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If you are a music lover and you missed this year's Miami
International Piano Festival of Discovery at the Lincoln Theater
- read on! It won't take you long to realize what a treasure
we have right here in Miami Beach that ranks right up there
with similar venues in major cities throughout the world.
If you think you have to go to New York, London, Paris or
Berlin to be nourished by great keyboard talent… think again.
They are here every spring and they have been for the past
four years. The four pianists showcased this year came from
Italy, Romania and Scotland. They are all enjoying burgeoning
careers and have been receiving rave reviews wherever they
perform.
The Miami International Piano Festival of Discovery, Part
II, April 9-12 gave Miamians an opportunity to witness first
hand those often-illusive moments when pianists become artists.
Those moments were in abundance last week at the Lincoln Theater
on Lincoln Road when the pianists interpreted, what they had
read and memorized, projecting their own emotions, recreating
the pacing, the style and the sense of drama required by each
individual piece.
These four recitals were, without exception, on the highest
international level. Technique is taken for granted. The sometimes
super-human demands on the wrists and fingers, not to mention
the brain-to-hand coordination that must produce both powerful
percussive sound, as well as, tender lyrical singing tones,
were the hallmark of the Festival.
Make no mistake! This was not a competition. Thank heaven!
It was indeed a Festival in the true spirit of the word. There
is a big difference. Competitions usually feature teen-age
whiz kids trying to show off their technical skill. These
super-talented contestants most often pray for their peers
to hit a few wrong notes or have a lapse of memory, to better
their own chances of taking home a prize. Unfortunately it
is the "competitions" that draw the media coverage and the
crowds. Reducing the presentation of great music to a trained
seal act or trying to change it into a competitive sporting
event does not serve either the contestants, (other than a
winner) or the genuine music-loving audiences. Last week,
here on Miami Beach, we were, fortunately, treated to four
proven artists whose focus was on their work and their audiences
- not on the judges.
All four of this year's Festival artists have already been
there and back. They have endured the "obligatory" competition
stage of their careers in the recent past and have walked
away with most of the world's most prestigious awards - The
Alfred Cortot International Piano competition, the Conservatory
of Geneva's Premier Prix de Virtuosite, the Critics' Prize
at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Gaza Anda and
the Mendelssohn awards, the Clara Haskil Competition and the
Naumburg International Piano Competition among many others.
Their credits also list solo recitals throughout the world
and guest solo appearances with important conductors and orchestras,
such as Claudio Abbado, Hugh Wolff, Paavo Jarvi, Wolfgang
Sawallisch, The BBC Symphony, Academy of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields,
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Vienna Chamber Orchestra,
Bergen Philharmonic, Utah and Phoenix Symphony Orchestras
and the Southwest German Philharmonic - and the list goes
on.
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