Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; No. 1; Part 5

<v Speaker>[orchestra playing]. <v Steve Allen>[applause] And the crowd obviously more aroused on this occasion than the earlier one

<v Steve Allen>we've just heard the piano concerto number 3 in C, Opus 26 <v Steve Allen>by Prokofiev. Soloist, as you know, is Emma Tahmizian, <v Steve Allen>accompanied by Stanisław Skrowaczewski and the Fort Worth Symphony <v Steve Allen>Orchestra. <v Paul Hume>That was a fascinating performance in that that is a terribly difficult pianist and it <v Paul Hume>depends it to a degree on its physical strength to the performer. <v Paul Hume>And I've been noticing that Miss Tahmizian is rather slim and her arms are not large <v Paul Hume>and she's not heavy. And it takes something of a pianist who can apply <v Paul Hume>weight with ease to the keyboard to cut through that big orchestra. <v Paul Hume>That's unfathomable. <v Steve Allen>She's back on stage now, taking another well-deserved bow as does the full orchestra. <v Paul Hume>Notice how gracious Skrowaczewski's been with her. <v Paul Hume>He's put his arms around her and kissed her after shaking hands and congratulating her. <v Steve Allen>Yes. Well, that performance is part of the final round of the seventh Van Cliburn <v Steve Allen>International Piano Competition coming to you live from the theater center of the Tarrant

<v Steve Allen>County Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas. <v Paul Hume>Emma Tahmizian is the second of the 2 finalists to play tonight. <v Paul Hume>There are 6 finalists all together selected by the distinguished international <v Paul Hume>jury from the 36 pianists who began this competition nearly 2 weeks <v Paul Hume>ago. <v Steve Allen>It's remarkable. <v Steve Allen>That takes care of Mr. Tahmizian, Miss Tahmizian. <v Steve Allen>We have now heard her as much as we're going to hear her and more than we the judges have <v Steve Allen>heard her now as a soloist then in chamber music and then tonight with the concerto. <v Paul Hume>Mm hmm. <v Steve Allen>And we have heard her ?as pulsing? in both of her final round performances. <v Steve Allen>Again, Paul, with the proviso that nothing you can say for or against <v Steve Allen>her will have any effect on the judge's decision. <v Steve Allen>But what is your own reaction to her playing at this point? <v Paul Hume>I didn't hear in the Prokofiev what is a- I think a fair phrase, although it's a little <v Paul Hume>ambiguous, I didn't hear what we call generally speaking, big playing. <v Paul Hume>This means playing a big size to take in that kind of piece, which is very decidedly

<v Paul Hume>20th century written after World War 1. <v Paul Hume>Percussive, but not the kind of piece that you want to have struck on the piano <v Paul Hume>just because there is a percussive element in it. <v Paul Hume>Of course, there were also times for the piano to sing, and those I thought were Miss <v Paul Hume>Tahmizian's most successful moments. <v Paul Hume>Nor looking back on her Mozart, did I hear the kind of grandness or elegance <v Paul Hume>and style that we associate with the finest kinds of Mozart's performances. <v Paul Hume>I think, if I may borrow again a sporting phrase, I would say that the odds on Miss <v Paul Hume>Tahmizian were lengthening. <v Steve Allen>Again, speaking in my capacity as just a pop and jazz pianist, I find that not <v Steve Allen>only Miss Tahmizian, but all of the contestants, the present 6 <v Steve Allen>and those earlier, have a remarkable technical facility. <v Steve Allen>And I suppose that's pretty much state of the art now. <v Steve Allen>I mean, you couldn't get this far unless you had that facility at a minimum, right? <v Paul Hume>That you take for granted with any pianist who comes into this competition almost really, <v Paul Hume>as Jorge Bolet said, he said, "We're looking for more than that." He said, "We assume <v Paul Hume>that nowadays all these young pianists have their computerized techniques in hand."

<v Steve Allen>Well, the stage is now being reset to the members of the orchestra have strolled off <v Steve Allen>into the wings. And the piano, in fact, <v Steve Allen>is being, tuned. I'm sure it would have been tuned whoever played it, and whatever <v Steve Allen>selection had been played on it at this point. <v Steve Allen>But perhaps after that vigorous Prokofiev it needs a bit more than might otherwise have <v Steve Allen>been the case. And Barry Douglas will be accommodated by the tune <v Steve Allen>up, and he'll be playing the Brahms First Piano Concerto fairly soon. <v Steve Allen>And while we have a break, we pause briefly for station identification. <v Steve Allen>This live broadcast from the 7th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is made <v Steve Allen>possible happily by grants from the Mobil Oil Corporation and Tandy <v Steve Allen>Corporation, RadioShack. This is the American Public Radio Network.