By Max Mulready
It’s not every day you get to hear the world’s best orchestra in one of the best performing halls. It’s also not every day you get to play a piano concerto with the world’s best orchestra in their home, but that experience is exactly what the three finalists of the Cooper International Competition were given. And as if that wasn’t enough, all three finalists received full scholarships to Oberlin Conservatory of Music, as well as more than $20,000 in prize money.
This year, the competition featured twenty-eight pianists from nine countries. The week-long event began with their arrival on Thursday, July 17th, allowing them two days to get acquainted with the area and rehearse one more time before the first day of the competition.
On Saturday, round one began in Oberlin, and the pianists were required to play the first movement of a sonata, a lyrical piece from the romantic era, as well as works of their choice to total 30 minutes in length. The winners of this round moved on to the second round where the judges picked which pieces they wanted to hear. The third round was a “concerto round,” where an entire concerto selected by the performer from a list was performed with a piano accompanist. Wednesday gave six finalists the chance to perform a 30-minute recital for the judges, resulting in the announcement of the fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-place winners. Finally, on Friday the 25th, the three finalists performed their concerto accompanied by the Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall.
Sae Yoon Chon, 18, from South Korea opened the concert with Beethoven’s famous “Emperor” Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major. With such a well-known piece, the judges, as well as the audience, know exactly what to expect, and naturally expect perfection. Chon delivered an exceptional performance, with very minor technical mistakes, and an obviously deep understanding of the music. The concerto begins with three large chords played by the orchestra, separated by piano cadenzas running up and down the keyboard, truly showing off a pianist’s ability even before a melody appears.
Chon was no exception; his accuracy with the notes was coupled with the right amount of personal interpretation of the time to give the listeners a very pleasant experience. There were times throughout the piece where some emotion was lost, understandably due to the level of concentration it must take to be able to perform at such a high caliber at such a young age. However, the ending was magnificent, allowing the orchestra, the soloist, and even Beethoven himself to receive equal amounts of admiration.
After a short intermission, Zitong Wang, 15, from China took the stage to perform Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major. If a concerto is meant to give a pianist an opportunity to show off their talents, Prokofiev surely fulfilled that expectation. The piece seems to never let the soloist breathe, demanding scale after scale, inverted in contrary motion, following chords that spread the length of the keyboard, all leading up to the final note with so much anticipation that Wang was off the bench even before the piece was over. The audience acknowledged her achievement with two standing ovations and if my breath hadn’t been taken away by her performance, I would have been shouting in congratulations as many others were.
Following such a successful presentation would seem like a situation no one would want to be in, but Tony Yike Yang, 15, from Canada stood up to the challenge and evidently exceeded it. His performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major was nothing less than a professional rendition. Despite a missed note at the end of a long arpeggio, confessed by Yang’s facial expression, and a few times where the orchestra and pianist were not completely together in time, Yang gave the audience a well-deserved closing performance. His amount of expression, taking time between phrases, allowing the piece to breathe—these are all elements not easily attained by a soloist, especially at fifteen years old.
But Yang’s interpretation was enough to please the judges and earn him first place. Wang was second, followed by Chon. Though as I addressed in the beginning, each soloist was a winner in that they were able to debut with the Cleveland Orchestra before other students their age had even entered college (Wang has been attending Curtis Conservatory of Music since she was 13). Next year, the Cooper International Competition will feature violinists in the same manner, and I don’t expect it to be any less exhilarating than this year.
Max Mulready is attending The Ohio State University as a piano performance major and has been studying music all his life. He has lived in Lakewood for 18 years and enjoys biking, playing soccer, and drinking coffee. He produced the Cool Cleveland Kids podcast, has been compiling the Top 5 section for CoolCleveland.com for four years and is now fulfilling his father’s request to be a writer.
Oberlin, OH 44074
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106