Concours musical international de Montréal (piano)

Alice Burla was playing from Swiss, and Mr. Tadokoro from Paris. According to the rules of the competition, the piano model and the microphones are supposed to be the same. But I agree, Alice's tone was warm and full, and the other guy's sound was indeed thin and brittle. Hard to believe it could be just the touch, but who knows...
At any rate, I think Mrs Burla has a real chance to be in the prizes, not the case IMHO for Tadokoro. Ying Li, from China, was superb in the semi-finals, but I am perplexed at the works she chose for the final (Brahms and Mozart). My other faves are the two Korean women and the Italian.
Bonne écoute, Gilles!

Absolument d'accord en tous points, Gilles!
I thought Kim had a bit of a difficult start with the Beethoven #30 (a great choice of program nevertheless), but she warmed up by the third movement. The Scriabin was just beautiful, her playing is so clean and expressive. Her Gaspard was fantastic! And I am a huge Beatrice Rana fan as well. (Met her once in person, lovely...and very intimidating). Kim did good in the Burge piece, but you are absolutely right about Burla really...."nailing" that inside the piano part (haha).
I think that the other Korean (Park) played very well, but her program...that Brahms sonata was endless and boring (not her fault
Unless something truly outstanding happens with the last 4 finalists, I think Burla and Kim will be on the (virtual) podium Friday.

The Stravinsky always gets me tapping my feet when well played, such powerful rhythms... I think Chiba did well but I think I prefered Tadokoro in the semis. I have to listen to your selection, but I have Pollini on a CD that is hard to beat...

Not crazy about Chiba's Kreisleriana though. He makes it sound too much like the Kinderszenen for my taste.

Ah! Brahms, and his love of variations... I liked these by Ying Li especially the demonic fugue at the end that seems to be an answer to Beethoven's Hammerklavier. But the theme has to be interesting to support such a long treatment, so I can't stand the Paganini ones but I love the ones from Haydn, especially the orchestral version. I think she played the Mozart because she needed such a joyous piece as stimulation for what followed. Very precise and clear playing. She is somewhere on the podium, I think. Good idea also to begin with the thawing movement before the fingers are all sweaty.
I find she has unusually long fingers for an Asian woman, that helps for Brahms.

...Plus que deux!

I had an infortunate mishap this morning: in my rush to get online, I clicked on Malignan's semi-final video instead of the final! By the time I realized my mistake (hadn't had my espresso yet!), the Beethoven sonata was in its last five minutes. I'll have to watch again, but I was impressed with Malignan's playing anyways (although I wonder why pick something like the Metdner pieces, not the greatest music IMHO). His Debussy was completely in character, with lots of nice little nuances. I was eagerly awaiting Granata playing the Chopin Preludes, as it is one of my fave work. He certainly did not disappoint, although he tripped in the final, #24, and seemed out of steam...
I guess I am not the most objective judge in these competitions: I tend to be influenced by the repertoire I prefer, and (according to my wife!) favour the women contestants...! She insists on watching the performances with her eyes closed to avoid being influenced by the body language of the players! To me, its the opposite: I enjoy the body language and inevitably connect emotionally with the performers...or not.
We re-watched Kim and Burla's final performances, and it confirmed our very favourable opinion. Two great players.

As for the insufferable Huss (!), he is totally unpredictable and often just mean for the sake of it...so....I take his opinion with a grain of salt. Another critic, Caroline Rodgers (Ludwig van Montréal website) completely trashed the performances of contestant Alice Burla. Totally uncalled for. After the semis, Rodgers picked her favourites before the finalists were announced...and got only 3 out of 8. So what does she know
I think you have a point, Gilles about virtuosity vs musicality. However, I think that Su Yeon Kim showed musicality on par with Malignan.
My favourite contestants in no particular order were Kim, Burla, Granata and Malignan. What the jury will decide is quite another matter!
We'll find out tomorrow...

1st prize: Su Yeon Kim
2nd prize: Yoichiro Chiba
3d prize: Dimitri Malignan

Very happy for Kim. Completely deserved! Shocked with Chiba in 2nd, ahead of Malignan (who also won Prix du Public), hard to understand. Chiba sure can play all the notes right, but....Malignan is heads and shoulder above, a superior musician. We watched his recital again last night, what a fine pianist. Alice Burla won best interpretation of the compulsory piece (fully deserved). Sad for Ying Li, empty handed. A wonderful pianist nevertheless. And now your turn, Gilles
Ah, you beat me to it!

Huss qualifie la lauréate Kim de "présentable"....c'est plus qu'une insulte, non?
I imagined this scene: Alice Burla, when she plays, often looks up in the air...and makes me think of Elizabeth Montgomery in "Bewitched" (Ma sorcière bien-aimée). It seems like, any minute, she could wiggle her nose and make something disappear...like music critic Christophe Huss!