THE PRAGUE COMPETITION
THE TOKYO COMPETITION
In May, 1986, the 38th Prague Spring International Music competition was once again open to players of the flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon. As an ex-participant myself back in 1959, it was both an honour and a pleasure to be invited to sit on the jury; Prague is besides one of the most beautiful of cities to visit.
There is currently some controversy in England as to the rights and wrongs of music competitions; critics have drawn attention to some of their more pernicious side effects and a useful debate has ensued. Whatever our attitude in the West to such tournaments might be, in Eastern Europe they are taken very seriously indeed. Success will enable the student to get a good job; if he already has one, it will qualify him for getting solo engagements. Likewise the prize-winner's teacher will earn valuable prestige. The object of entering such a competition is to win a prize and thereby bring credit not only to oneself but to one's country; preparing for it is taken very seriously indeed.
This is what happens in East Germany: Some six months before there is a national playoff over three rounds to select a "team" of would-be contestants. Out of a dozen competing against each other in Berlin a pair is finally selected to go forward. They will be thoroughly prepared; just prior to setting off they will give concert performances accompanied by both piano and orchestra before an audience. Travelling with them will be both their own piano accompanists and their teachers. At the competition itself the teachers will listen to the other competitors and offer strategic advice.
For some nationals there may be other hurdles to overcome; it can happen that a competitor will not be granted a visa to travel by his own government. The Prague authorities themselves appear to refuse a number of applications, presumably with the object of keeping the numbers within limits.
On this occasion some 40 bassoonists (age limit 30) had inscribed. A total of 24 actually showed up, representing the following nationalities: Czechs 9, East Germans, Poles and Chinese 2, and one each from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, West Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the United States, and Yugoslavia. I innocently asked a Czech colleague why the Russians had failed to send anyone this time. His answer had a devastating logic: they would have done so had there been a Russian on the jury. On our 9-man jury six nationalities were represented: our chairman was Petr Reznicek, a composer and administrator from Brno. The rest of the jury consisted of Miloslav Masier, professor at the Prague Conservatory, a competition prizewinner himself in 1959, and participant at I.D.R.S. congresses in Graz and Boulder; Frantisek Svaboda, player and teacher from Brno and another veteran of 1959; Georghe Cuciureanu, Romanian, teacher from Bucharest and also well known to I.D.R.S. members for his innovative key-mechanisms; Fritz Finsch (DDR), member of the Berlin Octet and a highly respected teacher in that city; Bogdan Gadawski, Polish, from Warsaw; Michael Werba, Austrian, the brilliant young principal of the Vienna Philharmonic, and myself.
The first two of the three rounds were held in a small hall that was unfortunately overresonant enough to make the appraisal of many facets of play problematic. The pitch of the piano had not been notified to competitors in advance; by my reckoning was at around 445 Hz. As in the Munich competition two years previously, the Hummel Concerto figured in at the opening round - but this time playing it from memory was non-obligatory. As well as the first and second movements of this, all competitors played part of an accompanied work by the Czech composer Sestak. Ten duly went forward to the second round, for which was set the Weber Op. 75, a Vivaldi concerto, and a modern Czech composition chosen from a list of some half-dozen. From these, five were selected to play in the final round. This comprised a free choice of work with piano, and a final marathon session consisting of five successive performances of K191 with orchestra, heard without a break!
After lengthy considerations which could be fairly described as arduous, the jury awarded all five finalists a prize. (This also occured in the case of the oboe.) The first prize (25,000 crowns plus a couple of concerto engagements) went to Sergio Azzolini, the 19 year old Italian who had so impressed many of us at the Munich competition in 1984. He consistently gave performances which for sheer flair and virtuosity well outdistanced his rivals. Playing his entire repertory from memory, he held his audience spellbound with the intensity and range of expression in his playing, as well as his dazzling mastery of every aspect of technique. Second prizes were awarded to Alexander Hase (FRG), son of Gerhard Hase, a well-known Stuttgart bassoonist, and to Dugan Drapela (CS) of Prague, and to Thomas Reinhardt (DDR) of Leipzig.
Assisting at such an event can offer a rare education to the juror. Enabled to hear in quick succession such a variety of high-level playing, he may evaluate the penalties imposed and the advantages gained from the skilled deployment of the wide range of differing styles and techniques on display: conceptions of tone, reed styles, playing position, breath control techniques, fingerings, etc. Certain aspects of the proceedings might depress him at times; in the classics, the apparent lack of artistic awareness so frequently demonstrated by the use of phrasings and articulations in conflict with the harmonic and metrical sense (Poor editions are often to blame here!); excessive speeds that virtually rule out the use of any agogic; scant regard to musical style (especially in Baroque slow movements!). However he also cannot fail to be moved by this inspiring manifestation of so much talented effort and idealism devoted to the service of our instrument.
