By David Amos
SAN DIEGO –One possible definition of heaven on earth is seven days of listening to chamber music for the entire day, plus non-stop feasting on Italian and Sicilian food daily for lunch and dinner. All at a seaside resort.
This is what I experienced one fine week in November of 1996, when I was invited to be a member of the jury of the 16th annual International Chamber Music Competition inTrapani, (Sicily),Italy.
I have adjudicated music competitions many times in the past, but this one was a unique experience. Twenty ensembles from various parts of the world competed for awards and cash. There was an elimination round for all participants, plus the semifinal and final auditions.
The jury was a most distinguished group indeed. FromSpain, pianist Joachim Soriano, concert pianist and clinician, and Luis Claret, renowned cellist and soloist with many known orchestras. From Italy, Sergio Perticaroli, concert pianist, head of the piano department and vice-president of the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, and Marco Scano, cellist, winner of many international honors, teacher, and principal cello of the La Scala Orchestra in Milan. From Germany, the respected flutist and conductor Kurt Redel. From France, Claude Desurmont, principal clarinetist of the Paris Orchestra; from Russia Igor Frolov, concert violinist, teacher, and conductor of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. The United States was represented by Julius Baker, the dean of flutist and teachers of the flute for over 50 years, and principal flutist of the Cleveland Orchestra, Bach Aria Group, CBS Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, and New York Philharmonic. And myself.
The nine of us worked for a good eight hours every day for six days, listening carefully and evaluating ensembles. They ranged from duets to quintets, and the playing level of most of these young performers was nothing short of outstanding. There were groups fromRussia, Soviet Georgia, France, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, and Italy. As much as I am used to hearing quality ensembles, while being well aware of the wealth of talent that exists around the world, I could not helped but be impressed at the maturity and depth of the various performances.
Trapaniis a city at the Western end of Sicily; it is known as a seaside resort town as well as a center for fishing and salt processing. It is about 60 miles West of Palermo. The Regional Council for Trapani, which is the equivalent of our county governments, had sponsored this wonderful competition for almost two decades, which culminated with an evening concert of the winners, which is generously covered by the national Italian printed press and television. The foreign press was also well represented, and I had many opportunities to chat with the attending correspondents. I kept hoping that the Trapani Council was well aware of the treasure it possessed. On a worldwide basis, the prestige and name recognition it brought to the city is incalculable.
Did you see the film The Competition, released about three decades ago, starring Amy Irving and Richard Dreyfuss? It may give you a taste of what these classical music contests are like. But I did not experience this from the contestants’ side, but from the perspective of the jury. This was a most professional group of gentlemen who listened carefully for hours at a time and struggled with difficult decisions and choices.
It may seem heartless to give a cold, numerical score which may look very negative, or at best, indifferent to the musicians who have just poured their souls on the stage, hoping to impress a jury. But, unfortunately, there must be winners and losers in any competition, and the ranking by number may be the only objective manner of separating the very good from the best.
We also debated the idea of how to compare a piano-violin duet, to, say. a woodwind quintet. Isn’t it like comparing apples to oranges? The solution to this came down to selecting the ensembles which displayed the best communication, the ones which were inspired and inspiring to us; in some groups the energy crackled unmistakably to the listeners, and this served me as a strong parameter in my decisions. Some magic truly took place!
One of the most difficult things to do was to talk to the losers (rather, the non-winners). We were not allowed to communicate with the participants while they were still in the running, but as ensembles were eliminated in the first two rounds, several musicians came to us asking for our opinions as to what they did wrong and in what areas they could improve in future competitions. Some were in tears, and this is understandable, because of the countless hours end emotions committed to practicing for their chosen careers, with this competition in particular. We did our best to encourage them, put their performance in perspective, and to suggest areas of improvement. This became tricky at times, when it was obvious that one member of the team was far better than the rest of his or her ensemble, or if one musician was noticeably weaker than his/her colleagues. We tried our best to guide and counsel.
I was especially delighted to spend many hours in the company of the late Julius Baker, an icon and a legend, whom I admired for many years before we met inTrapani. He delighted me and shared his “inside stories” with many anecdotes and real-life moments when he encountered the legendary musicians and conductors with whom he worked and played.
A few other interesting observations:
* We heard a lot of Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Prokofiev, Poulenc and Schubert. But we were also treated to lesser known, but outstanding works by Ligeti, Martinu, Frank, Shostakovitch, Enesco, Rachmaninoff and Smetana.
*The Trapani Competition Committee, headed by Lea Pavarini, showed the Jury some outstanding Sicilian hospitality. Aside from the culinary feasts, the general working atmosphere was one of warmth, optimism, good humor, and professionalism. Another fringe benefit is the fact that Sicily is an archaeological jewel, due to its rich history of many past civilizations, cultures and conquests. We were given excursions to historical sites, complete with tour guides and detailed explanations of the ruins we visited, along with the legends and mythologies behind them.
*It was a wise decision to invite the school children fromTrapani, aged 8-12, to sit and listen to the various competition rounds. All were very well behaved, and I am sure that they will retain valuable memories from these experiences, which will contribute to making some of them active supporters of classical music in their adult years. (San Diego, take note!)
*The winners of the competition were nothing short of dazzling. First place was awarded to a cello-piano team of Eric Maria Courtier and Laurent Wahschal fromFrance. Second place went to another French team of clarinet and piano, and interestingly, the third was won by another French group, a trio names Pantoum. Fourth place, a string quartet from Rome’s Santa Cecilia Academy, and fifth place went to a cello-piano duet fromRussia. The press corps also awarded honorable mention for best Contemporary and Romantic works.
*The jury tried not to be a victim to the common pitfalls that strike most competition juries: To award the contestants who play the most notes, the fastest, and the loudest. My criteria was “Would I want to bring this soloist or ensemble to perform for my audiences? Will it excite and inspire them?” In short, we avoided rewarding musicians with all-technique and no heart.
A memorable week.
*
I was invited toTrapani to judge a second time, a few years later. This was also a wonderful experience, but quite different from the first visit. I will share with you these memories in a future article.
*
Amos is conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra and has guest conducted professional orchestras around the world. He may be contacted at david.amos@sdjewishworld.com