The Wieniawski competition has reached its final stage in Poznan.

Of the seven final candidates, none is a pupil of Zakhar Bron, who is one of the judges.

Previous reports that Richard Lin had studied with Bron are unfounded. Richard assures us that his teachers are Aaron Rosand (no fan of rigged competitions) and Lewis Kaplan.

The finalists are:

Richard Lin (USA)

Ryosuke Suho (Japan)

Veriko Tchumburidze (Georgia/Turkey)

Luke Hsu (USA)

Bomsori Kim (Korea)

Maria Włoszczowska (Poland)

Seji Okamoto (Japan)

Fifty years after her father’s death, the music administrator Nike Wagner has been rattling skeletons in the family closet.

Wieland, she says, could never talk about growing up as Hitler’s favourite in the family. He was everything Hitler wanted of a young Wagner. After the War, by introducing modernist productions to Bayreuth, he cleansed himself of Nazi guilt and profited from the conversion.

German text here.

Wieland (r), Wolfgang (l)

The Chinese state news agency Xinhua has reported that a Lang Lang dinner in New York raised $2,049,000 for his education foundation. Supporting acts at the dinner included Michael Feinstein and Lisa Fischer.

The achievement has not appeared in any western media.