Day 13 - Concerto Final I

In the middle of the heat -and other big events here in Helsinki- started today the very final stage of this competition. Half of the finalists performed their concerto of choice (from this list: Bartók no. 2 or 3, Beethoven no. 3, 4 or 5, Brahms no. 1 or 2, Chopin no. 1 or 2, Englund no. 1, Grieg, Liszt no. 1 or 2, Prokofiev no. 2 or 3, Rachmaninov no. 2 or 3, Ravel G major or Concerto for the Left Hand, Saint-Saëns no. 2, Schumann a minor, Tchaikovsky no. 1) with the Helsinki Philharmonic orchestra under Leif Segerstam.

We heard Liszt's 1st played by Mrs Han, Saint-Saëns 2nd by Mrs Khachikian, and Tchaikovsky 1st by Mr Gröndahl. I don't the any point in giving a critique right here, I thought they played all very professionally, each one in her/his own distinctive way. What was amazing, was the accompaniment by the orchestra; I should point out that Mr Segerstam was at his best -his pupils would be proud of him- and did follow very well the three finalists. It's a pitty that some orchestra musicians were -if not asleep- not so well concentrated. The cooperation in Liszt went fabulous -and I have to admit that I was a bit worried: first concerto in the final, difficult one to follow with all the tempo changes. But no sir! Walk in the park for Leif. Brilliant virtuoso show by Yoonjung.

The other two finalists offered the expected, as we were used until now. A natural musicality by Violetta -combined with a solid technique (which she has but doesn't want to show off???), and a fiery, virtuoso, though not sentimental rendering of Tchaikovsky by Roope.

I believe the finals of a competition to be the place where the girls and boys are separated from the women and men. The second final tomorrow will show whether this is the case in this competition too. I've been waiting for some of the concertos in the final -and until now I was only surprised positively. Yes, tomorrow we'll see the meaning of Mr Djupsjöbacka's statement the other day...

Cheers!

Wednesday June 6th