Concerto Competition
VICTORIA KINGHAM at the inception of the 2024 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition
Competition judges Vanessa Latarche (Artistic Director) and Pascal Escande (centre)
With a splendid reception at the White Rock Hotel last Wednesday week, it was the start of a taxing few days for most of the competitors in the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition. From its modest beginnings, the competition has grown in size and importance and is now internationally significant, attracting some of the finest pianists from forty different countries. The average age range of the competitors is about 25. From almost 250 applicants, 40 have been chosen to compete. They will be playing some of the most challenging piano works, concertos ranging from Mozart through to Scriabin and Prokofiev.
Mozart’s piano concertos are mostly very well known, of course. But the challenge, as I heard from one of the judges, is to play them perfectly, as any fluffs or holes are instantly recognisable within their stately and open structure. But the complexity and depth of the music of Scriabin, for example, presents a different challenge. Each competitor’s program is different, which clearly makes the judges’ job extremely difficult.
Steinway & Sons, one of the major sponsors of the competition, delivered two 9-foot Model D grand pianos to the White Rock Theatre in preparation for the competition. Six more grand pianos have been installed in the White Rock Hotel next door, for rehearsals. The competition began on Thursday 22 February and continues until Saturday 2 March, when five finalists will compete for a first prize that has the potential to greatly enhance their career as a concert pianist. All rounds take place at the White Rock Theatre, and will be streamed live for a worldwide audience via the website.
Tickets for the two finals on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 March are now sold out. The second final will include performances by two of the finalists and by the 2022 winner, Shunta Morimoto, who will perform while the judges are busy choosing their winner. Tickets for Stages One and Two were free, thanks to the generous support of the Isabel Blackman Foundation.
The Southbank Sinfonia – a chamber orchestra that is formed anew each year by recruiting 33 promising music graduates – will accompany the semi-finalists in the classical concertos they choose, and the full forces of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will play once again for the five finalists. Both rounds will be conducted by Rory Macdonald.
Local pianists who don’t happen to be world-class artists have also participated via the competition’s Music in the Meadow programme. A Bechstein grand piano was situated in the Priory Meadow shopping centre from Thursday 22 February to Sunday 25 February.
Further details: hastingsinternationalpiano.org
Facebook: @hastingsconcertocompetition
Instagram: @hastingspianoconcerto
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