Tonight is it. The last round of the Montreal International Musical Competition, live-to-air this evening on CBC Radio 2 at 7 p.m.; 8 p.m. AT; 8:30 p.m. NT.
And as he has every day throughout the competition, R2 host Kelly Rice reports in on the previous day's happenings:
"What a night. I’m still recovering … literally. Struck down by a massive cold, sniffles, coughs … the works. But music is a balm, and last night there was lots of TLC in Canadian Sergei Saratovsky’s Beethoven 5. (That's him in the photo!) It was the first time he played it with orchestra, so it took a little while to settle in. I doubt whether it will garner gold, but as the top Canadian in Competition, he walks away with 5K. A 5K well deserved!
Masataka Takada from Japan was in complete control of his Prokofiev 2. He’ll do well at prize time. But for me, the coup de coeur of the soirée was American Sara Daneshpour. I questioned her choice of Tchaikovsky yesterday, but boy was I wrong! She soared and swam like a seasoned pro.
Tonight, the plot thickens. American Elizabeth Schumann is the Miss Manners of 19th century etiquette so her Chopin 1 will be stylish and poetic. Russian Alexandre Moutouzhine is on home turf with Rachmaninoff 3. Fire all phasers, Alex!
The wild card of the six is Nareh Arghamanyan from Armenia. At 19, she’s the youngest of the bunch, and if she … and if she doesn’t … no, no, I’ll write no more. Don’t want to jinx her. Just tune in tonight for her Tchaikovsky. There will be beauty. "
-Kelly
Thanks, Kelly, and sorry to hear about your cold -- I've heard that Laphroaig makes a nice hot toddy?
Looking forward to hearing who the winner is tonight -- but congratulations to all of the very talented contestants.
If you miss the broadcasts, fear not, you'll be able to hear all the finalists online shortly following the competition at Concerts On Demand.
Photo by Gunther Gamper
