Barili’s legacy

RIALTO CENTER, MAY 19 — In the past, attempts have been made to establish some sort of international music competition in Atlanta, with little result. The ASO played host to a nationwide piano competition in the ’70s, but the event fizzed out after only a couple of years. Since then, no international music competition has been able to maintain sponsorship and momentum and catch hold in Atlanta — until now.

The first Atlanta International Piano Competition was held at Georgia State University (its sponsor) in mid-May, with the winning round held at the Rialto Center this past Sunday. Sixteen finalists, ranging in age from 18 to 30, were selected from 60 applicants from all over the world. For a week, these 16 battled it out until four were left on the final day.

Fittingly, the competition was created in memory of Alfredo Barili, who almost single-handedly created Atlanta’s music scene in the 1880s. The son of musical parents from Italy (his father, Luigi Barili, was the favorite baritone of Verdi, who wrote the role of “Rigoletto” for him), Barili came to a war-devastated Atlanta in 1880, and by 1883 had created the Atlanta Music Festival and opened the Barili School of Music. For the next 50 years, he led an era of cultural activity that has perhaps never been equaled here. In 1935, Barili was hit and killed by a city bus while walking downtown — an ominous metaphor for the shaky fate of Atlanta’s classical music scene in years to come.

The idea for the Atlanta International Piano Competition came from Dr. Cherry Emerson, who had been Barili’s piano student in the ’30s. Georgia State’s John Haberlen turned the idea into a reality.

Throughout the week, finalists were pared down by a jury that included eminent local musicians William Ransom, Cary Lewis, Joyce Johnson and Paula Peace. The finals were judged by a jury of notables from the piano world — Barry Snyder, Michiko Okamoto, Sergey Dorensky, Gary Graffman and ASO musical director Robert Spano.

Prizes included a $15,000 pot for the winner, as well as recital opportunities both here and in New York. As a fillip to those audience members game enough to stick out the afternoon of hour-long recitals given by each finalist, those diminished ranks left at the end were balloted to select an audience winner as well.

First at the keyboard was Aiko Yajima from Japan, who played Schumann’s Humoreske in B Flat Major with a serenity that was a bit too calm for this robust composer. Probably due to nerves, she rushed the fast passages, causing muddiness in this thickly textured work, but her interpretive serenity served her well in the slow opening of the second movement — her playing was balanced and lyrical in those melodic progressions that are so unmistakably Schumann’s.

But Yajima doesn’t utilize a great deal of upper body strength — a necessary prerequisite for the repertoire of late-Romantic composers (and beyond); these pieces require some major physical heft. This was borne out in her playing of Ravel’s “La Valse” — where the work required lyricism, she was lovely and fluid, but there was sloppiness as she struggled with the bravura sections.

Russian pianist Valentina Igoshina played Chopin’s Preludes with heartbreaking nuance. Those who doubt Chopin’s intentions to have all 24 played at one sitting would have had their doubts dispelled by hearing how she subtly strung them together, with perfect control and dynamic shading and phrasing. It was the artistic performance of the day. Her Rachmaninov B-flat Minor Sonata was likewise idiomatic and meltingly phrased. Igoshina’s performance showed the difference between being a good pianist and being an artist.

Marietta native Robert Henry played the Scarlatti A major Sonata with a clear-cut exuberance that, unfortunately, did not carry over into his performances of a Debussy Prelude, Schubert’s A Minor Sonata and Rachmaninov’s “Moments Musicaux.” His competent technique paled beside his lackluster, unfocused playing, which early-on lost momentum. His phrasing had neither shape nor direction. At least, he did fulfill the requirements of diversity of repertoire, but his playing, unlike that of Igoshina, was neither idiomatic to the genres nor the composers.

Korean pianist Shinmyung Rho attacked the brooding opening chords of Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 23” with heft and compelling intent. While her dynamic shadings were sometimes too abrupt and startling — the audience shouldn’t be made to jump — she played with clarity and control, and combined power with a resonant singing tone in Chopin’s Sonata No. 2.

To win international piano competitions, you have to be extraordinary. Of the four pianists, only two — Igoshina and Rho — seemed of the caliber to compete on an international scale.

Surprisingly, the judges chose Robert Henry as first-prize winner. Igoshina came in second, Yajima third. The winner of the audience-favorite ballot, Shinmyung Rho, came in only with an honorable mention. It all proved once again the nature of these subjective competitions in the arts — exciting, yes, but quite infuriating if your favorite doesn’t happen to win.??