One Brit, two Americans in 2023 Tchaikovsky piano finals
NewsThe Russians have announced a narrow field of participants in their high-prestige event. An overwhelming majority of contenders are Russian and Chinese.
In the high-profile piano section, there is George Harliono (pictured) from the UK, Angel Stanislav Wang and Min Joo Yi from the USA, Anchi Mai from France and a lone Italian, Alessandro Villalva.
No westerners have made it into the violin section.
An Australian, Sam Lucas, and two Americans, Fiona Faye Tsang and Lazar Kaminsky, are in the cello finals.
These are not “finalists”, they are 1st live round candidates….. Still 3 rounds to go until they can be called finalists.
they will be in finals (non-Russian candidates), that’s why they agreed to come, to get their promised prizes
The westerners were not promised prizes at all, I guarantee it. Now that the finalists results are out (for cello at least), can you see how mistaken you are?
Worse than ISIS warriors.
What a discrimination! Simon Bürki have not been selected, even Matsuev’s patronage didn’t help. He would fit so well to this list. He did so many Step Towards …
Did Bürki apply? I don’t see a political reason why the russians wouldn’t want a contender from neutral switzerland.
There are 3 from the US! 2 pianists & a cellist!
Correction: 4 Americans – 2 cellists & 2 pianists! I missed one!
The so called American pianist is a half Russian, and he studied in Russia.
Shame on the Americans who entered. Do better.
Finals?? What do you means by ‘finals’? The competition hasn’t even begun…
Utterly appalling, self centred privileged and desperate behaviour.
BOYCOTT THEM ALL!!
Do NOT attend George Harliono’s recitals! Instead, stand outside and protest!
I hope they all have one way tickets and will never make it back to the west.
I would suggest smashing windows of the recital hall, in addition to standing outside and protesting. Cancel those who don’t cancel! And down the road, why not legislate life imprisonment for those who went to Russia (for any reason) and had the temerity to come back?
So, I am assuming that this comment is made with your tongue firmly embedded in your cheek.
The problem is that half of the people commenting here aren’t capable of understanding that and your comment could therefore be seen as an Incitement to Violence.
Maybe use simpler, single syllable language in the future to allow them to keep up.
Just a suggestion.
JHC, touché. I was being sarcastic. Although it seems that many don’t need incitement and are already quite wound up), please try to refrain from violence.)
And when George Harliono comes back (with or without a prize), please attend his recitals: the very fact that he has made it through the selection process testifies to the very high level of his piano skills.
Right. You (and a few other people with anonymous names who never commented on here) are clearly part of George’s PR team who will readily counterattack any sane person who dares call him out for his utter shamelessness. I’ve seen this on a few other Tchaikovsky competition posts on this site.
Or you’re his parents (in which case shame on you too), or his close friends, or you are actually George himself.
All I’ll say is: you’re gonna have to work very, very hard at defending him for the next several years at least, and your efforts will be futile. Bottom line is – George is implicitly supporting the war and genocide of Ukraine through his participation this year. And you can’t hide that by naively claiming it’s about ‘music’ because we can all see through this charade. A shameless, self centred and desperate attention seeking attempt for blood-stained cash and false glory.
Getting in doesn’t testify his piano skills this year – it only testifies his contempt and disregard for human life.
His career is already over – not that there was much of it to begin with.
“Disgraceful” (what a name!), I’ve already said all I wanted to on the subject of hypocrisy.
https://slippedisc.com/2023/06/on-the-eve-of-its-opening-ceremony-tchaikovsky-competition-has-no-jury/#comments/948217
Let’s see who makes the news in the next several years – you or George. Regards.
George clearly – he’ll get a lot of unwanted attention and negative Western media press due to participating in a Pro-Putin competition.
How dare you???? That is an idiotic opinion of someone who has no clue of what being a musician trying to start a career to make a living. And it is a privilege and an honor to hear this brillian young pianist and support him!
WHO ARE YOU??????
There are two rounds to go before the finals, surely?
Wonder how many Americans/‘Westerners’ applied given that winning a prize would lead to “bloodshed on their conscience” and probably enough international ridicule to reward them the opposite effect of a Tchaikovsky prize: ostracism.
Actually, the field of competitors consists of 9 Russian men and 14 persons of Asian origin no matter which countries they come from. There are only 2 competitors from Western countries: Italy and Serbia (if Serbia can be considered a Western country).
Serbia has almost as many guns pro capita as the USA so yes, it can be considered a western country.
The reasons for this ‘skeleton crew’ pool of contestants are quite simple: a) most airlines have canceled flights to Russia, and tickets are prohibitively expensive and
b) young musicians are aware and fearful of cancel culture. The vitriol heaped only on these pages… why would a Western musician dare subject themselves to this implacable hatred? So, cancel culture has succeeded in keeping people away. But this absurd situation only does damage to the talented Western performers who were bullied into sitting this one out. And, on the other hand, “An overwhelming majority of contenders are Russian and Chinese.” – Well, this is where the world’s best musicians come from nowadays anyway! So, the competition is going to fly high, as it should.
Lucia, US taxpayers (& those from many other western nations, I imagine) are footing the bill for this war. I think we’re within our rights to be concerned about anyone or anything which encourages the enemy & prolongs the conflict.
Anon, I find that “footing the bill for a war” that takes place thousands of miles from our borders and, at the same time, “being concerned about anything that prolongs the conflict” is a grievous contradiction in terms… Besides, I don’t see how playing a musical instrument encourages a war any more than pumping billions of dollars into the weaponry that keeps the war going.
