Music review: Wallace National Piano Competition, Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber

This competition is a testament of faith in young New Zealanders who are not drawn to the rugby field or netball court. Photo / Thinkstock

Announcing the winners of this year's Wallace National Piano Competition, adjudicator Andrew Ball addressed all four finalists individually. He praised third-placegetter Jane Sohn for courageously confronting Prokofiev's Sixth Sonata, the galvanising highlight of her performance.

He singled out the freshness of runner-up Modi Deng, and the growth of her confidence, from eliminations to Sunday night's Grand Final. Although Deng's Mozart Sonata was too brutal for my taste, there was no gainsaying the 18-year-old's unflinching immersion in the heady trifecta of Scriabin, Debussy and Liszt.

Ball related some moments of real magic experienced during the event. One was the gracefulness and fluency of the fourth-placegetter, Bradley Wood, playing Mozart on Friday.

Delvan Lin, who took top prize, had interpreted Bach on Saturday with such intelligence and depth that Ball felt he was listening to a pianist of 60 rather than 16.

The Englishman also stressed that final placings reflected the musicians' contributions over all three sessions. The good news for us is that the entire competition, including 16 pianists playing a New Zealand work, can be viewed on YouTube, beautifully filmed by Bill McCarthy.

When Lin won last year's junior division of this competition, he gave us Beethoven with attitude. This time it was Haydn's turn, with a bold Adagio that proved the dreamlike and the meticulous need not be mutually exclusive states.

Four pieces from Ligeti's 1953 Musica Ricercata proved, alas, to be the most recently composed music on offer; and Lin secured his virtuoso credentials by sailing flamboyantly through Granados' Allegro de Concierto.

This competition is a testament of faith in young New Zealanders who are not drawn to the rugby field or netball court; would that these musicians received as much media publicity as their sporting brothers and sisters.

Finally, it was cheering to see, on stage for the final presentation, the individuals who have done so much to make this happen - John Eady of Lewis Eady Charitable Trust, the indefatigable Rae de Lisle and, above all, Sir James Wallace, whose enlightened sponsorship has spurred on so many artistic ventures.

Music review

What: Wallace National Piano Competition
Where: Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber
When: Sunday.