Last month, I went to Paris to play in the Concours des Grands Amateurs de Piano. I took part in it last year and decided to try again. This has been running every year since 1989 and was started by Professor of Economics and amateur pianist, Gerard Bekerman.
I left home on January 22nd, and this time the weather was fine, with no chance of snow storms or bad weather delays. I decided to go a day earlier this year to become acclimatized and to overcome the jet lag.
I stayed at the same hotel as last time, the Hotel Gaillon Opera which is conveniently located a few stops on the metro from the Conservatoire Superior de Musique. There were already some contestants who I knew from last year staying at the hotel so it was nice to see some familiar faces.
Soon after I arrived at the hotel I started to feel ill. I was hoping that this woudn't happen again. I felt better after taking some medicine. The next day (Wednesday January 24th) the competition began, and I went along to hear some of the contestants. This year the preliminary round was not in the main auditorium but in the Faure Room, a smaller hall with a Steinway B and drier acoustics. At least it was appropriate that I and several other contestants had scheduled some Faure to play in there!
The hall became very crowded at times and some of the audience even had to stand at the back! It also became quite hot in there. In the evening, I went to the practice rooms. These were in the same place as last year, in the basement of a health club, the "Club Gym" on Rue Rennes, rather like a Gold's Gym. It was a half and hour metro ride across town. I also went there in the morning for the second scheduled practice session, and then went back to the hotel to rest before my performance time at 4 pm.
I went to the Conservatoire an hour before my performance and checked in with the lady in the "Green Room". I was told that a few contestants had not arrived so I would be playing after a Brazilian contestant.
I went upstairs to a practice room that was being used by Debra Saylor. She came all the way from Iowa on he own! For her to come to Paris (she had never been out of the United States before) was even more amazing than her trip to Fort Worth!
A few minutes before I was due to go on stage, a contestant arrived, and the schedule was changed, so instead of playing on time I actually played an hour late.
The green room had no piano, and there was cigarette smoke in there. It hurt my eyes, especially since I wear contact lenses, so I put my coat on and waited outside in the cold for my turn to play. I looked through the window inside the hall and saw Greg Adams playing his preliminary round pieces. It sounded very good! I also noticed a friend of my former piano teacher (Norma Fisher) from London was in the hall with her sister in law (who lives in Paris) and piano student. How wonderful it was for them to come over from London especially to hear me play!!
When the time came for me to play, I went on stage and got a good welcome from the audience. As with last year, I had no chance to try out the piano. It would have been nice if I could have tried the piano out beforehand to get used to the action and acoustics of the hall.
I started with the Faure Nocturne No 4 and then the Liszt Waldesrauschen concert etude. I tried to play as expressively as possible. I got used to the piano and acoustics fairly rapidly, and I felt that I had played the pieces fairly well. I got a good applause from the audience. I could tell that I had made a good impression because many people in the audience and jury were smiling and nodding at me. I stayed around for a few more hours to hear a few friends such as Henri Delbeau, David Caldine and Paul Doerffeld play their recitals.
The piano developed a problem later on in the day. A note lower down the keyboard started to stick and sound on for a long duration. I think it was a D below middle C. Someone in the jury went on the stage and tried to fix the piano, but to no avail.
One of the contestants who had to put up with the sticking note was Susanna Perez who played the 1st Scherzo in B minor by Chopin. I was sorry that she and some of the other contestants had to put up with this problem. I would have found it rather distracting.
There was a cocktail party in the foyer of the Conservatoire after the preliminary rounds ended. They called everyone back into the hall to announce the results, and I was pleased to hear that I had been selected among about 10 contestants to play in the quarter final round the next day at noon. Some of the contestants went directly to the semifinal round. Melinda Baird and Scott King were also in the quarter finals. Paul Doerffeld, Steve Ryan, David Earl and Greg Adams were in the semifinals directly.
During the course of the afternoon I was beginning to feel worse. When I arrived back at the hotel I began to feel quite ill with a headache, aching arms and legs, and a fever. I had the flu yet again, for the second time in two years. This was inspite of having a flu shot in October. I took some strong aspirins but was not able to sleep well during the night. I felt very tired the next morning but I was determined to play even if it meant having to be carried onto the stage on a stetcher!
