The 3rd Thailand International Piano Competition

Left) Luca Toncian (Romania), (middle) Gun Chaikittiwatana (Thailand), (right)

Yun-Ho Chen (Taiwan)

Music Auditorium.  College of Music, Mahidol University.  Nakhon Pathom.  July 26-August 3, 2013.  Piano competitions get their share of criticism and I must say that I agree with some of it, but they are so firmly established in the musical firmament that their existence is beyond discussion.   After all, the venerable Chopin competition has been around for 86 years, and the renowned Tchaikovsky and Van Cliburn competitions now have the status of piano Olympics, where wins in either are almost certain roads to fame. 

I have attended four competitions in the last few years and from a piano-lover’s perspective, that is, one who is retired and has lots of time to attend, a competition provides a unique opportunity to hear a lot of the piano repertory played by excellent pianists over a concentrated period of time.  Besides, the competition element alone provides excitement; one can’t help having favorites and rooting for them.  We are living in the golden age of piano playing and the performance level of those who actually get accepted into the competitions after rigorous screening, is uniformly high.  Although there may be an occasional flub or misstep, the listener is guaranteed to hear marvelous, deep, and professional performances. 

This year was the third time that Mahidol’s very excellent College of Music has organized a piano competition, and based on this year’s and the competition in 2011 (I didn’t attend the first competition), the Thailand International Piano Competition is well on its way to establishing itself as an important place for young pianists, especially from Asia, to compete.  Seventeen pianists from Thailand, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Australia and Romania, journeyed to Mahidol University to perform before an impressive panel of six judges from Italy, Germany, Russia/UK, USA and Thailand.  Both the quality of the competitors and the judges were far greater than one had the right to expect from a competition only six year old.

There were several aspects of the 3^rd Thailand International Piano Competition that differentiated it from other competitions I’ve attended.  First, the competitors were very young, being restricted to ages 15 through 25.  Since one of the notable features of most of Asia is its young populations, this was very much within the mood of the region.  More important was the fact that the final round included six pianists, rather than the more common three.  This was made possible because the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, which devoted one of its regular concert pairs to the competition, provided the opportunity for six pianists to play concerti with the orchestra for the final round.  Also, by restricting the final solo round to 20 minutes each, I was able to hear all six finalists perform during one afternoon.

There were so many highlights of the competition that it is not possible, and perhaps unfair, to single any out, but my memory focuses on the ravishingly beautiful performance by Yun-Ho Chen (Taiwan) of Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit, the exciting, large rendition of Ginastera’s Sonata No 1, by Luca Toncian (Romania), and the controlled and concentrated performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1, by Gun Chaikittiwatana (Thailand), a performance which captured the architecture of the concerto perfectly.

Of the six finalists, I totally agree with the judges’ decision for the top three places.  As far as I’m concerned, any of the three deserved first place.  However, this is a competition, so I can’t be faulted for rooting for the home team and cheering when Thailand won.  Gun, who is now only 15-years of age, will do the competition proud.