3rd China Shanghai International Piano Competition 2005

The Third China Shanghai International Piano Competition was held from November 1-10, 2005, as part of the Seventh China Shanghai International Arts Festival. The Competition was held in the ‘He Luting Concert Hall” at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The Jury was chaired by Prof. Liqing Yang, the President of the Shanghai Conservatory. The other members of the Jury were: Sulamita Aranovsky (England), Andrea Notanatta (Italy), Yoheved Kaplinsky (USA.), Vladimir Krainev (Russia), John O’Conor (Ireland), Shucheng Shi (China), Jacques Taddei (France), Warren Thomson (Australia) and Arie Vardi (Israel). The Artistic Director is Zhong Xu (China). A Press Conference was held at the Shanghai Conservatory on Monday, 1st November at 10.30am, followed by an Official Lunch. The Grand Opening Concert was held in the Shanghai Oriental Art Center Concert Hall, which seats an audience of 1,900, on 1st November at 7.30pm. Following the Opening Speeches by program comprised: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 with John O’Conor as soloist. INTERVAL Poulenc Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani with Jacques Taddei as soloist. Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos with Vladimir Krainev and Song Siheng as soloists The concertos were accompanied by the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Hou Run Yu. This orchestra was founded in April 2004. Twenty-six competitors were invited to participate in the Competition and 23 registered. The countries represented were: Germany (1), Armenia (1), USA (2), China (11), France (3), Russia (5), Ukraine (1), Poland (1) and Australia (1). Shanghai Oriental Art Center’s Concert Hall and Opera Theatre The Competition itself began on Tuesday, 2nd November, with sessions at 1.00pm and 7.00pm, with the Preliminary Stage lasting two days with 23 pianists performing 30 minutes each. The program required: 1. A virtuoso study by Chopin 2. A virtuoso study by Liszt, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Scriabin or Stravinsky 3. One movement of a classical sonata by Haydn or Mozart or Beethoven 4. Work(s) of the competitor’s own choice. The jury then voted using the “Yes”, “No” system to indicate the 12 competitors they wished to proceed to the Semi-Final. The twelve chosen represented: Ukraine (1), China (6), Russia (1), USA (2), Australia (1) and France (1). For the Semi-Finals that lasted over two days, the requirements were: A recital of 60 minutes duration of works of the competitor’s choice. No works from the Preliminary Stage could be repeated. Some typical programs were: 1. (a) Liszt – Sonata in B minor (b) Ravel – ‘Scarbo’ from Gaspard de la nuit (c) Stravinsky – Three Movements from Petrouchka 2. (a) Beethoven – Sonata Op 53 ‘Waldstein’ (b) Ravel – ‘Une barque sur l’ocean’ from Miroirs (c) Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition 3. (a) Beethoven – Sonata Op 109 in E major (b) Schumann – Sonata Op 11 in F-sharp minor (c) Rachmaninov/Horowitz – Sonata No. 2 Op. 36 in B-flat minor 4. (a) Haydn – Sonata HobXVI/31 in E major (b) Liszt – Sonata in B minor (c) Schumann – Abegg Variations Op. 1 (d) Ginastera – Sonata No. 1 At the end of the Semi-Finals, the Jury again voted using the Yes/No system to select the 6 finalists. The Jury was accommodated at the Heng Seng Peninsular International Hotel not far from the ‘Bund’. The hotel of 25 floors had 360 rooms and a number of restaurants. A buffet breakfast was provided each morning. This comprised both Chinese and Western food of many varieties. Lunches and dinners were provided at a wide range of restaurants in private dining rooms. We were provided with a very wide range of dishes including a number that were Shanghai specialities. Chinese wine made in conjunction with French companies and Australian wines were available at a number of places. On the minibus trips to and from the hotel and Shanghai Conservatory of Music, we passed a number of the city’s most exciting new architecture projects. There are now many stunning skyscrapers, often set in gardens. These buildings are flood-lit at night as are some of the extraordinary road overpasses which can have up to four levels of roadways, criss-crossing to give better traffic flow. Many of the high-rise apartment buildings are also set in gardens. As the population of Shanghai approaches 20 million, the number of new buildings also increases replacing older buildings of only a few stories. There is now pride in the city with roadways and streets continually being cleaned. The traffic is quite chaotic with seemingly few road rules being followed. Despite this, I saw no accidents but a number of near misses. Shanghai City Skyline The Finals were in two sections. All six finalists performed a Mozart Concerto from a list of seven. Ones chosen by the Finalists were: KV271 (2), KV456 (1) and KV488 (3). The level in this part of the competition was somewhat disappointing. It was a difficult task to select the three to proceed to the Second Stage of the Finals – the 19th and 20th Century Concertos. There was a list of 20 concertos to choose from. The three selected for Finals 2 were: • Esther Park (21) USA, who chose Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 • Zhang Zuo (17) China, who chose Rachmaninov Paganini Variations • Romain Descharmes (25) France, who chose Ravel Piano Concerto in G major The Finals 2 Concert was also held in the Main Hall of the Conservatory on the evening of 9th November beginning at 7.00 p.m. The audience really enjoyed this concert and was a much larger and enthusiastic audience than we had for the solo rounds. On the 9th November, a luncheon for the Jury was hosted by Madame Yin Yi Cui, the Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. A delicious lunch was held at the Oriental Peace hotel and comprised ten courses, all beautifully presented. In the evening was the Finals 2 Concert with the three finalists performing with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. As 8th November was a free day, a small group decided to have an excursion to the ‘water townlet’ nearly 1.5 hours from Shanghai. The town of Zhouzhuang is completely surrounded by water with canals and no streets. Similar to Venice, but on a small scale, there are some 106 bridges, many dating back many centuries. The houses are one or two stories with black tile roofs and white walls. There are walkways in front of the houses and some beautiful trees, including Weeping Willows. On the evening of 10th November, the Gala Presentation of Prizes and Recitals by Prize-Winners, was held also at the Conservatory Main Hall. The Prize-Winners were: USD25,000 First Prize - Not Awarded USD15,000 Second Prize - Roman Descharmes (France) USD10,000 Third Prize - Zhang Zuo (China) (each) (Esther Park (USA) There was also a USD2,000 Mozart Concerto Prize The jury departed from Shanghai over the next two days. We were certainly very well looked after, and the many superb dinners will be remembered for a long time. - Warren Thomson

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