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Tchaikovsky winners announced -- sort of.
Published: 7/1/2011 3:02 PM
Last Modified: 7/1/2011 3:02 PM

It’s a good thing the Signature Symphony did not try to get the winner of the violin competition from this year’s Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow to perform in Tulsa.

There isn’t one.

The judges for this aspect of the competition – which also included competitions for piano, cello, male and female voice – decided that none of this year’s fiddling finalists was worthy of the gold medal. Instead, two silver medals will be awarded – one to a Russia player, the other to an Israeli.

It’s just the latest in a string of potentially scandalous or at least head-scratching moments in this year’s competition.

At least the winners of the piano and cello competitions are set – a good thing, because these two performers are to perform as soloists with the Signature Symphony as part of its 2011-2012 Signature Classics season.

Pianist Daniil Trifonov of Russia will be the guest for the season opening concert Oct. 1, performing the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Tchaikovsky.

On Feb. 11, cello gold medalist Narek Hakhnazaryan from Armenia will perform the Cello Concerto by Edward Elgar, as part of an All-Elgar concert.

In addition to winning the gold medal and 20,000 euros in cash, Trifonov and Hakhnazaryan each won an additional 2,000 euros for best performance of a chamber concerto.

In a blog on the Guardian’s website, music critic Tom Service writes that “the reputation of the Tchaikovsky Competition is at stake this year,” and that such pains were taken to make the judging as fair as possible, the criteria and procedures are “so mathematically and statistically scrupulous you need a PhD to understand them.”

See for yourself, at tulsaworld.com/tchaikjudge

Most people are familiar with the Tchaikovsky Competition as the thing that Van Cliburn won in 1958, the first year it was held, a victory that was also seen as a blow against what was then the Soviet Union. This year, most of the U.S. contestants were in the violin portion of the competition, with Nigel Armstrong and Eric Silberberg coming in Fourth and Fifth, respectively. Armstrong also won the award for best performance of a commissioned work.



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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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