Cliburn Competition: Semifinal Concert 5 (Mozart), June 10, 2022
—Wayne Lee Gay
Conductor Nicholas McGegan set the stage with the long orchestral introduction to Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor. Chinese competitor Yutong Sun, 26, responded with a subtly sculpted entry in the opening performance of an evening of Mozart Concertos on Thursday night. Gently, and with perfect tone, Shih reconciled the classical style with the possibilities of the modern piano and the modern concert hall in a performance marked by subtlety and imagination. Beethoven's cadenza provided an appropriate elevation or tension later in the movement.
The piano opens the middle Romanze movement of this concerto; taking a cue from Mozart's treatment of the immediately subsequent orchestral phrase, Sun created a smooth dialogue. Here, and in the final movement (once again with cadenza by Beethoven), Sun collaborated masterfully with McGegan and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, presenting singing phrases and well-thought dynamic levels.
Japanese pianist Masaya Kamei, 20, also opted for a subtle approach in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19 in F. Here, the orchestra introduces a playful opening theme with a military rhythm but light-hearted spirit; the piano picks up the theme only after a passage of fluid arpeggios, introducing a performance marked by a gentle contrast with the orchestra throughout the first movement (including Kamei's original cadenza). In the slow movement, Kamei once again took advantage of an orchestral introduction to create contrast with an almost whispered solo entry. He continued in this mode for the final movement, for an appealingly refined interpretation overall.
While competitor Sun had produced a delicate reading of the Concerto No. 20 in D minor, Korean Jinhung Park, 26, laid out a more robust but equally engaging version of the same work immediately after intermission. A gentle assertiveness likewise characterized his entry in the central Romanze; he opened the final Rondo with a vigorous forte, appropriately tempered by classical sensibility, leading to his own somewhat romantic cadenza.
But contrast between orchestra and soloist was most heavily marked in 31-year-old Russian pianist Anna Geniushene's rendition of the Concerto No. 25 in C. The work opens with a full-throated Allegro maestoso; Geniushene responded with a light, almost whispered tone at the piano's point of entry. At the close of the movement she delivered a striking pastel tone in Geza Anda's cadenza.
McGegan introduced the Andante middle movement with a patient, measured pace, and Geniushene answered with a light, sparkling touch in the rapid passage work that followed; this low dynamic level continued through the final movement. Having proved her muscle in Rachmaninoff earlier in the competition, she here once again made a striking statement with a muted approach.
