Did anyone follow this year's competition? Who are the finalists?

Henk

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 8:16:23 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
>
> Did anyone follow this year's competition? Who are the finalists?

https://arims.org.il/

This year Netanyahu's putsch
has grabbed all the headlines.

dk

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 8:29:09 AM UTC-7, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 8:16:23 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
> >
> > Did anyone follow this year's competition? Who are the finalists?
> https://arims.org.il/
>
> This year Netanyahu's putsch
> has grabbed all the headlines.
>

I no longer watch the Rubinstein
because of its jury controlled by
the Vardi-Kaplinsky gang. They
are the equivalent of the Likud
in piano music.

dk

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 8:54:02 AM UTC-7, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 8:29:09 AM UTC-7, Dan Koren wrote:
> > On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 8:16:23 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
> > >
> > > Did anyone follow this year's competition? Who are the finalists?
> > https://arims.org.il/
> >
> > This year Netanyahu's putsch
> > has grabbed all the headlines.
> >
> I no longer watch the Rubinstein
> because of its jury controlled by
> the Vardi-Kaplinsky gang. They
> are the equivalent of the Likud
> in piano music.
>

The algorithm for deciding the
prize winners is simply this: 1)
find a finalist who studied with
Vardi, or at least took master
classes with him; 2) find a
finalist who studied with
Kaplinsky; 3) even better if
they are the same person(s);
4) distribute the prizes among
them.

dk

Op woensdag 29 maart 2023 om 18:30:52 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:

> The algorithm for deciding the
> prize winners is simply this: 1)
> find a finalist who studied with
> Vardi, or at least took master
> classes with him; 2) find a
> finalist who studied with
> Kaplinsky; 3) even better if
> they are the same person(s);
> 4) distribute the prizes among
> them.

Vardi had a few excellent students. I don't know about Kaplinsky. In fact, I only know about her that she has connections with Julliard, believes that Giltburg is overrated (I agree) and that TD (RIP) hated her.

BTW, I saw somewhere the names of the finalists. All completely unknown to me, perhaps except for what, I believe, is a young Canadian called Kevin Chen. The finalists play Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Prokofiev #3 and Bartok #2. Only the last one is something to look forward to - in the right hands, and I don't know if a certain Ferro is the one with the right hands.

Henk

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 11:50:33 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
> Op woensdag 29 maart 2023 om 18:30:52 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:
> > The algorithm for deciding the
> > prize winners is simply this: 1)
> > find a finalist who studied with
> > Vardi, or at least took master
> > classes with him; 2) find a
> > finalist who studied with
> > Kaplinsky; 3) even better if
> > they are the same person(s);
> > 4) distribute the prizes among
> > them
>
> Vardi had a few excellent students.

He is also the head of the piano
mafia in Israel.

> I don't know about Kaplinsky. In fact,

She is a gasbag.

> I only know about her that she has connections
> with Julliard, believes that Giltburg is overrated
> (I agree) and that TD (RIP) hated her.

She teaches (or has taught) at Juilliard.
Giltburg is a sewing machine, and not a
particularly good one.

dk

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 9:30:52 AM UTC-7, Dan Koren wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 8:54:02 AM UTC-7, Dan Koren wrote:
> > On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 8:29:09 AM UTC-7, Dan Koren wrote:
> > > On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 8:16:23 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Did anyone follow this year's competition? Who are the finalists?
> > > https://arims.org.il/
> > >
> > > This year Netanyahu's putsch
> > > has grabbed all the headlines.
> >
> > I no longer watch the Rubinstein
> > because of its jury controlled by
> > the Vardi-Kaplinsky gang. They
> > are the equivalent of the Likud
> > in piano music.
>
> The algorithm for deciding the
> prize winners is simply this: 1)
> find a finalist who studied with
> Vardi, or at least took master
> classes with him; 2) find a
> finalist who studied with
> Kaplinsky; 3) even better if
> they are the same person(s);
> 4) distribute the prizes among
> them.

One more thought comes to mind:
as far as one remembers, in most
of the Rubinstein competitions the
top prize was awarded to someone
who did not deserve it according to
public opinion. Women and Asian
competitors were often overlooked,
even when they were clearly better
than the others: Etsuko Terada, Yeol
Eum Son, Diana Kacso, Ching Yun Hu
and Khatia Buniatishvili were thought
by the public at the time to have
performed better than the higher
prize winners.

In 1974, the jury surprised everyone
by eliminating Christian Blackshaw
from the finals, while promoting
Emanuel Axe and awarding him
the first prize, over Eugene Indjic
and Janina Fialkowska. Ruby was
in the jury that years, however there
wara rampant rumors he was already
disconnected from the world around
him and the actual decisions were
made by Mme Rubinstein.

