Van Cliburn Competition

[Karl-G]

Every four years, the Cliburn Competition for pianists takes place in Fort Worth.  It is one of the most important piano competitions in the world.  It takes place over two weeks and ended last Saturday night with the announcement of the winners.  The first prize went to an 18 year old boy from South Korea, Yunchan Lim, who was quite exceptional.  Other competitors ranged in age up to their early 30s.

There were six rounds to the competition, ending with  six finalists playing two piano concertos each with the Fort Worth Symphony.  Originally there were 30 contestants.  All performances were live-streamed by Facebook, Youtube, Medici.tv, and several other sites.  They have left the performances of the finalists on-line for the present, so you can enjoy them again.

So, if you enjoy piano music, you should try listening to some of the programs of Yunchan Lim.  Whether it is in the preliminary round, where he performs a very exciting Chopin "Variations on 'La Ci darem la mano'" to his final performance of the Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto, which is extraordinary, all of the programs are very enjoyable.  It does not seem possible to play as fast as he does; you cannot see individual fingers, just a blur.

 

[cany10011]

Thanks for the posting. Am enjoying watching the finals! You can find almost anything on youtube these days