Concerto Competition 2001 at the Auckland Town Hall

By TARA WERNER

"Worthless, unplayable, hackneyed, clumsy, awkward and trite."

No, not the impression gained of the School of Music's Concerto Competition last Friday night, but pianist Nikolai Rubinstein's opinion of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto.

The composer refused to alter a note, publishing it exactly as he had written it, and the concerto eventually became one of the most popular in the repertoire.

It was the work chosen by the winner of this year's competition, the Korean-born pianist Mi-yeon I, and she showed the qualities that guaranteed a unanimous decision from the judges.

Her confidence did not falter throughout - throwing herself into the grand opening gesture, tackling the cadenza as if it were of little concern, singing her way through the andantino and scampering up and down on the keyboard note-perfectly in the finale.

The other finalists, pianist Seul-ki Cheon and violinist Arthur Chiang, also exhibited an assurance that will stand them in good stead in the future. But they did not quite fully meet the challenges of Grieg's Piano Concerto or the extremely tough Sibelius Violin Concerto.

Seul-ki Cheon's interpretation of Grieg was precise, with a good control of dynamics in the adagio, but her performance lacked subtlety and emotional depth.

Arthur Chiang made a creditable, even valiant attempt at performing the Sibelius, which presents a musical minefield at the best of times.

The first movement with its sequences of double-stopping caused him few problems, and the adagio had a bittersweet warmth, but his undoing was in the virtuosic finale, which seemed to exhaust him.

The University Orchestra under conductor Uwe Grodd provided a steady accompaniment, although at times a lack of coordination between soloist and orchestra showed some mutual inexperience.