When one thinks of the history of the harpsichord, Hungary
is not the first country that comes to mind. Yet, as might be expected from a
country that has produced so many outstanding musicians, a number of talented
and enthusiastic performers have succeeded in securing the harpsichord a place
in Hungarian musical life. Compared to Western Europe and the United States,
this has come about relatively recently and much of the credit must go to
János Sebestyén, who established the first harpsichord class at
the Lizst Academy in 1970. In recognition of the harpsichord, its literature
from both the past and the present, and the many outstanding performers now
active in Hungary, the International
Music Competition, Budapest, devoted this year's activities to the
harpsichord for the first time. The competition took place September
19-30, 2000 with János Sebestyén presiding over a jury
consisting of Máté Hollós, Anikó Horváth,
István Lantos, Ketil Haugsand, Jacques Ogg, Miklós Spányi
and Elzbieta Stefanska.
The competition opened on September 19 with a concert at the
Liszt Academy in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Bach's death.
It provided a rare opportunity to hear all six of Bach's multiple
harpsichord concertos (BWV 1060-65) as well as Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
(BWV 1050) in a live concert setting. Harpsichordists Ágnes
Várallyay and Borbála Dobozy shared performing duties with jury
members Horváth, Haugsand, Sebestyén, Spányi and
Stefanska. It was easy to appreciate the different timbres of the four solo
instruments in the excellent acoustics of the Academy's large hall.
Eleven members of the Ferenc Erkel Chamber Orchestra provided discreet string
support on modern instruments. The evening's highlights included a majestic
performance of the C major concerto (BWV 1064) by Horváth, Stefanska,
and Várallyay, as well as Spányi's propulsive account of
the solo part in the Brandenburg Concerto. Ildiko Kertész's
baroque-flute playing in the same concerto was stunning.
The competition itself took place at the Óbudai
Társaskör, a small but accommodating hall perfect for an event of
this type, located just one block from an ancient Roman excavation site. There
were nineteen competitors in the preliminaries: six from Hungary, two from the
Czech Republic, two from Italy, and one each from Greece, Yugoslavia, Canada,
Spain, Armenia, Poland, Australia, China and Japan. The required repertoire
included a Fantasia by the renaissance composer Bálint Bakfark; a choice
of one of the Bach/Vivaldi concerto transcriptions (BWV 972, 976 or 980);
Soler's Sonata Rondo in G major (Rubio No. 58); and seven pieces from
Bartók's Mikrokosmos (Nos. 79, 92, 117-18, 122-24).
Competitors had a choice of four double-manual instruments by Vyhnálek,
Klinkhamer, Dowd and Sperrhake. The Dowd proved to be the most popular choice
with the Vyhnálek a close second. Several of the competitors chose the
Sperrhake for the Bartók. Perhaps surprisingly, the Soler, with its
virtuoso figuration and extreme mood-swings, posed the greatest challenge to
the competitors from both technical and interpretive standpoints. The Bakfark,
with its improvisatory lute-style writing, proved interpretively challenging.
Most of the competitors failed to make the piece sound cohesive. The Bach/Vivaldi
D Major Concerto (BWV 972) was by far the most popular choice among the three
concertos; nearly everyone rose to its technical challenges. Not surprisingly,
several of the Hungarian competitors excelled in the Bartók, performing
the miniatures with an almost fierce precision.
Twelve players were chosen for the semi-finals. The required
repertoire included the second and fourth movements from the suite Four
Self-Portraits in Masks by Emil Petrovics, a beautiful work composed in 1958,
which deserves to become part of the standard harpsichord repertoire;
Haydn's Esterhazy Sonata in F major (Hob. XVI: 23/Landon 38);
Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor (BWV 849) or Prelude and Fugue
in A major (BWV 864); and 12 minutes of selections from Rameau's
Pièces de clavecin (1724, 1731) with Les cyclopes being compulsory. This
round proved to be more interesting. The varied repertoire choices available
brought out the strengths and weaknesses of each performer more clearly. Again,
the Hungarians excelled in the contemporary work. Unfortunately, the elegance
and humor required of the Haydn proved elusive to most of the competitors.
Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp minor was the popular choice and the
Rameau brought out the best playing from nearly everyone. Yang Tien, currently
a student in London, must be singled out for her truly stunning performance of
Les cyclopes which was one of the most exciting and technically brilliant
harpsichord performances I have ever heard.
Seven competitors advanced to the final round: Zsolt Balog,
Dalma Cseh and András Szepes, all from Hungary; Yago Mahugo-Carles,
Spain; Alessandro Pianu, Italy; Alina Ratkowska-Szadejko, Poland; and Yang
Tien, China. The repertoire included a choice of one movement from Sándor
Szokolay's Sunset of the Old Millennium, Dawn of the New Millennium, a
work commissioned for the competition; Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue
(BWV 903) or Toccata in D Major (BWV 912); and his Concerto for Harpsichord and
Strings in E Major (BWV 1053). The Szokolay piece, written in an academic style
that was popular three decades ago, proved a challenge to both the performers
and the audience. However, after hearing movements from the work seven times in
one evening, its qualities gradually became apparent. Six of the performers
chose the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue with only Balog playing the Toccata in D
Major. The Ferenc Erkel Chamber Orchestra returned for the E Major concerto
with all seven competitors performing the work during one long evening.
Fortunately, the last performance, given by Dalma Cseh, was clearly the best of
all. She possesses the rare combination of technical command, musicality and
stage presence that makes it impossible not to become involved with the
music--even after six prior performances of the same piece.
The jury, which apparently had difficulty reaching a
decision, finally announced the awards several hours after the final concerto
performance. Zsolt Balog and Dalma Cseh shared Second Prize, while Alessandro
Pianu, András Szepes and Yang Tien shared Third Prize. First Prize was
not awarded. The competition concluded on September 30 with a gala concert in
which six of the finalists played a program of pieces selected by the jury.
The competition proved to be a great success. It was well
organized and, from the very first round, all of the participants demonstrated
a high level of musicianship. The choice of repertoire proved to be somewhat
controversial, yet it succeeded in its goal of finding well-rounded performers
capable of traversing four centuries of harpsichord literature. Most
importantly, the competition presented several talented young musicians capable
of taking the harpsichord and its music well into the 21st century.
--Robert Tifft
