Leeds International Piano Competition

[jayne lee wilson]

The Bartok 3rd Concerto is certainly no rarity on record of course, usually as part of the complete set, with many famous recordings from Anda and Sandor, to Ashenazy and Donohoe, to Schiff, Kocsis, Grimaud, Bavouzet and beyond....
From all of which it would be near-impossible to choose a favourite. But the orchestral contribution is crucial. Long, Long Ago in a Galaxy Far Away I began with Anda/Fricsay on a rough Library Vinyl......now I usually reach first for Donohoe/Rattle or Bavouzet/Noseda.

Bartok Piano Concertos have often been garlanded with Awards from the Gramophone and elsewhere.... perhaps this starry, much-praised ubiquity has discouraged some from taking them on live....!

If anything I would have thought No.1 (almost as much a percussion concerto as one for piano) to be rarer as a separate concert piece; No.3 (his last completed composition) belongs to that final group of Bartok's later works after 1938 including the 2nd Violin Concerto, Divertimento and the Concerto for Orchestra, which tend to sound less rhythmically driven, discordant or percussive, and more tunefully approachable than his various earlier phases.
(One notes the close similarity in mood between the opening of the 3rd Piano Concerto's Religioso and the Tranquillo of Violin Concerto No.2...)

But I do think they work rather well as a sequential trilogy (even if you don't do it all in one go).

[Braunschlag]

‘Flim flam’ - I like that! But, of course, you qualify it Heldenleben. It’s the sum total that counts in the Leeds, not just the final, and I’d probably concur based on the finals alone.
The Brahms was ok but it might have been too ambitious, Bartok good and the Beethoven’s passable.
Looking up more on the winner he does have form and has done many competitive tournaments. Interesting to see he started
In Moscow and then continued in the UK - that says quite a lot for the UK network of teachers, Vanessa Letarche and Alexeev in particular.
But where have previous recent winners gone? Eric Lu - a couple of discs and variable reviews. And before him? The ones that spring to mind are Orozco, Ovchinkov, Bax - but after that? Has it lost its kudos?

[Ein Heldenleben]

‘Flim flam’ - I like that! But, of course, you qualify it Heldenleben. It’s the sum total that counts in the Leeds, not just the final, and I’d probably concur based on the finals alone.
The Brahms was ok but it might have been too ambitious, Bartok good and the Beethoven’s passable.
Looking up more on the winner he does have form and has done many competitive tournaments. Interesting to see he started
In Moscow and then continued in the UK - that says quite a lot for the UK network of teachers, Vanessa Letarche and Alexeev in particular.
But where have previous recent winners gone? Eric Lu - a couple of discs and variable reviews. And before him? The ones that spring to mind are Orozco, Ovchinkov, Bax - but after that? Has it lost its kudos?

Flim -flam is a bit harsh . Look I love the work but all the other finalists played masterpieces and the Rhapsody is a bit of a jeu d’esprit isn’t it?
Competitions are pretty pointless aren’t they ? What about the year Alexeev won with Schiff and Uchida following ?
Mind you Alexeev was some player…

[Braunschlag]

Of course - it is flim flam, but good quality flim! I think the Leeds is best remembered with those runners-up, what a roster that was!

[jayne lee wilson]

Flim -flam is a bit harsh . Look I love the work but all the other finalists played masterpieces and the Rhapsody is a bit of a jeu d’esprit isn’t it?
Competitions are pretty pointless aren’t they ? What about the year Alexeev won with Schiff and Uchida following ?
Mind you Alexeev was some player…

The Paganini Rhapsody is one of the undoubted masterpieces of the Concertante repertoire for me (and many others surely).

Perhaps the Variation-Form may give the superficial or initial impression of something less searching, but it covers an astonishing range of moods, textures and musical expression going well beyond play or display.

Among many special features, the way in which each Variation prepares for and leads into the next is very remarkable - rather like the oft-overlooked contribution cutting (i.e. scene to scene editing) makes to a great movie........
As with a cinematic production, you may have to make a conscious effort, whilst actually viewing or listening, to appreciate this...

"Profundity" doesn't always wear its heart on its sleeve, does it? It can have a deceptively light touch. I think Mendelssohn has often suffered from such a misapprehension too.