William Waterhouse, London
THE
TOKYO COMPETITION
The Tokyo Competition ended on November 26, 1986, with an evening
concert at the Hibiya Public Hall at which the finalists played
solos with the New Japan Philharmonic. Now it is the next day,
our Thanksgiving day, and while I am still in a Japanese trance
I send you my impressions before they fade away with memories
of other competitions in Munich and Toulon.
Fifty-eight contestants competed in the first round, performing the first movement of Mozart K.191. They all exhibited good tone quality, amazing dexterity, and excellent preparation. The judges were behind a screen directly in front of us (I think this interferes with the acoustics.) at the Vario Hall, a lovely facility which may be connected with the Schobie Conservatory. With the exception of one American Army Band player, Herman Allison, I learned that the others were Japanese. The judges were: Kaoru Yamahata, formerly Solo Bassoon NHK Symphony, Chairman; Yoshido Kiryu, Solo Bassoon NKH Symphony; Hitomi Sugawara, NHK Symphony; Muneo Tozawa, University of Sakuyo; Ryohei Nakagawa, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra; Hiromi Hina, Osaka Orchestra; Takeo Mitsunaga, Kyoto Orchestra, and myself.
In totaling points highs and lows of each judge were eliminated to achieve a norm, and, although we were asked to select 15, because of a tie we ended up with 16 semi-finalists.
The next round called for the Tansman Suite as a compulsory piece and a choice between the Osborne Rhapsody (a surprise to me) and the Genzmar Sonata. Fifteen chose Osborne and one played Genzmar. (He later told me that he couldn't find a copy of the Osborne.) These works were well conceived and played, although some details were lacking. We then voted on the 5 finalists and transferred to Hibiya Public Hall for the last round. This is a large concert hall, and although we weren't asked to vote we were required to listen to all the flute, euphonium, and tuba finalists, besides the bassoons, all of whom were eligible for the grand prize. The required piece was Weber Op. 75.
We voted for our best bassoonists, and Morita, Second Bassoon of the NHK Orchestra was given first prize. Yoshida was given second prize, and a lovely girl, Sugawara, (no relation to the judge) was given third prize.
The entire competition was well organized and efficiently administered by Mr. Komoi for the Japan Musical Education and Culture Promotion Society, which has advanced the cause and development of musicians through the Japanese Wind and Percussion Competitions. This Third Competition is probably the first to honor the euphonium, and the top finalist was a University of Michigan graduate, Luis Maldonodo. That made Brian Bowman, Harvey Phillips and me proud.
General observations on bassoon playing were the emphasis on technique. Double tonguing was common and tempi were fast. Tone was never above mf, and there was little dynamic contrast. No one seemed to have any special reed problems or any other problems. As in other competitions mistakes in the Weber Op. 75 (and Genzmar) were performed. The Waterhouse edition should take care of the next one! It was difficult to carry on any detailed conversations - language was a serious obstacle. Even when some colleagues spoke English it wasn't enough to go into more than the basic information.
An added bonus to the occasion, however, was the appearance in Tokyo of Milan Turkovic, who was scheduled to give the first Japanese bassoon recital by a foreigner. We couldn't stay for the recital on December 2nd, but we did get to his lecture on stylistic questions in Mozart based on his soon-to-be-published edition by Universal. Guided by Herman Allison of the Army Band, we took subways, trains, and taxi to the Kunitachi College of Music where some 400 students are part of a huge University. In a modern auditorium seating 500, Turkovic spoke in English (ably translated by the President of the College, Professor Bin Ebisawa), illustrated his lecture with projections, and performed examples on the bassoon. It was a glorious and informative lecture followed by a sumptuous banquet in Tokyo.
And speaking of banquets, I must end this report da capo. When we arrived we were met by Mr. Yamabota at the Narita Airport. His first message was an invitation from the Japan
Double Reed Company to attend a banquet at the Hyatt Hotel that evening. We assumed that this was the Japanese branch of the I.D.R.S. until we saw the extent of this banquet and its lavish atmosphere. It did give us a wonderful chance to meet all the oboists and bassoonists in Tokyo who took turns playing chamber music. Some of the winds of the Stuttgart Orchestra were there as well. It was a festive occasion and a wonderful introduction to music in Tokyo, but aside from a message in the program from President Winstead, there was never any representation of I.D.R.S. at the Competition. But there are many potential members in Japan, as you can see from the enclosed photo of a concert in Osaka involving 100 bassoons!!!
