JOHN O’CONOR, artistic director of the Dublin International Piano Competition, was in the bubbliest of form announcing this year’s results at the National Concert Hall on Tuesday.
And why wouldn’t he be?
The winner, Russian pianist Nikolay Khozyainov, was the clear audience favourite. So loud was the ovation after his playing of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto that it must have been depressing for any other competitor within earshot.
Khozyainov may be only 19, but his musical ambition doesn’t stop at playing Rachmaninov with a maturity that belies his age. For “relaxation” he studies orchestral and opera scores because he plans to add conducting to his musical accomplishments.
O’Conor’s high spirits will have been helped by the fact that the audience’s second favourite, based on the level of applause, was the pianist who was awarded the second prize, China’s Jiayan Sun (22), whose playing of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto had a welcome, unhackneyed freshness.
O’Conor clearly took a special pleasure in highlighting that one jury member – the legendary Fanny Waterman, founder of the Leeds International Piano Competition – is 92, and she’s already been booked to sit on the jury of the next competition, in 2015. He even managed to sound upbeat about the prospects of that competition taking place, in spite of the fact there’s no title sponsor.
The 2012 competition was supported through the largesse of Carmel Naughton who, he said, was swayed by the fact that the enterprise is built on a bedrock of volunteer involvement – from transport, to people who open their homes to competitors, others who allow competitors to practise on their pianos, and others who wine and dine the jury over the span of the competition.
But there’s still no sponsor for 2015. “We have five companies or individuals,” said O’Conor, “who are going to give us a substantial amount of money.” The plan is to sign up a further hundred “to give €100 a month for three years”. He needs to find 80 of those to be ready to go. He remained upbeat as he said: “I’m begging you, I’m asking you – please help.”
