Thanks to some troublesome time zones, the first half of the Tchaikovsky competition’s third round violin finals (with two more third round concerts to follow today and tomorrow) fell across the journey home from work, and internet gremlins made the second half an intermittent affair. What I did see was a great credit to the competition organisers, who have succeeded in making this an accessible and exciting event for those of us not lucky enough to be in the competition halls: picture and sound are very good for a free-to-view service.
I only caught the second half of South Korean violinist Jehye Lee’s Tchaikovsky concerto and my impression was of a player with a strong technique and presence who could have done with a bit more flair in the dancing finale. Still, I very much look forward to her performance of Bartok’s second concerto, which may well suit her better. The final performance of the evening came from Israeli violinist Itamar Zorman, whose choice of the Berg concerto was admirably brave. He often placed grit and expression above beauty of sound, which was refreshing, though I wonder if I was alone in finding his pained facial expressions distracting. His Tchaikovsky follows Lee’s Bartok on Wednesday evening. Follow this link for the complete final round schedule in the violin and cello categories.
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