In 1977, Gerhard Oppitz won over
Diana Kacso and Etsuko Terada,
even though he played like a
brick. The scuttlebutt was this
was a politically motivated
decision because the state
needed or wanted something
from Germany. No one could
have imagied he would win
the gold after playing like a
brick in the finals.

In 1980, Gregory Allen won over
Ian Hobson and Geoffrey Tozer.
Has anyone heard of him since?

In 1983, Jeffrey Turd Kahane
won the gold over Fei Ping Hsu
and Hung-Kuan Chen in a classic
display of anti-Asian prejudice.

I skipped the 1986 through 2001
competitions. In 2005 Gavrylyuk
and Levit won gold and silver and
Yeol Eum Son only got the bronze,
even though it was plainly obvious
she was the best,

No first prize was awarded in 2008,
Roman Rabinovich and Ching-Yun Hu
tied for second and Buniatishvili "won"
the bronze. CYH is a far better pianist
than Roman Rabinovich was, is, or
will ever be.

In 2014, Seong-Jin Cho placed 3rd
"behind" Steven Lin and Antonii
Baryshevskyi.

In 2017, Sara Daneshpour was
awarded 3rd prize, while Szymon
Nehring and Daniel Ciobanu were
awarded first and second prizes.

There are plenty of recordings
available on YT for everyone to
be able to verify my assessments.

The pattern that emerges from all
the above is that the Rubinstein
tends to prefer traditional sewing
machines and overvalues men
over women and whites over
Asians.

dk

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 4:12:04 PM UTC-7, Dan Koren wrote:
>
> In 1977, Gerhard Oppitz won over
> Diana Kacso and Etsuko Terada,
> even though he played like a
> brick. The scuttlebutt was this
> was a politically motivated
> decision because the state
> needed or wanted something
> from Germany. No one could
> have imagied he would win
> the gold after playing like a
> brick in the finals.
>

No one had in fact imagined at
the time that Oppitz would even
make it to the finals. Diana Kacso
was by the far the best in 1977. I
blame it on Vardi.

dk

On 2023-03-29 19:38:48 +0000, Dan Koren said:

> On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 11:50:33 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
>> Op woensdag 29 maart 2023 om 18:30:52 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:
>>> The algorithm for deciding the> > prize winners is simply this: 1)> >
>>> find a finalist who studied with> > Vardi, or at least took master> >
>>> classes with him; 2) find a> > finalist who studied with> > Kaplinsky;
>>> 3) even better if> > they are the same person(s);> > 4) distribute the
>>> prizes among> > them
>>
>> Vardi had a few excellent students.
>
> He is also the head of the pianomafia in Israel.
> > I don't know about Kaplinsky. In fact,
> She is a gasbag.
>
>> I only know about her that she has connections> with Julliard, believes
>> that Giltburg is overrated> (I agree) and that TD (RIP) hated her.
> She teaches (or has taught) at Juilliard.Giltburg is a sewing machine,
> and not aparticularly good one.
> dk

Would you call a particularly good sewing machine a Singer?

-Owen

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 7:11:34 PM UTC-7, Owen Hartnett wrote:
>
> Would you call a particularly
> good sewing machine a Singer?

No. I would call it a Brother.

dk

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 11:50:33 AM UTC-7, HT wrote:
> Op woensdag 29 maart 2023 om 18:30:52 UTC+2 schreef Dan Koren:
>
> > The algorithm for deciding the
> > prize winners is simply this: 1)
> > find a finalist who studied with
> > Vardi, or at least took master
> > classes with him; 2) find a
> > finalist who studied with
> > Kaplinsky; 3) even better if
> > they are the same person(s);
> > 4) distribute the prizes among
> > them.
>
> Vardi had a few excellent students.

Yes indeed, however it is not clear if
he contributed anything to their skills.
Vardi is very conservative musically.
He is a "Yekke". ;-)

> I don't know about Kaplinsky. In fact, I
> only know about her that she has
> connections with Julliard, believes

"Veda" has chaired Juilliard's piano
department since 1997. She is the
ultimate insider, il capo di tutti capi.

> that Giltburg is overrated (I agree)
> and that TD (RIP) hated her.

Obviously, she knows more about
piano performance than TD ever
did.

> BTW, I saw somewhere the names of
> the finalists. All completely unknown
> to me, perhaps except for what, I believe,
> is a young Canadian called Kevin Chen.
> The finalists play Tchaikovsky, Liszt,
> Prokofiev #3 and Bartok #2. Only the
> last one is something to look forward
> to - in the right hands, and I don't know
> if a certain Ferro is the one with the right
> hands.

I haven't had time to listen to the earlier
stage recitals, which are all available now
on YT. From the finalists, Kevin Chen, Elio
Cecina and Yukine Kuroki have bagged a
number of first prizes in second tier piano
rodeos. They would probably finish ahead
of the others if the Rubinstein were free of
politics. With Arik and Veda in the jury it is
impossible to tell.

dk