Every two years for more than 50 years, Epinal welcomes young piano virtuosos from all over the world to take part in one of the most prestigious international competitions. After a week of competition, four of them have been selected to participate in the final this Sunday, March 26.
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The world’s finest young pianists gathered this week in the Vosges to take part in the prestigious Epinal International Competition. After a tough day of semi-finals, the jury has chosen the four finalists to decide between this Sunday. Two Japanese artists – Ami Kurosawa and Nanaho Ishikawa –, the Spaniard Leo De Maria, and the Bulgarian Stefan Bonev are in the running for the First Grand Prix endowed with 10,000 euros.
Compulsory exercise
They were still nine engaged in the semi-finals on Friday March 24. Nine candidates who, at the start of their recital, had to submit to an imposed exercise: interpreting a contemporary lullaby. A five-minute piece specially composed for the occasion by a former winner of the competition, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger.
“The candidate is alone in front of his score, and he is a bit like a detective who goes in search of clues on the score to try to understand the composer’s approach, what he wanted to say, and he must he appropriates it and offers a convincing version of it, to the jury and to the public“, explains Olivier Moulin, the president of the Epinal International Piano Competition.
Only indication for the candidates: the tempo. For the rest, it’s up to them to seize the piece, as explained by Japanese pianist Rina Saito, whose career ended in the semi-finals: “It’s important to create an atmosphere around the song, there are no references or recordings of this lullaby, so everything is played with our imagination”.
“It’s a very intimate work, and I really looked for what color to give it. The most difficult thing is to keep the harmony with these notes which last a very long time“, adds Leo De Maria, who will be the first of the four finalists to go on stage on March 26 at 3 p.m. He has chosen to perform Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4 in G major Op.58, just like the other male finalist in the Stefan Bonev contest.
29th Epinal International Piano Competition, finale Sunday March 26, 2023 at 3 p.m. at the Théâtre de la Rotonde in Thaon-les-Vosges
Information on the contest website.
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