Opinions will differ, as they always do, among listeners, both those experiencing it in the hall with that ever-special atmosphere that prevails during every second of the competition. Those listening at home via the competition's website, TV or radio experience it just as intensely. The listening experience is different for everyone, neither for those sitting in the hall nor for those listening at home. Those who have to listen to it from radio or TV or computer hear it differently because the microphones are positioned so that you're almost inside the cello. In the hall so much depends on where you're sitting and whether the music stand with the score is in front of the instrument or not, whether you're sitting close by or far away, on the parterre or a balcony and so on and so on... In short, for everyone, jury members included, it's always different...
Fang Man (°1977)- Four Odes to the Tidings of Flowers
The chaos in the piece surprises me this time. Pagano tries all sorts of things, but finds it difficult, even though he plays with great skill. He cuts sharply with the bow and lets it groan, which is part of the score. It's not particularly cello-friendly and the question can and should be asked whether this work is suitable for everyone. Physically demanding, strange and too many glissandos, all sorts of extremes that test the technical ability to the edge of what's possible dominate over tonality. Does Ettore Pagano confront the composer with the work's shortcomings? If so, this is an interpretation like no other.
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953) - Sinfonia concertante op. 125
Pagano needs much effort and struggle to captivate, but stress hinders him in expressing himself fully. He plays fairly pure, with occasionally slightly impure intonation, though it doesn't disturb. Why does this musician move me only somewhat? In the slow movement he conjures particularly beautiful, sustained, moving music. Here he wins me over, but it only lasted through that section and I remained somewhat uncertain afterwards. Only in the final movement does he regain control and play more lightly, fluently and smoothly, which is too much because again there's brief impure pitch. There's clearly plenty of joy in playing and that's certainly an element that belongs on stage.
Fang Man - Four Odes to the Tidings of Flowers
Dietlin plays fairly smoothly, but no less concentrated with the instrument and the set work. Her entries are less harsh, she knows how to handle the bow. Note that the right hand with the bow is the musical steering wheel of every string player, from violinist to double bassist. If the right hand/arm won't cooperate, the playing fails. This laureate doesn't suffer from such a problem. Her reading of this set work is not visionary, but it's intelligible, transparent and full of self-control. You hear less physical force and yet she doesn't have to concede anything through the accents she knows how to place.
Sergey Prokofiev - Sinfonia concertante op. 125
Hearing the same thing twice identically invites comparison, but that's not the point. It's about each candidate's performance in itself and you must then forget what you heard before. Generally the work sings more than intended unless in the slow movement where there's a very fluid movement with broad sustained lyrical poetry. You hear that beautifully performed, though with a brief tonal problem in the higher notes. Her restrained groaning entries serve the whole well. There could certainly be more emphasized phrasing and stronger assertiveness and crisp playing to give the sinfonia more power. She builds towards the apotheosis and delivers another strong example of cello playing.