Beatrice Colombis wins Michael Hill International Violin Competition - William Dart
Beatrice Colombis in her dazzling Shostakovich A minor Concerto. Photo / Auckland Philharmonia
The Michael Hill International Violin Competition’s grand final is a predictable highlight of the city’s musical calendar, and especially tonight, marking the 25th year of this prestigious event, instigated through the beneficence and cultural sagacity of the late jeweller and philanthropist.
Yet it is much more than just a glittering finale.
A handsome programme book, emblazoned with the words “The World is Listening”, details 17 days of musical activities in Christchurch, Queenstown and Auckland, with masterclasses, small concerts and talks reaching out into the wider community.
Now, with all the competitors’ performances available on YouTube, across the nation and around the world, the excitement and anticipation in the town hall tonight is palpable.
Two evenings of chamber music semifinals on Wednesday and Thursday decided the three competitors who would tackle a concerto with Auckland Philharmonia under Alan Buribayev.
Australia’s Beatrice Colombis had chosen Shostakovich and China’s Tianyou Ma and Germany’s Jakow Pavlenko both selected Sibelius.
Colombis had already won a prize for her searching account of Salina Fisher’s intriguing test piece Chasm, and her dazzling foray into Shostakovich’s A minor Concerto earns her a well-deserved top prize.
From the sighing sorrows of its opening Nocturne to its grim, runaway finale, Colombis seamlessly integrates with orchestra and conductor, catching the score’s constantly shifting emotions, even if her unexpected foot percussion as the Cadenza became ever more frenzied and fiery might have raised some eyebrows.
Tianyou Ma’s Sibelius Concerto, along with his previous performances, would gain him a runner-up placing, although his cool platform manner and tendency to fall under orchestral swells does detract from the overall effect.
Jakow Pavlenko would in due course be awarded the prize for the best chamber music performance for his Schumann Quintet, in which one could sense his four fellow musicians (the estimable NZTrio and violist Robert Ashworth) hanging on his every bow stroke and tremor.
However, what worked so beautifully for Schumann does not do justice to the fury of Sibelius’ finale, even if Pavlenko’s generously paced slow movement allows orchestra and conductor to relax into their own luscious sound world.
Expect more luscious sound on Thursday when Alan Buribayev conducts Auckland Philharmonia in a programme of Chopin, Tchaikovsky and the little-known and intensely colourful Symphony no 1 by Vasily Kalinnikov (1866-1901).