At Cliburn Competition, Pianists From South Korea, Russia and Ukraine Triumph

[lennygoran]

At Cliburn Competition, Pianists From South Korea, Russia and Ukraine Triumph

The war in Ukraine loomed over the prestigious contest in Texas, named for the pianist Van Cliburn, who won a victory in Moscow at the height of the Cold War.


By Javier C. Hernández
June 19, 2022

For 17 days, the young artists competed in what some have called the Olympics of piano-playing: the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Texas, one of classical music’s most prestigious contests.

On Saturday, the results were in: Pianists from South Korea, Russia and Ukraine prevailed in this year’s contest.

Among the winners are Yunchan Lim, 18, from Siheung, South Korea, who became the youngest gold medalist in the Cliburn’s history, winning a cash award of $100,000; Anna Geniushene, 31, who was born in Moscow, taking the silver medal (and $50,000); and Dmytro Choni, 28, of Kyiv, winning the bronze medal ($25,000).

“I was so tired,” Lim, who played concertos by Beethoven and Rachmaninoff in the final round, said in a telephone interview. “I practiced until 4 a.m. every day.”

“Texas audiences are the most passionate in the world,” he added.

The war in Ukraine loomed over this year’s contest, which began in early June with 30 competitors from around the world, including six from Russia, two from Belarus and one from Ukraine.

The Cliburn, held every four years in Fort Worth, had drawn criticism in some quarters for allowing Russians to compete. The decision came as cultural institutions in the United States were facing pressure to cut ties with Russian artists amid the invasion.

The Cliburn stood by its decision, citing the legacy of Van Cliburn, an American whose victory at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, during the Cold War, was seen as a sign that art could transcend politics.

Choni, the Ukrainian competitor, said he felt proud to represent his country at the competition. He said he almost cried at the beginning of the awards ceremony on Saturday, when a previous winner of the Cliburn, Vadym Kholodenko, who is also from Ukraine, played the Ukrainian national anthem.

“It was so touching,” Choni said in a telephone interview. “The situation right now has probably put some additional pressure on me, but it’s just an honor for me to be here.”

Geniushene, the Russian pianist, who left Russia for Lithuania after the invasion and has been critical of the war, said she felt uplifted to see a mix of countries represented among the winners.

“It’s a huge achievement,” she said in a telephone interview. “We all deserve to be on the stage.”


https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/19/arts ... raine.html

[maestrob]

Thanks for posting that, Len. I plan on following all three winners, but IMHO I think Genuisheme should have won the gold. At that level of artistry, such decisions are often arbitrary, but I felt she was the more mature artist in her playing. I was also disappointed that Stephenson did not win. He certainly deserved a medal of some sort.

Congratulations to all!

[Rach3]

Thanks for this article.

I have heard portions of all the most recent Leeds,Queen Elisabeth,Chopin,Tchaikovsky,and now Cliburn piano competitions. While winners Liu in Warsaw and Kantorow in Moscow were standouts, it seemed to me , at least from my admittedly not complete sampling, the level of excellent playing at the Cliburn exceed the other competitions on average.

Lim's achievement was significant.He not only gave historic performances of the Liszt TE's and Rach 3, but also won the prize for best performance of the Hough work and connected to his audiences with the Audience prize.His Preliminary recital was daringly low key with works by Couperin,Mozart, and Chopin-Mozart, and he chose a rarely heard Mozart concerto.One can only hope his Cliburn obligations, and extensive travel, over the coming year dont burn him out.

[slofstra]

Thanks for posting that, Len. I plan on following all three winners, but IMHO I think Genuisheme should have won the gold. At that level of artistry, such decisions are often arbitrary, but I felt she was the more mature artist in her playing. I was also disappointed that Stephenson did not win. He certainly deserved a medal of some sort.

Congratulations to all!

I agree Genuishene was the more mature performer, and played to her strengths as well. However, the way Lim played the Rach 3 was incredibly moving, far beyond what you'd expect from an 18 year old. There's a giant intuition at work in this lad's mind.
I would have preferred to see them both win a gold, not on the basis of a tie, but because, if there is such a thing as a 'gold standard' in performance, they both met or exceeded it.