Of course there was the remarkable Schumann op 14 from Rebekah Yinuo Tan. The ‘Concerto without orchestra’ was played with dynamic drive and searing intensity. A scrupulous attention to the composers intricate indications as she gave a fearless performance of fervent commitment. Ravishing kaleidoscope of sounds in Debussy’s Images Bk 2 and remarkable clarity and mastery of the composers vivid Firework display played with virtuosity and poetic imagery.

An equally stylish Carnaval from Radu-Gabriel Stoica. A musical personality who is not afraid of having something personal to say. Pierrot and Eusebius may have been too loquacious for some tastes but it added to a performance of great commitment and style. Beethoven op 110 had been given an impeccable performance where intelligence and mature musicianship combined with a pianist who looked as though he belonged to the keyboard such was his involvement in listening to himself.

Hats off …The Chappell Gold Medal has uncovered a genius