The Cliburn Report 7: Da Capo

Claire Huangci

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[I will be covering the final round of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June for 88.1 KDHX.  Meanwhile I’m picking the best of the current press coverage for you dining and dancing pleasure.]

No matter where you stand on the question of the validity of piano competitions in general and The Cliburn in particular, you must admit that the folks behind the Fort Worth-based competition/festival are always looking for ways to improve it and raise public awareness of it (not necessarily the same thing).

This time around, for example, they have doubled the length of the preliminary round by allowing each contestant to perform two 45-minute recitals instead of one as they used to do.  It’s more work for the pianists and (especially) the jury, but it does give every performer a second chance.

François Dumont

For an example of the importance of that second chance, one needs look no farther than Claire Huangci (23, USA), who opened the Phase II preliminary session Monday afternoon.  As Gregory Isaacs notes in his TheaterJones review:

Her performance of excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Sleeping Beauty, in a virtuoso arrangement by the Russian pianist Mikhail Pletnev, has surely caused the judges to reconsider her. Marquis said that the second recital might make up for an off day in the first round. In this case, it allowed Huangci to have a spectacular day after a good one. Also, it helped to make up for her falling, by luck of the draw, into the dreaded first position in the competition.

As it happens Ms. Huangci’s Sleeping Beauty suite was one of the few performances I’ve been able to catch on the Cliburn’s live webcast, and I heartily second Mr. Isaac’s comments.

Alex McDonald

Meanwhile, wall-to-wall coverage by Mr. Isaacs and Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News continues.  In addition to Ms. Huangci, Mr. Isaacs’s favorites from the first, second, and third Monday sessions were:

• François Dumont (27, France) – “His ability to switch musical styles was remarkable, from an understated Mozart to an explosive Chopin with a highly colored Gaspard in between.”
• Yury Favorin (26, Russia) – Another pianist who demonstrated facility in different musical styles (Schubert, Wagner as arranged by Liszt, and a contemporary work).
• Beatrice Rana (20, Italy) – “In my earlier review of Beatrice Rana, I commented that I heard remarks in the audience such as ‘here is a real artist.’ After today, we heard ‘she might be a winner.’”
• Alex McDonald (30, USA) – “[H]e turned in a wonderful performance, with some truly remarkable moments, that validated the trust many have in him.”  I watched the tail end of this one and was pretty much blown away by his bravura performance of Stravinsky’s Trois mouvements de Pétrouchka.

Mr. Cantrell's morning, afternoon, and evening reviews singled out:

• François Dumont – “awesome technical command—not merely speed and power but also fastidious clarification of gentle rustles and cascades.”
• Claire Huangci – “one of the most impressive performers in the first phase, got the second off to a fine start.”
• Beatrice Rana – “after a fairly generic recital Friday, thrust herself among the frontrunners Monday.”

By way of contrast, he named Mr. Favorin “most annoying player so far.”

And so it goes.