| | I really missed those late-night webcasts and the thrill of listening to live music currently taking shape in another corner of the world. Watching four almost-consecutive renditions of Liszt PC #1 is no joke, though, and so was the stamina required to sit through and savour the relentless tide of concerti and solo recitals in these last five days of the Van Cliburn competition. Much planning went into ensuring I would be able to tune in to the last three performances of the finals without compromise to my work commitments the following day. This included going to sleep at a much earlier timing, and setting multiple alarms to get up in time to catch the performances as well as the announcement of the results.
There's something special about watching live concert webcasts in the middle of the night. There's no distracting noise from the television to compete, just the silence and calm of the world at rest. Though I consequently dare not turn the volume up too high. But in the quiet of the night, I hear details, I am spared from the rushedness of the daily routine. Magic often happens during the witching hours.
Unfortunately, I did not manage to successfully catch the last two concerti, due to the choppiness of the transmission. What a pity, when bandwidth load is obviously low at such a time of the day. And the awards ceremony, which should have been underway, had not begun even an hour after the scheduled time. I was rather disappointed that I had to leave for work before the results were announced, although also glad the jury was really taking effort and time to deliberate. Drowning in morosity, I was excited to be able to check the results at about midday. I could scarcely believe my eyes at the results. Dream finish - and with the two pianists whom I though most promising from their semifinal showings. It also hit me that here, history was being rewritten. The significance of the results and the delightful surprise (I had seen a dozen other predictions being bandied about) hit me solid and I desperately wanted to show my joy by either jumping up and down or pumping my fists. Of course, as I was currently on duty, I currently had a duty to not behave outrageously, and so restrained myself, although I had a semi-permanent smile affixed in my heart for the rest of the day.
I still want to catch the rest of the performances, but have limited time until Thursday, and dearly hope the kind people at the Cliburn Foundation keep the webcast up for at least the week after the competition. *hopes and prays*
p.s., CTL has been commenting very occasionally on the Cliburn blog, and his recent contribution hints at his dislike of a certain LL...
p.p.s., 
Notice any familiar names in the 2005 Chopin competition? Tsujii was only 16 then. Wow. List courtesy of webarchive, these are the semifinalists.
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| | Posted 6/9/2009 12:03 AM - 2 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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