Judging the Brilliance ofthe Brilliant
VICTORIA KINGHAM
“Competitions”, once said the great composer Béla Bartók, “are for horses, not artists.” Flamboyant pianist Glenn Gould has said that he regards piano competitions as ‘blood sports’. Chopin loathed them (but notoriously felt ‘asphyxiated’ and ‘silenced’ before all his performances). There have been various critical articles (notably in the New York Times some years ago) telling of some shady self-interested commercial practices on the judgement side, and letters and blogs from competitors who feel that such events pigeonhole everyone’s playing into a particular, approved style.
Left to right: Anthony Byrne, Vanessa Latarche, Carol Presland, Ian Fountain
It was, therefore, a fascinating and instructive privilege to attend an excellent presentation by the four jurors forming the Hastings International Piano Competition for an insight into the whole process. Vanessa Latarche, Anthony Byrne, Ian Fountain and Carole Presland – all notably gifted musicians and teachers – proved themselves hyper-aware of the inherent pitfalls in judgement.
HEIGHTENED POPULARITY
Vanessa Latarche, Artistic Director of the Hastings competition, announced that this year there were 356 entries, only 100 fewer than for the renowned original Leeds event. The prizes are considerable – a package of money, guaranteed concert dates (at least one at the Wigmore Hall), and performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (one of the finest in the world, and they love coming to Hastings) – in all worth about £35,000. A game-changing, career-launching award.
The heightened popularity is partly due to the patronage of eminent pianist and polymath Sir Stephen Hough, and partly due to the rewards on offer. But it is also maybe well-known on the classical music scene that these particular judges go out of their way to be fair. Before this final assessment, they listen in full to all the contestants’ entry videos. To avoid bias, they ensure that if they have personal knowledge of any entrant, then that video is immediately passed to someone else.
ELIMINATING MATERIAL ADVANTAGES
The judges are also mindful of the fact that not everyone has access to a beautiful grand piano or superior video equipment, or a conveniently empty concert hall. The consideration and weighing of this factor (essentially the advantages of wealth and class) is one of their major challenges. On the other hand, one or two contestants sent in videos of themselves playing beautifully, but in their slippers – the equivalent of Taylor Swift appearing in a demo video with her hair in rollers.
The judges are looking at the entries for something that jumps out at them, a special thing, the pianist’s own voice perhaps. “We play who we are”, remarks Anthony Byrne. Pianists are not judged on a pre-existing idea of ‘the best’ interpretation of a piece. Sometimes, adds Latarche, she is surprised, and educated, by a contestant’s unexpected rendering of a musical section well known to her. This kind of humility must be a key factor in the success of the event. The panel consistently try to put aside their personal preferences and instead form a view of how compelling and assured the contestant’s own version of a piece is.
The pianists are judged on their personal style, their physical performance, and their taste in selecting the two pieces they present, as well as their technical excellence. It’s all essential: they need the resilience to withstand the dedicated, often gruelling life of a concert pianist: they are assessed for evident strength in their performance, the potential ability to front a major orchestra and rivet the musicians and the audience alike. A couple of mistakes don’t matter (Arthur Rubinstein is the standard example here) – the ability to ride through them, does.
FUNDS AND FACILITIES
Hastings, like most of these kinds of events, is fortunate to have patronage. Funds are raised from a variety of sources, and pianos lent or donated by Steinway. The owners of Fairlight Hall, Sarah and David Kowitz, support the arts in Sussex and nationally through The Fairlight Arts Trust and the Kowitz Family Foundation, and are the principal sponsors of this event. Their philanthropy, the availability of Fairlight Hall for events, and the judges’ level of skill, discernment, and objectivity, has led to Hastings International Piano becoming one of the leading competitions in the world of classical music, known for creating not horses for courses, but artists for the Albert Hall.
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