The Truth About Piano Competitions: What You Need to Know
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Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I'm Robert Estrin. A viewer asked me, "How are piano competitions judged?" And it got me thinking. It's such a subjective thing, isn't it? Who's better? Who plays the piano better? Obviously it's more art than science. So there's a lot to this question. I'm going to dive right in for you! There are more fine concert pianists in the world today than ever before in history.
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I actually still liked the slower version even after the faster. It didn't feel lifeless to me.
Same, but I still get his point
Me too.
Me to , slower is more elegant and full of life , sometimes abnormally faster tempos is more histeric and abnormal .
Well he did mention that the judges sit their for hours, days and months on end, they travel the world basically. At that stage it just becomes very subjective.
the faster one seems so rushed and kinda angry just like forcing the music on your ears. The slower one is much better. It's like savoring a nice loll pop instead of just devouring it all in 5 seconds.
"Competitions are for horses, not artists." (Bartók)
Vladimir Horowitz and Arthur Rubinstein each didn't like competitions. Yet, what's the history of piano? Wasn't there once a showdown of Clementi and Mozart? Bartok was so right.
Although he said that after he lost one 😆
Gary Grafman, while he was the president of the Curtis Institute, did not allow two of his students to enter competitions. He felt that these two students should not enter competitions since competitions serve to bring promising pianists to the attention of those in a position to forward their careers. He felt that those people were already aware of these two… and they were Lang Lang and Yuja Wang. And as you can see, not winning a major competition has not affected their career one bit.
@@grubbetuchus The showdown of Celementi and Mozart, or Händel and Scarlatti for example, are NOT comparable to piano competitions these days, because those showdowns were a popular kind of entertainment for an audience.
Competitions are sometimes necessary for other pianists to be known, it may not be the right way, but it is what it is.
My piano teacher and I used to argue about precision vs. passion all the time, especially before competitions. She insisted on 100% precision all the time, whereas I felt that if you're playing Chopin or Beethoven, if you're not bringing passion to your performance, you're not properly invoking the temperment and emotions of the composer. Precision is important, this is true, but I always felt that the primary purpose of music is to evoke that emotion, because without it, even the most tempestuous Beethoven Sonata or the most meloncholy Chopin Prelude comes out flat and stale.
Accuracy is only an issue if the listener is aware of mistakes. This can cause an uneasy feeling waiting for the next flaw. However, beyond a certain point, it's the music that is of primary importance unless the inadequacies of technical abilities becomes a distraction.
Hot take. Both are important. I would take precision over style anytime.
Both are important. A major mistake can spoil an otherwise good performance. However passion does not mean being louder, faster, or more rubato.
A lot of concert pianists play a little too fast for my taste so if I was a judge I would probably favor slightly slower tempos. Great question and excellent answer.
Haha as a concert pianist myself I honestly have to agree with you :)
@@AnnaKhomichkoPianist you play so nicely! Do you have some tips for chopin etude op. 25 no. 2? Because I'm still pursing to become a decent classical pianist. How would you describe being a concert pianist? And how much do you practice per day? I hope you reply, because I love to benefit from advice by people like you!
As an amateur pianist who plays for enjoyment, I don't understand the appeal of serious piano competitions at all. It seems like everything has been turned into a serious competition in recent years (painting, knitting, footware design). Even eating is a serious competition now. Its not enough for people to eat food and enjoy the culinary arts. They have to make eating into a sport and see who can eat the fastest. And its not enough to simply make music and enjoy it. You have to win competitions. I'll pass there, thank you.
I agree. However, there are so few opportunities for budding young artists to get noticed. So, many pianists choose competitions because of a scarcity of other avenues of career advancement.
Some young virtuosos would pick the fastest and most technical pieces to dazzle the judges and the audience that they can play pieces others can't. And the judging can be very subjective. Once saw a piano competition on TV from somewhere in eastern Canada. A young lady from the Ukraine played a good performance of the Bach Concerto BWV1056 in Fm. Some of the judges thought she was immature because of her age. Instead of placing her first, she got a second. Another judge spoke out in disgrace that she should be first. Since there was no age restriction to the competition, every performer should be treated equally. We're not judging somebody's age being too young or too old.
I graduated from Juilliard years ago. And would never do this again. Life is too short
Thanks so much for consistently uploading videos. I am a beginner adult student and your videos help me soooo much! You’re a great person and thank you for being you.
Totally agree! Even as professional pianist I love his videos
I also like the slower one, it's more delicate, nuanced. I connect with it more. But it might be my personal taste.
"Play to your own convictions" might work during a competition but not for an exam. Heard stories about this very issue. Exam adjudicators prefer that one stick to the score and the intentions of the composer. Personally I like this better than rather than embellishing a piece. BTW I preferred the 1st excerpt of the K330 - it was more 'clean' and beautiful to my ears.
