Group 5
Alexia Mouza (Greece/ Venezuela)
Tamila Salimdjanova (Uzbekistan)
Yoonji Kim (South Korea)
Xinyuan Yang (China)
Alexia Mouza, 28
Instead of performing Bach or Scarlatti, Alexia Mouza from Greece made the unorthodox choice of presenting Couperin’s Les roseaux in B minor as her Baroque piece-of-choice. I must confess, I’m not really familiar with the composer. Upon a bit of research, I found that he was a French Baroque composer who lived around Bach’s time. I realize that in piano competitions nowadays, pianists rarely go beyond Bach or Scarlatti, and often their music is the limit of the layman’s knowledge of Baroque music, and so we are restricted to thinking that Baroque means serious and contrapuntal music. I think it’s a good thing that nowadays there is a revived interest in ancient music and the “authentic performance”, but still, would one actively seek out an all-Rameau concert played on the harpsichord if one knows nothing about that type of music and can only associate that sort of music to monks and churches?
Couperin’s music is quite different from Bach’s. It is full of ornamentation (literally everywhere), courtly and elegant. Despite all the ornamentation (trills, turns and all that fingerwork) Alexia maintained the melodic line, and even added some rubato to flaunt her elegance. I liked her playing, and I liked how her performance of this French composer showed that the Baroque period was actually a very diverse period, even for the piano.
Haydn’s Sonata in C Major Hob. XVI: 50 has turned out to be quite a popular choice among competitors this year. I like the sonata, but when you’ve heard it so many times, your expectations tend to go higher and higher. I thought the tempo Alexia chose for the first movement was a bit too steady and the tone was a bit too serious. In my opinion, it is very difficult to get to mood right for the first movement. However, I enjoyed her playing of the second movement a lot. It was lovely.
Like Mario Haring, Alexia chose to close her programme with Prokofiev’s Third Sonata. Her performance was very intense and fast, but unfortunately there were a few wrong notes and, being familiar with the piece, I noticed it, and it kind of took away something for me. If I had to compare Mario’s performance to hers, I would choose Mario’s.
Listen to Alexia’s first round performance here: https://leedspiano2018.medici.tv/replay/first-round-with-alexia-mouza/
Tamila Salimdjanova, 26
So here’s a Haydn sonata I’ve not heard of, and hasn’t been played in the competition (yet!). It is his sonata in C minor, Hob. XVI: 20. Listening to it for the first time, it sounded like a very exposing piece, like the D major one Fuko Ishii played (which I really, really liked). There weren’t many notes, and a lot of pauses in between. Tamila played with a steady rhythm and a very sensitive touch, but frankly I thought it was a touch dull, especially the second movement. I wasn’t quite a fan of the performance, if you ask me.
Next up were two of Rachmaninoff’s Moments Musicaux. I realized the MMs are quite popular in this competition, as you’ll see later on. Tamila’s tone was deep in Rachmaninoff’s 5th MM, and it sounded very warm, but like Salih’s performance, I guess I just didn’t find much in the music. I’m not a big fan of the MM5.
But the MM4! That I really like. Technically, it is a very demanding piece, requiring not only great dexterity but also great power. This is why a lot of people choose this piece as a showcase piece. Tamila wasn’t very powerful in her playing, but what she lacked in power she made up with her great lyricism. For her, it was as if the music was flowing. She didn’t care about the chords or the semiquavers; what she cared about was how the semiquavers accumulate into a torrent of passion. For her it was about the emotions barely containable in the music, and I felt it in her playing. It was very unique.
I look forward to seeing what she has to offer in her performance of Liszt’s immense Sonata in B minor in the second round.
Listen to Tamila’s first round performance here: https://leedspiano2018.medici.tv/replay/first-round-with-tamila-salimdjanova/
Yoonji Kim, 29
Another Haydn C Major Sonata and Scriabin Fantasie! I have heard both pieces played in the competition quite a few times now, and I wondered what Yoonji Kim could bring to leave an impression.
Like Alexia, I thought Yoonji’s performance of Haydn’s first movement wasn’t very interesting or lively. Yes, her tone was crystal clear and her rhythm was impeccable, but her playing seemed calculated and not all that improvisatory, lacking in the whimsical nature I find present in a lot of Haydn’s music. She also seemed a bit rigid. Nevertheless, one has to give her credit for her extremely articulate touch; it really is something.
Yet her second movement was beautiful. It seems that people whose performance of the first movement I didn’t like tend to nail the second movement! I wonder why. Maybe it’s the contrasting moods of the two movements that are more suitable to one type of people and not the other, but there, I’m generalizing. I just think it’s very easy to make Haydn a dull thing to listen to if one does not capture his witty and whimsical spirit. Especially when so many people play the same Haydn sonata.
On the other hand, Yoonji’s performance of the Scriabin Fantasie was very interesting. Yoonji seemed to caress the melody in a tender way rather than with intense emotion, as I’ve heard some others play it. Her playing was more flowing, but sometimes her chords tend to become a bit messy and at times I was at a loss as to where the music was heading .
What really surprised me about Yoonji’s playing was that despite her small and slim stature, her playing was incredibly powerful, and her fingers seemed to be made of stone as she stabbed (seems an inappropriate word to describe it but what else can I use to depict the powerful way they land?) at the keys. It was quite an overwhelming experience to listen to her performance of Scriabin, and I think she deserved the applause and cheering she received at the end. It also made me think that the Scriabin Fantasie really does give the pianist a lot of things to work on.
Listen to Yoonji’s first round performance here: https://leedspiano2018.medici.tv/replay/first-round-with-yoonji-kim/
Xinyuan Yang, 23
In my opinion, not many people put emphasis on the classical pieces they chose for their first round programme. Mainly these are sonatas by Haydn or Beethoven, but Xinyuan Yang chose to pair up a rather hefty Mozart sonata (No. 17 in B flat Major, which added up to around 17 minutes) with a six-minute Brahms intermezzo in his first round performance.
Xinyuan was very delicate and very expressive in his playing. His Mozart was really captivating, I don’t really know what it is, but go and have a listen. Also, his face is so cute! He’s so chubby, and when he squints in his expressiveness, you only see two slits on a round and red face. It’s literally like a Chinese bun! Sorry, but I couldn’t help noticing it haha. Anyway, I loved his Mozart sonata a lot, and I loved how much he loved the sonata as well.
The Brahms intermezzo, his last one from his op. 118 set too, was quite something as well. The ominous tone of the piece is immediately detectable with the opening diminished arpeggios. Xinyuan played it so quietly, yet he made you strain to hear rather than lose interest in the music. I think one would almost describe his playing as “electrifying” in a silent, intense sort of way. Although he didn’t choose anything that which shows technical formidability–nothing like a Liszt Tarantella or a Prokofiev sonata–he certainly convinced me that it doesn’t always take amazing technique to pull you into a performance.
That being said, I look forward to hearing him play big works like Schumann’s Humoresque and Bartok’s Sonata in the second round!
Listen to Xinyuan’s first round performance here: https://leedspiano2018.medici.tv/replay/first-round-with-xinyuan-wang/
Photo source: https://www.leedspiano.com/2018-competition/#competitors and medici.tv
Literally Left-handed 
Leave a comment