Classical KEEPING SCORE.

Steve Smith 2 June 2001 Billboard ISSN: 0006-2510; Volume 113; Issue 22 Copyright 2001 Gale Group Inc.

GOING FOR THE GOLD: Change is in the hot north Texas air at the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which began May 25 at the new Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. As in each competition since the contest's inception in 1962, 30 pianists from around the world trek to the Lone Star state. Each hopes to join the illustrious company of such gold medalists as Radu Lupu, Cristina Ortiz, Vladimir Viardo, Alexei Sultanov, and inaugural winner Ralph Votapek. But on June 10, for the first time in the competition's history, more than one pianist may leave town with that coveted award.

According to Richard Rodzinski, president of the Van Cliburn Foundation, the process of adjudication was revised for this year's event in order to "portray to the public and to the world in general, as accurately as possible, precisely what the opinion of the jury really was." He explains that the old system was not sensitive enough to gauge the varying intensity of a juror's reaction to each performer. The new system, based on the one used by the Indianapolis Violin Competition, allows for greater flexibility and accuracy in the tabulation of the jurors' responses. In the process, it also creates the possibility of a statistical dead heat. Should the jurors declare a tie for the gold, it would be a first (although two pianists did tie for the silver medal in 1981).

Arguably the world's most prestigious piano competition, the Cliburn-as insiders and participants refer to it-is held over the course of two weeks and involves three separate stages. In the first round, all 30 competitors perform an unrestricted 50-minute recital program. Twelve pianists then advance to the semifinals, during which each performs chamber music with the Takacs Quartet and presents a 70-minute recital that includes a mandatory contemporary American work. In the final round, six pianists perform concerti with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, directed by James Conlon. In another new development for this year's competition, each finalist will perform the concerto program twice on separate days.

The pianists are not the only artists in competition at this year's Cliburn. In years past, the foundation commissioned the composition used in the semifinal round from a prominent American composer. Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, and Leonard Bernstein were among those who received such commissions. This year, Rodzinski says, the foundation was hard-pressed to identify a contemporary composer of comparable stature. Pulitzer Prize-winner John Corigliano (Keeping Score, Billboard, May 12), who penned Fantasia on an Ostinato for the 1985 Cliburn, suggested turning this into a competition as well.

"Commissioning a big name does not necessarily mean you're going to get a good work," Rodzinski says, "and sometimes you may find a wonderful piece by a relatively unknown person. What we're really after is the best music being written now for the instrument, and, frankly, the name of the composer isn't quite that important." Inspired by Corigliano's suggestion, the Cliburn Foundation called upon a panel of distinguished musicians to select the composers who would be invited to submit new works for the First American Composers Invitational. The panel nominated 42 composers, and 31 scores were submitted for the invitational.

Corigliano and fellow composer Martin Bresnick selected scores by C. Curtis Smith, Lowell Liebermann, James Mobberley, and Jndith Lang Zaimont for final consideration. The four scores were sent to all 30 of the pianists competing in this year's Cliburn, without revealing the identity of the composers; ultimately, the pianists themselves will determine the winners in the invitational. Each pianist who reaches the semifinal round will perform one of the four works in his or her recital. Each composer whose work is performed during the semifinals will be awarded $2,500; the composer whose work is played by the greatest number of contestants will receive an additional $5,000 prize.

For the pianists themselves, more than just a medal and the prize money are at stake in the competition. The three medalists also receive two years of professional management and booking services from the Van Cliburn Foundation, which goes a long way toward jump-starting an international performing career. For example, consider Jon Nakamatsu, the young Californian who won the 10th Cliburn in 1997. Nakamatsu had failed to pass the screening audition for the ninth Cliburn. At age 27, he considered the 10th his last chance to win a major competition and decided to enter again. He subsequently became the first American to win the gold medal since Andre-Michel Schub in 1981.

"The competition really helped me to quit my day job, which I did quite literally," Nakamatsu explains. "I was teaching high school German for the six years before the competition. A couple of days after the competition, I was making my debut at Aspen. People have debated whether it's too much too fast, but once I got going, it was a lot better for me. You start to learn what it's like to be on the road for so long, performing without practicing or sleep or eating. It's a wonderful experience, because this is how it really is-you miss planes, your luggage gets lost, and you still have to go on and pretend you know what you're doing!"

Nakamatsu performed across the country and around the world under the auspices of the Cliburn management services, and he has since gone on to secure his own representation. His schedule, while still active, has settled to a more realistic pace. Nakamatsu also signed a recording contract with Harmonia Mundi. In April, the label released a vital, vibrant disc pairing Nakamatsu's scintillating rendition of Lukas Foss' youthful Piano Concerto No. 1 with 1997 silver medalist Yakov Kasman's equally distinguished performance of the Piano Concerto No. 2. Harmonia Mundi had presented the recording debuts of both pianists with its initial releases from the '97 Cliburn, and the label continues its Cliburn series by recording this year's competition for release in October.

For piano lovers unable to make the trek to Fort Worth, PBS returns to capture the competition for a documentary to be aired in October. A follow-up series, Encore, will present performances of complete works in six half-hour segments. Cleveland's WCLV/Seaway Productions syndicated a 13-part radio series prior to the competition, and the outlet will produce another 13-part series afterward featuring this year's competitors. And the Cliburn Foundation plans to Webeast the competition as well. (Log onto cliburn.org for further information.)

Keeping Score extends best wishes for a continued speedy recovery to Alexei Sultanov, winner of the Cliburn gold medal in 1989. The 30-year-old has been hospitalized in Dallas since Feb. 26 for a serious brain injury and resulting strokes. Sultanov is making steady progress, according to the doctors' reports posted on his Web site (alexeisultanov.com), but he will require months of physical therapy to regain full use of much of his body. A benefit fund has been established for the pianist; see the Web site for details.

只有最后这段重点写Sultanov,大意是医生说他恢复情况良好，还需要几个月的时间做复健来恢复全身功能，祝愿他早日复原。