The main problem of playing classical music is probably that intentions of a composer can be understood veeery differently...
@@AnnaKhomichkoPianist The most basic intentions can be clearly interpreted (ie. dynamics, tempo, expression etc.) and are easily read off the score. The finer points (ie. the original intended audience, what was the backdrop of the composition (time of war, revolution, death, marriage etc.)) can be known by everyone doing a bit of research but is interpreted differently. This is something I'm sure I'll learn but a very, very long time off into the future. For now, I'm working on my Level 3 technical requirements :-)
@@AnnaKhomichkoPianist And then, do those intentions matter as much as some people feel they do? If I listen to the Ampico recordings of Rachmaninov playing his own music, well, however great a pianist he was, I prefer the way Lugansky plays him.
There's also the argument that in competitions you should demonstrate you understand the performance world's consensus of how it "should" be played, and demonstrate you can do so masterfully. Leave your unique and new interpretations to your concert performances and social media to gain your following and fame.
Best example to see what competition does to music is Debussy. Fortunately some very precise piano rolls have appeared and the dynamics of expression by Debussy himself are way more radical and extreme than what most concert pianists play today.
I imagine that many pianists in history actually sounded way different than nowadays and about speed: Many pieces sound way better if the speed is vastly decreased or like with Debussy the difference between slow and fast more intonated. Artists like Valentina Lisitsa and Lang Lang are often Speed killers. Even my old mother hates these excesses in speed. This is why I also follow Wim Winters with his „Historical Tempo“ initiative.
I've talked about the louder faster brigade for years. We now have what I call "combat Bach". Steinway's marketing (not quality, the US piano's are third tier IMO) has thrust them to the forefront as the go to instrument for competitions and so their pianos are intended to serve the louder faster movement. Because they are usually the first brand that people think of for top pianos, other manufacturer's tend to follow their lead with the result that US Steinways at least are extremely disappointing, especially given the prices. Their own Boston brand is a better bet.
Have you ever made a video on how you created that custom controller? It makes my Korg D1 (or even the Kawaii VPC1) look like a toy.
Thanks for the explanation, that was interesting. I remember when learning Fur Elise that I particularly appreciated Lang Lang's slow but emotional version, but I definitely see your point. If you play it slow you have to make it really special.
There are no artists anymore ! Listen to the old pianists from the golden age.
Such a great reply to questions I have thought about for a long time. Thank you for posting.
The problem with piano competitions is that they have nothing to do with the music.
I tend to prefer slower performance.
What a great controller! Did you build it yourself or I can buy one?
The best way to understand judging is to do some judging to understand the human psyche in that situation, and how hit or miss it can be (understand that, and you will never be discouraged, you will only have hit or miss days).
Some pianists are similar to sports personnel. They have their good & bad moments & even disappearing after winning a competition !
Anything you can’t measure is subjective. Music, art, food, entertainment, etc
you can measure subjective mediums through objective means.
If you lose. Consider it a win
Absolutely not. I lost a piano competition in 2018 and haven't forgotten about it. I am almost certain that the 1st place winner (if not all of the prize winners in the event) was a student of one of the adjudicators
So I guess Elton JOhn and Liberace would have been eliminated.
Doubt it; besides, they played as exhibitors. Not as competitors. The audience members were not expected to judge a performance, but instead to enjoy it.
Danke, Maestro. 🌹🌹🌹
Rubinstein said he opposed competitions. Competition is destructive to music. Sometimes players go the opposite route from what you described: being overly dramatic, expressive, or flamboyant to 'wow' the judges, while players who are valiant but not distinctive enough have their talent go unnoticed. Competition really kills creativity.
I pretty much agree (BTW, I saw Rubinstein perform in person in 1972 -- he was great).
@@bobcrestwood740 Wow!
@@Sanjay-kx1pm Sometimes simple is best.
Horowitz thought the same! th-cam.com/video/01O1P6HmjD4/w-d-xo.html
Rubinstein 5:37 -> th-cam.com/video/a6fZ6OzF3_E/w-d-xo.html
Slower is electrifying for me. Much more convincing!?
If you believe in the double beat theory, no piece should be played that fast
Re that Mozart sonata, Mozart was so close to Boogie Woogie!
Why do you have to have “ winners ?”
Great playing and great explanation. One question, where is that tripped down keyboard coming from ???
It is a concert grand action controlling PianoTeq physical model piano software!
This demonstration was an eye opener!!
I reckon anyone would need to have passed the FRSM exams to be able to enter such competitions.
I have both FRSM and FTCL, and I've never joined any competition.
❤️❤️👏🏼👏🏼