Grand Finals
Day 2 (23 September)

In conjunction with “The Leeds”, which carried the motto “A real festival of piano music” (to which one might ask, “As opposed to what? A fake festival of piano music?”), the organisers had the great idea of celebrating the pianoforté by placing pianos all over the city of Leeds. “Pianos Everywhere” invited anybody – yes, anybody and everybody – to perform anything on the piano in venues like the Victorian Quarter, Leeds Railway Station, Kirkgate Market, The Light etc. It was an outreach event something like Singapore’s Piano Marathon (hatched up by yours truly in 1998), but minus the auditions.

Yes, I did get to play the piano, mainly because I could someday say, “I played the piano in Leeds”. Cheap thrill. I subsequently went on to chase away whatever bystanders there were in Kirkgate Market with substandard performances of Scott Joplin and Beethoven.

Meanwhile at Millennium Square, just behind Leeds Town Hall, some competition reject hammered out Chopin’s Raindrop Prélude and massacred Brahms’ Six Pieces Op.118 in the manner one usually did in the safety of one’s home. Respite came in the form of Leeds’ own bona fide virtuoso Benjamin Frith (a former-Fanny Waterman student), who saved the day with performances of works by Rachmaninov, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, Busoni and Liszt. A 10-year-old girl (a current Waterman student) also played a couple of pieces. I dare say the 8-year-old Abigail Sin could have easily played her off the stage, but that’s not the point. The point is: Anybody, regardless of standard or standing, could and should enjoy the piano.

(above: the massive Leeds Town Hall organ)

And so to the finals:

Kim Sung-Hoon (Korea)

Kim’s choice for the finals was Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor K.491, a suitably dramatic and even Beethovenian (at some parts) work. He had played the same concerto in the Hong Kong International Piano Competition 2005, but he appeared more confident and less fidgety or overwrought this time around. His responses were tasteful as was his repartee with the orchestra. An idiomatic cadenza of his own conception capped a satisfying first movement.

Poetry reigned in the slow movement, with the opening solo played with a childlike simplicity. Genuine pathos and fluency followed in the theme and variations finale, where a false note did no serious damage. It was on a whole a competent reading, but not on the same plane as his semi-final Bach. Somewhere, I had decided that this Kim could be the next Leeds winner. Now, I am not so sure. If he had played the Tchaikovsky First (which helped win him 3rd prize in Hong Kong), the story could be different.

Andrew Brownell (USA)

The multi-faceted artist that is Andrew Brownell (right) opted for a more poetic approach to Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.3 in C major Op.26, and for me the results were mixed. More the saint than the devil in this fiendish work, I felt he could have taken more chances and extremes in its crunching harmonies and uncompromising rhythms. There was an unnerving quality to the smoothness and slickness of his delivery, and only the lack of violence and bare-faced aggression seemed out of character. However the glacial and mysterious 4th variation of the second movement was especially chilling. Time stood still in a magical series of moment that lasted all but one minute.

An antithesis to the shock and awe that is usually Prokofiev, I felt that this totally musical reading to have had less of an impact as Song Siheng’s reading of the First Piano Concerto. Like Kim before him, Brownell was another pianist whose semi-final performance did a good deal more for me. 

Denis Kozhukhin (Russia)

All this while, the pony-tailed Russian (left) had been a dark horse with many a pundit. With a Russian playing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor Op.18, first prize would be a certainty. Or would it not? For me, his performance was the only disappointment of the final. Despite the obvious virtuosic touches, his delivery left me cold.

There was little flexibility and latitude in his poker-faced treatment of the lovely melodies. It also did not help that he raced ahead in the chordal climax of the 1st movement, leaving the orchestra in his wake. There was little sentimentality in the über-Romantic slow movement, and only in the finale did he redeem himself somewhat. There is little to add other then the first night’s finalists had done a better job. Any advantage of playing later or last had been lost.

My verdicts:

Taking into account both the semi-final recital and concerto final rounds, my rankings were as follows:

1. Kim Sunwook (Korea)
Consistent all round, the young Korean had a very strong recital showing followed by a near perfect reading of his concerto. He showed amazing precocity that will no doubt stand him in great stead for the future.

A tie for second place by

2. Kim Sung-Hoon (Korea)
A pianist whose amazing artistry in the interpretation of Bach belied an unlikely physical appearance. An almost finished artist who fits the profile of a “connoisseur’s choice” pianist.

2. Andrew Brownell (USA)
A very polished and sophisticated pianist, and all round musician. Residing in the UK, he stands to gain the most from this competition (2nd and 3rd prize winners usually do, away from the horribly unrealistic expectations that comes with finishing 1st).

4. Song Siheng (China)
A very skilled virtuoso and technician. Can still mature as an artist, and give the likes of Lang Lang and Li Yundi a run for their money. 

5. Grace Fong (USA)
Has the most beautiful touch and colour of all the finalists. If she can better cope with her nerves, will have a solid and satisfying concert career. 

6. Denis Kozhukhin (Russia)
Another highly skilled technician, typical for a Russian, but who can still grow as an interpreter in a wider choice of repertoire. 

10The judges’ verdict:

1. Kim Sunwook
2. Andrew Brownell
3. Denis Kozhukhin
4. Song Siheng
5. Kim Sung-Hoon
6. Grace Fong

Best performance of Britten: Andrew Brownell

Semi-final special prize: Yurie Miura

Second Round special prize: Nariya Nogi (Japan)

If I had come to Leeds in search of a pianist to fill the final spot for the Singapore International Piano Festival 2008 “Bach and Beyond”, I had finally found my artist. His name is Kim Sung-Hoon! (pictured above)

What else happened on Saturday 23 September 2006?

Sir Malcolm Arnold passed away peacefully at the age of 84.

In the Coca-Cola Championship, Leeds United beat Birmingham City 3-2 at Elland Road.

I got Dame Janet Baker’s autograph.

Eddie Gray (former Leeds United playing legend and Manager) said “hello”. Were we the only two people at both Elland Road and Leeds Town Hall?

I gave my dinner to a homeless man. What a day!

by Chang Tou Liang

 

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