Just after noon, I played my recital. I began with the Grieg Lyric Piece "To Spring" and I think it went quite well. I then played the Wagner-Liszt "Liebestod" from the opera "Tristan and Isolde". About half way through the Liebestod, the jury rang the bell rang to stop me, and asked me to play the introduction to the Liszt Sonata in B minor. I wasn't expecting to play the Liszt Sonata at this time because I had scheduled to play it in the final round, if I got that far. I wasn't really feeling up to it, but I played what they asked neverthess, without making any comment about feeling ill.
Maybe I should have suggested to them that I would start at the middle section or the fugue, which was not so physically taxing. When I arrived at the notorious octave section, I hit a few loud clangers. I knew it was not a good performance and was not happy when I left stage. I knew that I hadn't done myself justice. I was wondering why the jury asked me to play this? Perhaps one has to practice the Liszt Sonata to such an extent that one can play it perfectly even when suffering from the flu?
A few hours later after all the contestants had played they announced the results, and only three (I believe) had been admitted to the semifinals and not me. I was disappointed about that. Yet again the flu had spoilt my chances of being successful.
Later that evening the semifinals took place in the auditorium on the concert grand. I was really looking forward to playing on the nice piano and to performing for all my friends, but my chances had been dashed by the jury asking me to play the Liszt Sonata when I was ill. I guess it was my fault for being ill. Such is life!
There were some very good performances in the semifinals. A young French girl gave an extremely good performance of the Faure 7th Nocturne, very well voiced and with a cantabile line. The Italian Rodrigo Basilicati played the Chopin Fantasy Impromptu well, and after he finished and was walking off stage, the jury rang the bell and made him come back to play some more!! He played a couple of excerpts from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
Melinda Baird played some Bach very well with good voicing and accuracy, and the ever popular Chopin Barcarolle (which is one of my favourite pieces). Russian pianist and choir director Andre Chatsky played the Chopin 3rd Ballade and Tchaikovsky's "Dumka" very well. Steve Ryan gave a thrilling and magnificent performance of Ravel's Ondine. He drew an orchestral sound from the piano.
The next day (Saturday) was a rest day. I had planned to go to Montmartre sightseeing early in the morning but didn't feel well, so I decided to stay at the hotel until midday. I then felt better and went out to Montmartre, a few stops on the metro. I got out at the "Abbesses" metro station and decided to go to the cemetery to visit Hector Berlioz's grave. The cemetery was similar to the Pere La Chase cemetery I visited last year to see Frederic Chopin's tomb with many little buildings and mausoleums. I found the tomb of Berlioz after asking a few people for directions. It was a made of black marble with a bust of Berlioz on the vertical slab. The marble looked new, as if it had been made yesterday. I was hearing the "March To The Gallows" from Symphonie Fantastique" in my mind as I was looking at the grave! Rather scary and morbid!
I then had lunch at a cafe and tried to explain in my high school French that I wanted a mushroom omlette, and there seemed to be some controversy as to whether I wanted the mushrooms mixed in with the omlette or on the outside. It was a very good omlette and not too expensive. I then walked up the hill to see the Sacre Coeur. It looked more like the Taj Mahal. The town square near there was very picturesque with the artists busy painting, and someone playing the accordion. Very Parisienne. I went into another cafe and had a sweet crepe with chestnut puree (I love marron glace and anything else with chestnuts) and coffee au lait. Delicious!
The next day (Sunday) was the finals. I met my friends from London at the Sorbonne and we went into the auditorium. It was a very nice big hall with a fresco of angels on the wall, and a stage with a magnificent Steinway concert grand piano. It had some similarities to Sander's Theatre in Cambridge where the Boston amateur competition will be held in August. It was packed with people. Before the competitors began their recitals, Debra Saylor came on stage and played probably the most musical rendition of Debussy's Clair de Lune I have every heard. She really made the piano sing and took her time over the phrases which she shaped superbly.
