Sunday morning
Good morning (or afternoon or evening, location depending). It’s hard to believe it’s only Sunday, there’s been so much to think about and savor since Friday afternoon. I don’t indulge in lazy Sunday mornings anymore; having twins put paid to those some time ago. But this one is busier than most, what with catching up on last night’s recitals–Tsujii at the moment, who has great clarity and, it seems, a keen sense of humor–and thinking about today’s. Fair bit of Haydn today, and of course loads and loads of Liszt.
Thanks to Mike for weighing in yesterday afternoon. A technical glitch prevented me from following up on Lee with Wu and Varvaresos, but I found myself mostly in agreement. Wu’s Haydn was interesting; her varied touch and flexibility made it more reminiscent of Beethoven than I’m used to hearing, more mercurial, more personal, even a little irascible at moments. Having just heard Lee, I couldn’t help but compare Wu’s Ravel to Lee’s Albeniz, and that it was airier and less warm-blooded wasn’t entirely a factor of the pieces’ different characters; Wu was wonderfully precise, but her relative restraint was a bit of a surprise after the Haydn. By contrast, her Gounod-Liszt was appropriately over-the-top but also nicely detailed.
My reaction to Varvaresos’ Liszt wasn’t as strong as Mike and Ken’s, but yes, Liszt often tempts a player to go into “Hulk smash!” mode, and like Faust, Varvaresos succumbed. His “Moonlight” was handsome, though, as Mike wrote, with lovely singing lines, and the Carter was a revelation. I tend to approach Carter pieces I haven’t heard with the thought that my listening experience will be incomplete, because I’ll need to go back and hear them again multiple times before I can even begin to get my mind around their cerebral intricacies. Not so with Varvaresos’ nimble, fleet Catenaires; it was well thought through and expressive, and I felt as though I were encountering Carter the human being, not Carter the brain in a vat.
And now, onward.
James McQuillen
May 24th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Hi, courteous posts there
thank’s recompense the gripping word
May 24th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Is this afternoon’s round not starting on time? The web cast client is telling me that the event I’m looking for has not yet started. Is the web cast live?
May 24th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Marcus - what time zone are you in? The schedule is for Central time.
May 24th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I’m on Eastern Time. The Schedule says that there is a prelim round today at 1pm Central Time. That would be 2pm my time. It is now 4pm and I have not been able to see any of the performers life this afternoon.
May 24th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
correction: “… any of the performers LIVE this afternoon.”
May 24th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
@Marcus: We’re in the break now, but we’ve already seen Ning Zhou and Michail Lifits. Let’s hope your feed improves and that you can see the archived performance.
May 24th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I can see the archived performances, but not the live feed. I’m a little disappointed.
May 24th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
A suggestion: quit the Viewer and restart it. I’ve used both Internet Explorer and Google Chrome to watch it. (I find that the sound is much better with this video feed than with the Internet Radio feed from that radio station.)
May 24th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Wonderful suggestion, SVGuy! I restarted my computer and now I’m being enchanted by Haydn! Thank you!
May 24th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
How different everybody’s experiences are with the technology - I wonder why this is. For me the live feed is superb, high quality, never interrupted. The archives are a disaster area - most won’t play at all (at any bit rate) and when they do they stop dead after a few minutes. What is the reason?
May 24th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Of the three performers I’ve heard this afternoon, Ning Zhou comes out the winner. Even though his”Une Barque” (Miroirs) was too slow, his Mephisto was almost TOO fast – but it was all there. Actually, one of the fastest I’ve ever heard (and that includes Horowitz and maybe one of those 12-year-old prodigies currently on the scene)) His Vallee d’Obermann was pretty good (though a bit too much on the cautious side), for a piece that is awfully hard to hold together (mostly because it has some of Liszt’s most awkward cadenzas)
Michael Lifits seemed not to understand the Schumann Fantasy too well. I thought he had beautiful tone and some phrasings in the first movement (and was 99% accurate with those treacherous leaps in II), his Langsam was waaaay off course. It just sort of boggled. He seemed overly concerned with making beautiful pianissississimos, and as I told a friend, trying to get honey out of a pearl.
Don’t know if I can take another Liszt Sonata, as even one is playing in the background now. As far as I am concerned Zhang Zuo has delivered the definitive performance of that work at this competition (and many another!).
May 24th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I have a couple of negative comments about the technology:
It is inexcusable that there is no display on the screen of who the performer is nor of what is being played. We can’t all come in at the beginning!!!
It should be possible to click on some of the links on the video page and open up tabs without disturbing the video. In my case (Firefox 3) none of the links does anything except for the scrolling photos at the below the video window.
May 24th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Would someone be kind to post the link for this competition’s archived performances? I can’t find them… .
May 24th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I saw all of the performances live …… New York City here…
May 24th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
@Chuce Borenz and @Bill:
thanks! will pass these comments on to our tech team.
reminder to anyone having problems: send an email to support@variview.com.
- emily at the press office.
May 24th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
I only saw one recital today so far. I’d like to catch all of the ones in the evening. Alessandro Deljavan was simply amazing. In my old age I’m no longer a fan of the music of Liszt, but Deljavan’s account was revelatory. His Haydn was magical. Deljavan’s artistry is world class. Perhaps my only concern with his playing is that it is too perfect. I think he needs some Horowitz chutzpah in his playing. But all in all, what he presented today was spectacular.
May 24th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I am really enjoying the live webcasts and have had only an occasional problem with the viewer software freezing. The camera work is excellent!
I love the Liszt sonata, but it seems to bring out the hammer-down tendencies in these contestants. Banging on a Steinway produces an ugly sound that doesn’t fit this music!
May 24th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
@cliburnadmin (emily)
Thanks…. I would have reported that way if I had seen such a link anywhere!
On the positive side, I must say that for me the sound and picture have been almost flawless. I have recommended the site to many of my friends, by phone and email.
Bill