Tae Hyung-Kim receives his prize from Petula Clark
- photograph courtesy of the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition website
It's a few days after the event, but the joys of the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition are still vivid in my memory of a wonderful evening last Saturday. Hastings is not great when it comes to classical music - events are comparatively few and far between, but this was well worth the wait. A packed house at the White Rock Theatre listened spellbound to three immensely talented finalists, each accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
The Italian Michelle Candotti is only sixteen years old, but gave a virtuoso performance of Chopin's Concerto No. 1 in E minor. It's immensely difficult, and she seemed techincally faultless. We were then treated to Jean-Paul Gasparian from France, all of seventeen years old, but already an experienced performer, giving a flamboyant performance of Liszt's show-off Concerto No. 1. This was already treat enough, but the icing on the cake came with Tae Hyung-Kim and Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. The emotional power in his playing was astonishing - the slow movement in particular was heart-rending and brought tears to the eyes. He won the main prize from the judges and the subsidiary prize awarded to the player who has most impressed the audience - determined by the degree of applause, foot-stamping, cheering etc that greets each name as it is announced at the end of the concert.
The Competition is part of the Hastings Musical Festival, which covers a wide range of events: Petula Clark, President of the Festival, presented the prize. The artistic director, Frank Wibaut, gave a brief speech of thanks, in the course of which he recommended attendance at the earlier heats of the Competition - which I shall certainly try to do next year. However, I hope we shall not have to wait until then for some more classical music of this standard in our seaside town.
Antony Mair
No comments:
Post a Comment