Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. A viewer asked me, “How are piano competitions judged?” And it got me thinking. It’s such a subjective thing, isn’t it? Who’s better Who plays the piano better? Obviously it’s more art than science. So there’s a lot to this question. I’m going to dive right in for you! There are more fine concert pianists in the world today than ever before in history. Consider this:
In China alone there are over 40 million piano students!
Many of them are extraordinarily accomplished. And of course there are pianists all around the world. But there are a limited number of competitions. The international competitions, like the Cliburn, the Chopin, and the Tchaikovsky attract the greatest talent from the entire world.
What does it take to enter these competitions?
You have to play at such a high level to even approach these competitions because the repertoire requirements are tremendous. These top tier competitions require several complete programs, concertos, chamber music, all from memory, and sometimes there will be a piece written just for the competition that nobody’s ever seen or heard before! Instead of being able to refresh all the music that’s percolating in their heads, competitors have to immerse themselves in a brand-new piece to learn on the spot! How’s that for a challenge? Yet, there are still so many people vying for these piano competitions. The truth is, just being able to get into the semi-finals in one of these competitions is a milestone.
What is it like to compete in a piano competition?
Just like the Olympics, people prepare for months or years in anticipation of this one day. These competitions only come around periodically. Competitors might have a good day, they might have a bad day. Maybe they got a cold just the night before. The piano used in the competition might have an action similar to what they are used to and they’re right at home. Conversely, somebody else might feel off-put by the piano if it doesn’t feel anything like what they’re used to. Many of these top tier competitions, like the Tchaikovsky, offer a choice of pianos. Making that choice can be a very tough decision as well.
What are some of the things that enter into how judges evaluate one pianist to the next?
There are many things involved, but I’ve got an interesting story for you. Years ago, the wonderful concert pianist, Ivo Pogorelich, entered the Chopin competition. At a certain point, he was eliminated. But one of the judges of that competition was the great pianist, Martha Argerich who was so incensed by this, that she walked out of the competition! This made news and actually propelled Pogorelich into a career from the sheer spectacle of it all! But why do you suppose that Ivo Pogorelich was the favorite of Martha Argerich, and yet the other judges dismissed him? Well, one of the factors of competitions is that a pianist who really makes a statement and has a personality that is different from anything people have heard before will be loved by some and detested by others. In competitions, there can be a race to the center. It may be beneficial to not be extreme in one direction or another. And that’s kind of sad really. But how else do you quantify?
Tempo can play a role in how a judge may perceive a performance.
Judges are sitting there hour after hour, listening to pianist after pianist. If somebody comes in there and gives a very energetic uptempo performance, it can be invigorating! Then if somebody comes and plays a very beautiful, elegant performance, it may not have the same energy. After you hear a piece at a faster tempo, going to a slower tempo can be a let down. It sounds a little bit lifeless by comparison. This makes it very difficult to appreciate the slower performance. Though if you didn’t hear them next to each other, you might actually prefer the elegance of the slower performance! This is why many times the faster, louder player wins competitions.
But how else can you quantify who’s better? Let’s say somebody comes in and plays a Mephisto Waltz of Liszt. They play it faster than anybody else. It’s clean and it’s convincing. It’s very difficult to fault that, isn’t it? Of course, that player could play it slower if they chose to. But could the other players play it as fast? That’s an unknown. So there’s a lot to the idea of playing faster, playing louder, and playing very straightforward the way everybody expects the music to sound. I hate to think that that’s the way competitions are run, and truly they aren’t always run that way. But there is the risk of them turning out that way because of human nature.
As a performer, should you toe the line, or play to your own convictions?
You wonder how performers entering these competitions think about this. Are they going to take a chance and play the way they want to, even if they know it’s radically different from anything anyone else has done? Or are they going to play it safe and try to play for the judges? In my opinion, you really have to go for it and play to your own convictions. And that really is the lesson for today. Sometimes the winner is the person who plays to their convictions, and they play in such a way that it makes it seem as if it’s the only way the music should be played! This is not an exact science. This is art. It’s so subjective. That’s why this is an excellent question!
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5 thoughts on “The Truth About Piano Competitions”
Even after you played the second version of Mozart, I still prefer the first one. I have attended several piano competition, and in my opinion, some competitors seem to be racing through the music, to the point that it has lost any feelings.
I keep looking at the piano you are playing…
where are the strings? and how does it work??
The piano I use on many of my videos is the second prototype I have developed. It is a modular piano system which provides a virtual concert grand experience. The action is from a 9-foot concert grand which has been outfitted with optic sensors beneath the keys which transmit MIDI data via USB to a computer running PianoTeq physical modeling piano software.
I can remember two instances during my high school years of piano competitions where winning was decided by factors other than pure performance. One of them was in a church that unfortunately forgot to have the piano tune before the competition and it was Way out of tune. One of the judges commented that I was the only one that made that piano sound good. Another time I was performing Beethoven’s pathetique opus 13, no 1. I was telling the first page of the piece and it’s the only time in my entire career that I completely blank I let my concentration go and I remember thinking to myself where the hell am I where what am I doing what song is this? But I knew that if I could just get to a nice big fat Eb chord I could take off again so I just made up a cadence from where I was to get to that e flat and finished the piece as written. My favorite comment was that it was the most creative version the judge had ever heard but he was so impressed that I just kept going and the only people that knew were the three judges my mom and then the other pound teachers in the church. That’s how you win competitions… Showing that you not only can play the song that you know the song, and you ARE the song. I never complained after that about having to do my scales chords and arpeggios, LOL. R.I.P Avonell Jackson 😎
How people recover from mishaps in performance is one of the telltale signs of high-level of musicianship!