20 & 21 September Finals – St George’s Hall, Bradford
Friday 20 September
Julian Trevelyan
Béla Bartók Concerto No.3, Sz.119
Kai-Min Chang
Beethoven Concerto No.4 in G, Op.58
Junyan Chen
Sergei Rachmaninov Concerto No.4 in G-minor, Op.40
These competitors will perform Concertos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under its Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan.
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In Bartók Concerto 3 Julian Trevelyan was somewhat clinical and hard-edged, with a tendency to pound, and although the slow movement was more sensitive, there was a lack of heart and soul to take the listener into the depth of feelings this music can inhabit. There were also moments when Trevelyan was slightly ‘away’ from the RLP and Hindoyan.
Poise and poetry were immediately evident from Kai-Min Chang in Beethoven 4 in an account that was listenable, and accompanied in livelier fashion than the Bartók had been. Chang made much of the first-movement cadenza (the usual one rather than the alternative that served Gilels and Brendel so well). Chan did a nice line in appeasement in the second movement, but a shame there was little to appease given the already-subdued strings made little impression, although there was a fair old lick for the Finale, maintained with spirit, making Chang’s first encounter with this wonderful work that bit more noteworthy, and further put into perspective Trevelyan’s performance, ten previous ones of his chosen No.3, he told us with a degree of arrogance.
The sound was so-so, the orchestra on the boxy side, and presentation could be stilted, over-chatty, even gushing … but the reward for lasting the interval was the great Rachmaninov No.4, given a passionate and expressive outing by Junyan Chen, good enough to not come across as a Competition performance, the RLP and Hindoyan raising their game regarding projection (the clearly audible woodwinds at the beginning, for example) and involvement. Junyan Chen impressed with her naturalness and assurance, and her technique and musicianship, Hindoyan now going that extra mile.
Don’t know why Radio 3 is only covering the finals tonight as we’re already three pianists ahead!
Quite right, superfluous coverage by r3 and they only broadcast the semis last night and at the same time as the first final was happening!!! I’ll be watching on youtube tonight when the second final happens live. The pianist who played Rachmaninov last night was brilliant.