Some disturbing thoughts on the Tchaikovsky results

It was the most powerful judging panel ever assembled, a panoply of past winners from many countries. The competition was entirely transparent, shown live on the internet, heavily tweeted and facebooked, safeguarded against party and personal manipulation.

Any scandals were out in the open, not covered up. Valery Gergiev and Richard Rodzinski made the 14th Tchaikovsky competition a model of what such contests should be. Indeed, it’s unlikely music competitions will ever be the same again.

And the result? A Russian victory, again, in all the instrumental sections.

Any which way you look at it, the Russians won.

Piano: gold – Daniil Trifonov.

Violin: gold withheld. Joint silver – Sergei Dogadin and Itamar Zorman, the latter from Israel, where Russian musical influence prevails (he was a pupil of Hagai Shaham and Nava Milo).

Cello: Narek Hakhnazaryan, an Armenian, product of the Soviet education system.

What are we to deduce from this? That the Russian teaching method is superior to all others? Your view, please….