Finale (Competition, not Programme)

All the results of the National Piano and Violin Competition have been announced, and this has definitely gotten musicians all over Singapore on their feet and looking at who's top and who's not.

Yesterday's Piano Artist Finals added with a bang as Wang Haijie played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto in Bb - technically flawless (like all Chinese pianists) but lacking in emotional subtleness. For all three performances it was easy to note that the orchestra was not in sync with the pianist, and it got very irritating when it came to Grieg; Shih-wei had finished a run up the keyboard, but was waiting for the orchestra to play the finishing note, he had to pause at the key for what a second (which was obvious enough).

But anyway I was told by my colleague sitting beside me that each pianist was given only two rehearsals with the orchestra, so that might have been the cause of the un-syncness. (Sometimes one's got to create words to fit the situation)

After all the talking, here are the results of the Piano Artist Finals:

1st Prize: Wang Haijie(Tchaikovsky Concerto in Bb)
2nd Prize: Andre Kwon Cheo Yong (Mozart Concerto in D)
3rd Prize: Cheng Shih-wei (Grieg Concerto in A)

The results looked pretty obvious, but I was hoping Andre tied it with Haijie at the top! When he came out from backstage, he looked soo like a 30-year-old concert pianist with a tailcoat and 30 years of piano experience. He played his Mozart so well, and he was good in his own right (with his Mozart) but unfortunately composer to composer, period to period, Mozart was not in comparison with Tchaikovsky.

So it was the choice of piece ultimately.

The Competition OFFICIALLY ends at 5pm today, with the last piano masterclass ending at 5pm. But as we all know masterclasses end late ALWAYS, and I estimate it to be 5.20. :)



This entire competition event has led me to several thoughts, like regretting the fact that I didn't participate but I was too busy. And that when I was participating these 15 days felt like 1 month, because it was so tiring practising nearly 6 hours a day. (two years back, that is) And the days felt so draggy because basically you weren't doing anything except for practise, eat, sleep.

I was pretty nervous also, but playing piano is all about being self-aware and listening, which can basically sum up from the start of the piece as putting pressure on the key, listening, being self-aware, and then preparing the next note, put pressure, listen, prepare and so on and so forth.

So the next time I'm posting, there will be no more mention about the NPVC already, because even I am feeling fatigue from the pressure of keeping up with the Competition. :X