[Ein Heldenleben]

The Paganini Rhapsody is one of the undoubted masterpieces of the Concertante repertoire for me (and many others surely).

Perhaps the Variation-Form may give the superficial or initial impression of something less searching, but it covers an astonishing range of moods, textures and musical expression going well beyond play or display.

Among many special features, the way in which each Variation prepares for and leads into the next is very remarkable - rather like the oft-overlooked contribution cutting (i.e. scene to scene editing) makes to a great movie........
As with a cinematic production, you may have to make a conscious effort, whilst actually viewing or listening, to appreciate this...

"Profundity" doesn't always wear its heart on its sleeve, does it? It can have a deceptively light touch. I think Mendelssohn has often suffered from such a misapprehension too.

Yes it’s a lovely piece , incredibly pianistic and nicely constructed but compared to the really great “variation” pieces : Diabelli , St Anthony, Handel, etc , the flaws are to me fairly evident. I think what Liszt and Brahms does with Paganini is so much more musically interesting . But perhaps that’s just because the Rhapsody is so overplayed
There’s no real musical depth to what he’s doing with the theme is there ? For me the best Rachmaninov are (is ?j the Preludes - they really are miniature masterpieces . Rarely programmed as they are complete knuckle busters ….

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes it’s a lovely piece , incredibly pianistic and nicely constructed but compared to the really great “variation” pieces : Diabelli , St Anthony, Handel, etc , the flaws are to me fairly evident. I think what Liszt and Brahms does with Paganini is so much more musically interesting . But perhaps that’s just because the Rhapsody is so overplayed
There’s no real musical depth to what he’s doing with the theme is there ? For me the best Rachmaninov are (is ?j the Preludes - they really are miniature masterpieces . Rarely programmed as they are complete knuckle busters ….

But are these really comparable?

Liszt was explicitly seeking to emulate the Paganini Studies' technical difficulty on the Piano, Brahms too has the technical and studious approach as a prominent part of his Variations - a serious-minded work. Very different from the Piano/Orchestra Rhapsody (the clue is in the name - which it lives up to gloriously).
The Beethoven Diabellis are almost sui generis for me (but could be included in an elite-epic category with the Goldbergs, Stevenson's DSCH Passacaglia, Skalkottas 32 Pieces (note the number...), Hindemith Ludus Tonalis etc...

There are not many works comparable to the Rachmaninov. For me it remains (mercifully) fresh, very original, densely eventful for its concision, and I think it belongs to his own select group of orchestral masterpieces, including the Symphonic Dances, The Bells and Isle of the Dead...
(oh, alright - I might squeeze the 2nd Symphony in there when I'm in the mood....)

[Ein Heldenleben]

But are these really comparable?

Liszt was explicitly seeking to emulate the Paganini Studies' technical difficulty on the Piano, Brahms too has the technical and studious approach as a prominent part of his Variations - a serious-minded work. Very different from the Piano/Orchestra Rhapsody (the clue is in the name - which it lives up to gloriously).
The Beethoven Diabellis are almost sui generis for me (but could be included in an elite-epic category with the Goldbergs, Stevenson's DSCH Passacaglia, Skalkottas 32 Pieces (note the number...), Hindemith Ludus Tonalis etc...

There are not many works comparable to the Rachmaninov. For me it remains (mercifully) fresh, very original, densely eventful for its concision, and I think it belongs to his own select group of orchestral masterpieces, including the Symphonic Dances, The Bells and Isle of the Dead...
(oh, alright - I might squeeze the 2nd Symphony in there when I'm in the mood....)

I was emboldened by all this to play the 18th variation (just about the only one I can get my fingers round ) and I’m thawing - it is a lovely piece to play .The shouts of “magnificent “ and , less encouragingly , “keep going “ from my audience of one helped . All I can say is that all the works you mention are much more comparable than Hendrix and Vivaldi !
The Liszt variations on the famous Caprice aren’t really that difficult- I can just about get through them . The Liszt studies after Paganini ( esp Campanella) are very difficult and the Brahms esp the second set border on the impossible . I agree with you all those works you mention are masterpieces….