BBC Young Musician 2014

[Barbirollians]

Well if Martin and Rach/Pag don't win I'll eat my hat...but if we had to judge the music chosen, well...er, any contest there?

Well it is always hard for those with much more limited repertoire . I thought the young recorder player made a very good fist of Gordon Jacob's work - his music I tend to regard as pretty much second rank and she made it interesting .

The pianist's turning makes Uchida look straight faced .He also performs a bit like Tom in that legendary T and J cartoon with the same affected mannerisms of a concert pianist.

I wish someone would have a word as he is a very fine player .

He would still be behind the percussionist for me.

[Thropplenoggin]

Well it is always hard for those with much more limited repertoire . I thought the young recorder player made a very good fist of Gordon Jacob's work - his music I tend to regard as pretty much second rank and she made it interesting .

The pianist's turning makes Uchida look straight faced .He also performs a bit like Tom in that legendary T and J cartoon with the same affected mannerisms of a concert pianist.

I wish someone would have a word as he is a very fine player .

He would still be behind the percussionist for me.

I expect you meant 'gurning' here.

[Barbirollians]

I expect you meant 'gurning' here.

Yes . He won notwithstanding ! - I found his performance brilliant but not moving . Indeed, I would have placed him third. Music is such a subjective thing .

[edashtav]

Yes, gurning and affectation need to be swept away before Bartlett sweeps me off my feet. Furthermore, he veers in an extreme manner between an exact mechanical doll in fast, filigree movements t& molto rubato in the romantic stretches. Exceptional potential, already a brilliant and confident executant but much emotional growing up remains to be done.

I was worried by the fine tuning of the recorder player in the Gordon Jacob+. I wondered if nerves and the need to play louder than usual robbed her of some of her normal control. An exceptional talent, nonetheless.

As for the percussionist - David Heath and his meretricious music got in my way. My concentration kept lapsing as I clocked another set of thoroughly derivative bars. The young lad seemed to be on top of the job but was the piece worth either his preparation, or our time?

I loved the performance of the 2012 winner in Tchaik's Rococo Variations during the Jury Interval. If our pianist grows as much over the next two years, he, too, will be an artist.

Full marks to Kirill Karabits and the BBC SSO.

[Lento]

The pianist's turning makes Uchida look straight faced

Most performances aren't covered on TV, of course: I don't suppose the more gestural performing style (facial or otherwise) would have bothered the "live" audience. It sounded amazingly well co-ordinated with the orchestra to me, no mean feat in itself for such a young player. One suspects that the pianists and string players (pity there wasn't one this final) tend to have the best music to play, though this wouldn't sway the jury I'm sure.

[ardcarp]

I wish someone would have a word as he is a very fine player .

Well, whatever his facial expressions and body language, his rapport with conductor and orchestra...even individual players...was exceptional.

The young percussionist was fantastic too, with body language showing musicianship flowing in every vein, but how do you compare two such different achievements when one vehicle is an acknowledged masterpiece and the other.....

[Vile Consort]

Choice of repertoire has been known to sway juries. I recall one year at St Albans where the winner of the Interpretation Competition came as a bit of a surprise to the audience. I bumped into Naji Hakim (who was on the jury) the following day and mentioned this to him. He asked who the audience had expected to win. When I told him he said "But he played the Brahms A flat minor [Prelude and Fugue] - it's a very weak piece".

Of course, it is slightly different (and more difficult) when the finalists are fishing for repertoire in different pools - some rather small.

[Barbirollians]

Yes, gurning and affectation need to be swept away before Bartlett sweeps me off my feet. Furthermore, he veers in an extreme manner between an exact mechanical doll in fast, filigree movements t& molto rubato in the romantic stretches. Exceptional potential, already a brilliant and confident executant but much emotional growing up remains to be done.

I was worried by the fine tuning of the recorder player in the Gordon Jacob+. I wondered if nerves and the need to play louder than usual robbed her of some of her normal control. An exceptional talent, nonetheless.

