A picture of me just after my performance of Granados' "Los Requiebros" in the Landreth Auditorium
View of Waits Hall, Texas Christian University, where everyone practiced
Some of the contestants
After preliminary round, all contestants went on stage to meet Van Cliburn
Van meeting contestants on stage
Garcia's Mexican Restaurant where we had a party on Friday night
I had a really enjoyable time in Fort worth Texas, taking part in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. The competition took place at the Texas Christian University, a very nice campus. I stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn Hotel, just a couple of minutes away. My parents decided at the last minute to come down with me to hear me play.
This competition was modelled on the one they have every January in Paris France: "Concours des Grands Amateurs de Piano" started ten years ago by Professor Gerard Bekerman, an economist and excellent pianist himself. The idea of a Van Cliburn Amateur Competion was suggested to the Van Cliburn Foundation by the wife of the late Arthur Rubinstein. Rubinstein's daughter Alina was on the jury of the competition.
All the practising was done at Waits Hall, which had many rooms with upright pianos. There was quite a jumble of sound coming from all the practice rooms at once. Some of the uprights were extremely out of tune, and it was difficult to practice on a piano in such a bad shape. I found the Van Cliburn Foundation volunteer staff who handled registration and directing us to our practice rooms to be very friendly, welcoming and helpful. I had a couple of three hour practice sessions the day I arrived and the following morning.
On the morning before my performance I had four minutes in the Ed Landreth auditorium to try out the 9ft Steinway concert grand. I liked it's tone and the acoustics of the hall but found the action of the piano a little stiff, maybe because I had just played an upright with a very light action. I spent most of the morning playing through my program. Fifteen minutes before my performance a volunteer from the Van Cliburn Foundation came to my practice room and escorted me to a "warm up room" adjacent to the stage of the Ed Landreth Auditorium. There was a Steinway grand in there. It was quite cold with the airconditioning and several contestants were complaining about it.
When I went on stage and started to play, my stage fright nerves seemed to disappear and I was really enjoying myself playing the Granados piece. I tried to play it was musically and expressively as possible. I got a good applause. Afterwards people came up to me and said how much they enjoyed my performance, including a member of the jury. I think this is the greatest compliment a musician can have, when people tell you they appreciate your performance, or that you moved them to tears.
The next day there was a really nice review by Wayne Lee Gay, the music critic of the Fort Worth Star Telegram who said "Other potential semifinalists included British-born Massachusetts-based electrical engineer Robert Finley who played Granados' Los Requiebros with brilliance and warmth". I was really encouraged by that.
The following day I heard a few of the other performances in the preliminary round. There were some extremely disprespectful and inconsiderate people in the audience who allowed cellular phones to ring and pagers and watches to make distracting noises, in spite of being asked to turn them off before the performances began. Also, a newpaper photographer was shooting pictures during a performance and making clicking noises with the camera shutter. How can people be so rude and inconsiderate as this?
In the evening there was a party at Garcia's Mexican Restaurant which was a beautiful venue with lovely gardens, a swimming pool and tables outside. I did not care too much for the Mexican food though. I was expecting a meal with an entree (as did several other people) but it was just appetizers and drinks. After the party we returned to the auditorium to hear more preliminary round performances, and then announcement of those going to the semifinal round.
Before the announcement of the results, everyone went on stage to meet Van Cliburn and to receive a gift consisting of some CDs, a videotape of a concert given by many famous pianists, and a certificate of participation. Van Cliburn seemed very friendly and pleased to meet everyone.
The voting was done by computer to speed things up a bit. In the Van Cliburn professional competition they didn't use a computer, and the results took three hours to come though. After a few speeches which seemed to draw the proceedings out longer than necessary, they announced the results. I was disappointed that my name wasn't mentioned. I was encouraged by how well my performance went and the favourable comment in the press and from members of the audience. I tried to get feedback from members of the jury, and the general opinion was that although they enjoyed my playing very much, the piece I chose was not suitable for competing (maybe too calm and intimate) and I should have chosen something else. If I had chosen the Chopin Barcarolle or the Liszt piece instead (which I had reserved for the semifinal) maybe I would have made it. it seems that in competitions, it is not only important to play musically but to choose the right piece that will create excitement immediately. I will bear this in mind for the next competition. I guess it is a very subjective thing.
The next day I listened to some of the semifinalists playing their programs. I felt that a few of the first group of semifinalists played badly, banging on the keyboard with ugly sounds, playing fistfulls of wrong notes and with little musicianship. They even got standing ovations. I was beginning to feel rather disillusioned. The next set of performers were outstanding, and true musicians deservedly progressing to the next round.
I was extremely impressed with physician Len Horovitz. He came down to Forth Worth with two of his patients who also were contestants! He gave the most wonderful performance of Schumman's Abegg Variations. It was the most musical I had ever heard. I congratulated him on that. I was very impressed by another physician, Henri Robert Delbeau, who included Albeniz' Triana from Iberia. He gave a superb performance of that, full of Spanish atmosphere.
I also enjoyed meteorologist Gregor Lehmiller's performance of Ravel's "Ondine" and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 12. I had an interesting conversation with him when he told me about his experiences chasing tornadoes and when he was less than a half a mile away from a big tornado. The Brazilian ambassador Luiz Benedini was very impressive in Liszt's Valse Impromptu and 1st Mephisto Waltz. I enjoyed his rendition of a Villa Lobos piece in the preliminary round also. You would believe that he or these other performers had another profession. Yet another doctor, Alexandre Bodak gave a very nice performance of the Liszt transcription of Wagner's "Liebestod" from Tristan and Isolde, and a selection of Scriabin etudes.
I was very impressed by a very moving and sensitive performance of Faure's Ballade No. 19 by Paul Doerrfeld, an office manager in a company that makes diecast metal products. I have never heard this work before, but his performance has encouraged me to get the music of this beautiful piece. I love Faure's music very much.
Joel Holoubek, the French rare coin dealer who won the competition gave a dramatic performance of Liszt's "Funerailles" in the preliminary round, and a superb, shimmering performance of Ravel's Ondine whoch was very impressive. He also played a sonata movement by Dutilleux which I had never heard before. I met him at the party at Garcia's restaurant, and tried to converse with him with my rather poor high school French.
After the semifinal round performances and announcement of the finalists, all contestants were invited to a late night party at Van Cliburn's magnificent home. This was one the highlights of the weekend. We all arrived around 1 am and there was a catered buffet dinner waiting for us! Van Cliburn was there to greet everyone at the door! I had a very interesting conversation with Jon Nakamatsu , a member of the jury and first prizewinner in the last Van Cliburn Competition about repertoire suitable for competitions and what to play and what not to play, in his opinion. Just before I left I met Van Cliburn at the and had an interesting conversation with him about my profession and how music fits into everything. I was extremely impressed by his kindness, generosity and friendliness to everyone. I had someone take a picture of Van and myself before I left.
I did not stay to hear the finals and returned to Boston the next morning. It was a wonderful experience that I will always remember, meeting such interesting people, listening to wonderful music and making new friends. I will be applying to take part in the competition in Paris next January. I can hardly wait for that!