All three finalists were exceptional, but Derek Wang brought the house down. Second final tomorrow, and in my opinion, it is going to take something quite extraordinary to beat him.
I agree - Derek Wang has been spellbinding in every round with a huge dynamic range - compelling playing!!! I'm also looking forward to the Rach/Pag variations by a very talented 18 year old girl.
Hsu opened with a phenomenal performance. Everything one could ask...strong chordal opening and magnificent octave playing throughout which took ones breath away. Kim I fear gave the worst performance of this work I have ever heard. The opening chords were even arpeggiated and throughout the 30 minutes even her octaves failed to impress. She clearly has her own view of the work but trying to turn a virtuoso warhorse into classical concerto misses the point. Wang was good. . . But for me that's as far as it went. He was interpretative and took risks which WAS good...but for me its Hsu
All three finalists were exceptional, but Derek Wang brought the house down. Second final tomorrow, and in my opinion, it is going to take something quite extraordinary to beat him.
I agree - Derek Wang has been spellbinding in every round with a huge dynamic range - compelling playing!!! I'm also looking forward to the Rach/Pag variations by a very talented 18 year old girl.
Hsu opened with a phenomenal performance. Everything one could ask...strong chordal opening and magnificent octave playing throughout which took ones breath away.
Kim I fear gave the worst performance of this work I have ever heard. The opening chords were even arpeggiated and throughout the 30 minutes even her octaves failed to impress. She clearly has her own view of the work but trying to turn a virtuoso warhorse into classical concerto misses the point.
Wang was good. . . But for me that's as far as it went. He was interpretative and took risks which WAS good...but for me its Hsu