As for the percussionist - David Heath and his meretricious music got in my way. My concentration kept lapsing as I clocked another set of thoroughly derivative bars. The young lad seemed to be on top of the job but was the piece worth either his preparation, or our time?

I loved the performance of the 2012 winner in Tchaik's Rococo Variations during the Jury Interval. If our pianist grows as much over the next two years, he, too, will be an artist.

Full marks to Kirill Karabits and the BBC SSO.

I thought the percussionist overcame the mediocrity of the music . Agree about Miss van der Heijden . She is a talent and she has come on from her marvellous Walton of a couple of years back. I think your analysis of the winner is pretty much spot on .

[Nick Armstrong]

A very leaden ROATOP so far - disappointing.

[The winner] would still be behind the percussionist for me.

I agree having just finished watching the final (again, thank the Lord for the fast forward button - those presenters... )

The pianist was seriously disappointing I thought - he (and the performance as a whole) failed to hold my attention, and the soloist was unwatchable (much more so than in the solo rounds when his manner of playing was engaging, not offputting). Not a great performance, especially having heard Freddy Kempf's winning performance on Thursday evening again after the R3 coverage of the category final - that was a very good performance indeed (I still have it on VHS somewhere).

I also had some 'fine tuning' concerns about the recorder player.

The percussionist won it for me, by a comfortable margin.

Ho hum.

(Infuriating chatter from the double-barrelled one during the time when soloists and conductor were conversing briefly just after coming offstage. Couldn't hear a word, thanks Clammy).

[Pianorak]

A very leaden ROATOP so far - disappointing.

Woudn't go as far as that, but I was wondering if this particular Fazioli was right for the piece which needs the "brilliance" of a Steinway. There were also passages when the piano couldn't compete with the rather forceful brass section. Perhaps just a question of balance though? But I thought all three finalists had "musicianship" in spades.

[Mary Chambers]

I didn't find the pianist's facial expressions worrying at all. He wasn't affected in any way, just genuinely living the music. I found him remarkable, and I hoped he would win, though all three finalists were excellent. The audience was likely to side with the pianist, because the Rachmaninov is the sort of piece that most audiences fall for, but one hopes the jury manages to be more detached. I tried to be.

Interesting that Laura van der Heijden manages to play the cello without making offputting faces, something all too many cellists fail to achieve.

James MacMillan looks a great deal better than he used to!

[marvin]

Woudn't go as far as that, but I was wondering if this particular Fazioli was right for the piece which needs the "brilliance" of a Steinway. There were also passages when the piano couldn't compete with the rather forceful brass section. Perhaps just a question of balance though? But I thought all three finalists had "musicianship" in spades.

I felt that he was picking or analysing individual notes too much which was at the expense of fluidity. God, I have heard this piece of music now for over 60 years and notwithstanding the age and tecbnical ability, found this rendition strangely uninvolving, lacking sparkle but no doubt maturity will correct that.

[Tony Halstead]

Laura van der Heijden manges to play the cello without making offputting faces

Well, I am sorry to say that I found it quite offputting that in the 'easy bits' she was mostly gazing impassively at the ceiling!
Surely there must be a middle ground between a gurning face and a stony face...?

[Mary Chambers]

Martin Bartlett's performance is on Radio 3 at the moment, and I find it just as good as I thought last night. Whether a performance is involving or not often depends on one's own mood.

[MrGongGong]

Well, I am sorry to say that I found it quite offputting that in the 'easy bits' she was mostly gazing impassively at the ceiling!
Surely there must be a middle ground between a gurning face and a stony face...?

Blimey

If I find it "distracting" to see a performer move in a way I don't like, wear clothes I don't like, be of a gender I don't like etc etc
There are two basic options

1: Close the eyes
2: Only listen acousmatically


(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acousmatic_sound)


ps: and the obvious third option is to go for a walk instead !