Music competitions are like sport tournaments

‘Let us play’

OBy Cezary Owerkowicz

n the stage of the National Polish Radio Symphonic Orchestra (NOSPR the new International Music Competition) was launched, pretending to take a noticeable place on world calendar of such events.

The competition was held in five categories – composition, piano, violin, vocal and string quartets. This choice comes from fields of special interest (and real achievements) of the patron of the competition, leading Polish composer of 20th century – Karol Szymanowski, born in 1882, on the family estate of Tymoshivka, Ukraine and died in 1937, in Lausanne, Switzerland.

I liked to share with you this info during the moment of reflection, however, I started to deliberate on the phenomenon of music competition en block about their phenomenal popularity and also considerable and sincere aversion of many musicians and not only to rivalry reduced to piano- or violin-rides ‘who faster and more perfect would ride through more and more difficult and stretched obstacles of the stages’. Obstacle lime in races…?

The power of music competition comes from a similarity to sports competitions. We engage our emotion in such rivalry, and it is multiplied by emotions from the audience (or crowd or a group of people); simple emotions, not too much refined, coming from the common following of rivalry and its results.

Frankly speaking, the rivalry in music (maybe art at all) mainly multiplies doubts, especially when compared to the sport rivalry. The sport results are evident and measurable, art contests results depends on the jury, a group of chosen people and average number acquired from their tastes, beliefs and personal than subjective opinion. The criteria are not simple but evidently measurable. The subjectivity is strengths measured by closed character during their sessions, sometimes likened to the roulette.

It is worthwhile to mention that every competition itself enter a sort of contest in every next edition. The ‘competition’ between competitions is difficult to imagine. The number of music competitions in the entire world is innumerable. The World Federation of Int’l Music Competitions in Geneva, Switzerland gather 122 int’l leading competitions but it is a top of the mountains.

Owerkowicz

Wikipedia

The Wikipedia already lists 300 major competitions but really in the contemporary world there are more than 750 piano-competitions alone. Add, pl., all other instruments, ensembles, vocal, compositions and any other sort of competitions and using the word ‘innumerable’ became justified. Such phenomenon involves an army of people: participants, jury members, all sorts of organizing staff and huge scale of – business.

At the time of the best development and extension of classical music in 18th and 19th centuries there were no music competitions. The best young artistes were recommended by their masters (like Chopin or Liszt) and began to perform on the salon floors of aristocracy or financiers.

After the success there they got a chance for public performance solo or with orchestra. Maybe an exception was the Liszt ‘school’. Liszt provided real ‘Master courses’ in Weimar like a monastery for his followers, studying short or long creating a court of their already Old Whitehaired Master.

Then they were sent around with the ‘blessing’ of the Genius. Label of ‘Liszt’s student’ was opening rather every door. Then if they were able to ravish the audience they got a chance to continue their career or not. Every concert somehow became a one man competition with jury on the audience.

Sometimes it needed few attempts, impresario’s investments as readiness to rent the next hall in the next city, if he believed in a special talent of a young artiste, not discouraged of first ‘miscarriages’. This way was a fate of even the so well-known later artistes as legendary pianist Vladimir Horovitz.

Unexpectedly, at the end of 19th century the then legendary artiste, pianist and composer, Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894) got the idea to establish a music tournament under his patronage (and name) at his own expenditure although it was somehow risky.

He was already a very rich and influential person. His 20 operas were staged in Europe and America as well as 6 symphonies and 5 piano concertos. His vocal songs and piano miniatures were so popular among music amateurs. As a pianist during only one of the tours in America he played 215 concerts.

He proclaimed the first edition of his competition in 1890, in Saint Petersburg from the beginning as international event in full meaning: 2nd edition was planned in Berlin, 3rd in Vienna and 4th in Paris. The event was held on the fields of composition and pianistic as the most popular. Next editions ran every five years to allow a new generation of young artistes to mature and to ‘fish’ and promote the best of them.

Strange

The magnetic name, fame of the winner title and finance premium were extremely attractive, however that time the idea was quite strange if not exotic because of the big number of jurors in Saint Petersburg which was higher than the participants.

Also the results seemed to be controversial: 1st Prize for composition went to… the only pretender, Italian Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924). That choice was criticized by the contemporaries, for whom Busoni music was too much modern. The same people contested the lack of the award for the same Busoni on piano. He was an excellent pianist but the Winner was Nikolay Dubasov only to be soon forgotten completely, unlike Busoni, who was soon recognized as a genius on piano.

The situation was somehow repeated in 1905 after the demise of the founder. Also in both categories Hungarian Bela Bartok participated and the piano section was won by German Wilhelm Backhaus, after highly appreciated interpreter of classics but Bartok did not win the contest for composition. It looks for the record of jury incompetence. The main award ‘remained empty’. The Honorary Distinction went to the Italian who never appeared distinctively on the stage but Bartok was soon proclaimed one of the most important composers of the 20th century and – in the history of music.

In 1910 the 2nd Prize of Anton Rubinstein Competition went to Arthur Rubistein, the World Piano Champion. Who was the first? Who knows Artur Lemba? In 1938 Artur Rubinstein was a juror in Brussels where the winner was the excellent Russian Emil Gilels, however as far as 7th Prize went to Italian Arturo Michelangelo Benedetti soon became phenomenal pianist. And Maestro Rubinstein found himself a bit guilty and obliged to explain the jury’s major mistake.

The responsibility of the jury is heavy because they promote young artistes gives them wings or deeply harm or even damage their career and life. Also the history of Chopin Competition reminds me of the omission by the jury the verdict given to great talent of Ivo Pogorelic. This case inspired a split between members of the jury and Martha Argerich left the jury panel in protest. Reflections Oh, I realized that so many reflections filled the whole article intending to inform you about the new, just born ‘Szymanowski’ Competition. The patronage on that even accepted such great persons of musical world as Sir Simon Rattle, legendary conductor lower and propagator of Szymanowski’s music and Krzysztof Penderecki, one of the most famous contemporary composers. The most successful became the composer section (over one hundred works sent from all over the world) and quartets section with so many really mixed internationally ensembles representing very high level.

However the competition constellation is so crowded these days that finding any noticeable place on the horizon is risky and need a lot of luck, and hard work. I wish them luck, of course.

It is such mega-competition. Only the first winner has a chance to rise to the heaven of career but it depends on so many things. But for us listeners, not contenders, my advice would be: let us follow the games but concentrate on ‘how one is playing’ and enjoy music.

NB: The Anton Rubinstein competition still exists these days in Germany. They have just completed the 2018 edition!

Editor’s Note:

Cezary Owerkowicz is the chairman of the Kuwait Chamber of Philharmonia and talented pianist. He regularly organizes concerts by well-known musicians for the benefit of music lovers and to widen the knowledge of music in Kuwait. His email address is: cowerkowicz@yahoo. com and cowerkowicz@hotmail. com