The first finalist was Italian Rodrigo Basilicati, an architectural engineering student. He gave stong performances of the Bach Busoni Chaconne, Chopin Fantasy Impromptu and the Scriabin Etude Op 8 No 12 in D sharp minor. Paul Doerffeld, office manager from Illinois, played next. He chose the Faure Nocturne No 6 and Barber Sonata. Like myself, Paul loves the music of Faure very much and schedules it often at competitions. He played the 6th nocturne very well. The middle section has a beautiful melody accompanied by shimmering arpeggios in the left had, typical of Faure. He then played the Barber Sonata and had a memory lapse in the first movement. I am not familiar with the Barber, but it sounds very complex. He played the rest of the sonata very well and got a good applause.
Memory lapses happen to everyone including myself, and even the greatest pianists. I remember the famous story about Clara Schumann who was playing Mendelssohn's "Spinning Song". She forgot about the modulation to another key before the coda, and repeated the piece about six times before finding her way. Mendelssohn, who was in the audience remarked to her afterwards that he was very flattered that Clara was so attached to his piece!!
The next contestant was restaurateur Gregory Adams from Colorado Springs. He played Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuses, Ravel's Jeux d'eau and Liszt's 6th Hungarian Rhapsody. He played the Mendelssohn with such velocity, variation, accuracy and imagination that it was like a virtuoso piece. The sonority he drew out of the piano in the Ravel was unreal, and the excitement he generated with the Liszt was unbelievable. It was the most exciting, stunning performance, so much so that the audience cheered and gave him a standing ovation, well deserved. Greg is quite a comedian too. He looked like the younger Claude Debussy with his beard and hairstyle. He did some very amusing things adjusting his seat and wiping the keyboard before he played AND after!! Bravo!
The next contestant was a young Frenchman Jean Barthelemy Gnakamene, an intern doctor at a hospital in Paris. He gave a very accurate, rhythmical and satisfying performance of Bach's Italian Concerto, and then followed it with a very colourful and excellent performance of Rachmaninoff's Etude Tableau Op 39 No 3.
The final contestant was software consultant Steve Ryan from New York who played Bach's French Suite No 6, Brahms Capriccio Op 116 No 3, Ravel's Ondine, and Ginastera's Danzas Argentina No 3. Steve always gives an extremely polished and professional performance. He played each piece of the Bach Suite very well characterized and dance-like, and held everyone's attention. He then followed it with the most passionate performance ever of the Brahms Capriccio. Steve is a superb Brahms interpreter. His performance of Ravel's Ondine was one of the best I have ever heard. He created the effect of shimmering waterfalls and rock pools very well. He drew a tremendous sound from the piano in the climax in the middle section. The mystical sonorous part (when the D minor theme in just single notes in the right hand is played with the sustaining pedal held down) just before the stormy beginning of the coda was absolutely magical and spell binding. Steve created tremendous excitement in the Ginastera with its percussive rhythms and Latin American dance Themes. I filmed his performance and zoomed in on his hands. It was fascinating to listen and watch how he achieved the effects. What a wonderful player he is!
The results were announced shortly afterwards. Steve and Greg tied for first prize (very well deserved), followed by the Italian, the Frenchman, and then Paul Doerffeld. There was a champagne reception afterwards in a room above the auditorium, and then we all went to a good restaurant for dinner (the same one as last year). Some of us told Greg Adams he looked like Debussy, and he replied "I have to telephone my Chou-Chou later!" Maybe he will be the next Victor Borge!
The social events of the competition are always very enjoyable, one of the highlights of the event. It is so nice to meet such wonderful people, to discuss music and hear them play. In spite of being ill and being disappointed, I had a wonderful time and I was sorry that it all had to end. I wish it could have gone on for ever! I may consider going again next January. Maybe I will be well then and will do even better in the competition.
Gerard Bekerman has created a wonderful thing by starting these competitions in the first place. I am sure that amateur pianists throughout the world are extremely grateful to him for creating these opportunities to perform, make new friends, enjoy music to the fullest, and to improve our pianistic skills to the highest level possible. Without his idea we may not have had all these competitions for outstanding amateurs in the USA and other parts of the world. Thank you SO MUCH Gerard!!