Concerto contest

Press, 13 December 1982, Page 6

Concerto contest

National Piano Concerto Competition recall session at the Christchurch Town Hall, Saturday, December 11, for six semi-finalists. Reviewed by Allan Francis. The task of finding three finalists on Saturday evening was not an easy one. accords ing to the judge. Mr Kenneth Eade. with a standard of playing the highest he had experienced in the last five years and in 13 different countries. While this reflected in the quality of musical ability in New Zealand it also paid tribute to the number of excellent teachers and the importance of the accompanists. In his final summation ■ where Mr Eade tried to take a broad viewyof the competitors'- playing. his choice, of three to go forward to February 12 next year was Fiona Steedman, of Napier, Read Gainsford. of Auckland, and Denis King, of’.Wellington. His main criticism centredon phrasing", whether it was

well-shaped and the overeagerness to anticipate a climax. Some parts, he said, were nigh perfect and in the end he favoured such composers as Mozart, Prokofiev. or Ravel over the modern percussive composers. On the night he purposely dispensed with the pin-prick-ing methods of looking for an odd slip of no consequence, taking the “broad view” of the pieces as a whole and whether there was real enjoyment emanating from the playing. Apart from Mr Eade’s personal leanings towards some composers there was no doubt that the choice of which piece to play was an important one, as the well worn Schumann still came up to advantage over the flashiness of Liszt, regardless of the virtuoso nature of the latter. . • Of course Read Gainsford captured to perfection the wry humour of Prokofiev's Concerto No. 3 in C major, while Denis King 'got those

delicious Gershwin off-beat chords in Ravel's Concerto in G. in spite' of a certain woodiness in the slow movement. The phrasing of Mozart's Concerto No. 24, however, by Fiona Steedman was impeccable. It was inevitable that some of the accompanists might tend to overshadow the soloists and this reviewer felt that there were moments when one's attention was focused on the "orchestra” instead of the pianist. With the competition so keen there were many “near misses" in reaching the final three, a certain reflection of ■ the high, over-all standard of ■ the young pianists. One looks forward with 1 relish to the last night of the , competition when the final- | ists will play their entire i concertos with the Christ- ! church Symphony Orchestra, i conducted by Carl Pini. The I judge on this occasion will be Mr Walter Hautzig, professor , of piano at the Peabody Conservatory; 'Baltimore. United States..