Lucia, US taxpayers are not investing our money by choice in Ukraine. Our Congress is making that decision for us. Yes, this money is being spent far from our borders & we are financially invested in it, like it or not. Therefore it’s logical that we’d prefer it to be over. It’s expensive.
This competition is funded & celebrated by the Russian Federation. Vladimir Putin is the chief patron of the competition. It’s Putin’s money, Putin’s rules, Putin’s glory when it goes well. Participating – and playing a musical instrument is how one participates – encourages & enstrengthens him. It makes him look good & makes it more likely he’ll keep the war going. Since we’re paying for the war we don’t really want to keep it going. I hope that makes sense.
Can’t believe. Zero comments. Nobody finds reason for spitting hatred!? WOW!
Shouldn’t we already be banning them from ever working in the music business? It’s the only way we can continue to feel sanctimonious.
No, they should be banned because they’ve entered a competition run by a dictator who has been charged with war crimes and is responsible for killing tens of thousands of people.
Do these contestants know about the fact that currently russia conducts horrible war against Ukraine on Ukrainian territory? Of course they do. Their will to get a damn prize from a bloody hands of war promoters and supporters is stronger than normal human reaction. What a desperation, they think that now they’ll get a better chance that gergiev&matsuev will give them a medal just because they came.
Their will to get a damn prize from a bloody hands of war promoters and supporters is stronger than normal human reaction
Sorry, thought you were talking about the Van Cliburn after 2003.
Look, I can’t fault young musicians from wanting to participate in this prestigious competition. However, as a US taxpayer it’s frustrating to see any US citizen choosing to validate Putin’s position while our country is spending billions of our tax dollars to defeat him.
US spending on Ukraine is taking precedent, at this point, over funding our own broken Social Security & health care systems.
Putin’s picture & statement are on the Competition website.
It seems that US contestants & jurors are selfishly putting their own personal career goals above our entire country. US taxpayers are tightening our belts to pay for this war while these participants are sleeping with the enemy.
Anon, as a US taxpayer, it is frustrating to me to see that this White House is squandering a significant portion of my hard-earned money to support a war that only serves whet they think is their personal career goals. I wrote” what they think” because it is this inane war that will ultimately trigger the downfall of the current catastrophe we call “presidential administration”. As for the contestants who go to play music there, instead of sending weapons that kill humans, I believe THEY are the ones who at least try to do some good.
Lucia, there is a whole world full of competitions besides this one that these candidates can “do good” at. Why does it have to be this competition at this particular moment – in the middle of a war hosted by the same despot who’s hosting the competition?
It’s not safe for young people from the US to be there, I can’t imagine how they even got flights.
Like it or not, our Congress is spending our money on this war. That Congress has 2 chambers which are controlled by 2 different political parties, so please don’t try to partisanize Congressional spending. Congress approves money for Ukraine, not the “presidential administration”.
If you don’t like it, move to another country. But most other govts are also supporting Ukraine.You’ll be paying for it no matter where you live.
Candidates going to Russia right now to “play musical instruments” are doing it for personal gain. Period. It’s a bad time to be doing so at this particular competition, IMHO.
Anon, thank you for your suggestion to move to another country, I will consider this option, now that you have mentioned it. 🙂
Putin’s Russia is an authoritarian country, right? People can’t do what they want to, they have to obey what their government tells them, right? And, by contrast, our Western world is free, right? So, young musicians who want to play music in any part of the world don’t have to adjust to their governments’ politics (short-sighted, dangerous, and failing, in my personal opinion). Or to solicit anyone else’s opinions/permissions regarding what they should do, where they should go, and where they shouldn’t.
You or someone else (specifically on this blog) may not like it. This is your right. But in the free world, you will be seeing this everywhere, in any field, no matter whether you agree with their decisions or not. Thank goodness, ours are not totalitarian countries, where groupthink defines everything, and where dissenting from it ruins people’s lives and careers. If you don’t like it, you may consider moving to Putin’s Russia. 🙂 But let’s attempt not to turn this part of the world into something we so abhor in totalitarian regimes.
Anon, I will hasten to add that, at least, you write, “I can’t fault young musicians from wanting to participate in this prestigious competition. “. But some others here have written “BOYCOTT THEM ALL!! Do NOT attend George Harliono’s recitals! Instead, stand outside and protest!”.
https://slippedisc.com/2023/06/one-brit-two-americans-in-2023-tchaikovsky-piano-finals/#comments/948283
It is precisely this totalitarian urge to cancel anyone who thinks/acts differently that I find appalling and unworthy of our culture.
Lucia, George Harliono is British. Commenters telling people to boycott him are British. Neither you nor I, as Americans, have any right to tell them what to say or think about their own country’s candidate in this Competition.
You also have no right to dictate to me, as a fellow US citizen, what my views about this competition should be. You have your opinion. I respect that. Please respect our opinions. You sound like a very bossy, authoritative US citizen. You want to tell everyone else what to think. You are exactly what people in other countries don’t like about us.
Both Harliono & the US candidate Angel Stanislav Wang, have passed to the 3rd round. Do I think they’re doing it to advance their own careers? Of course they are. It’s what young artists must do. Is Angel Wang putting his personal ambition above the country he represents? Yes, I believe that he is. But I fully support both of them artistically. I wish them both much success in this competition & in their careers.
Anon, despite your ad hominem (“bossy” , “authoritative”. etc) and the fact that a simple debate, where I had expressed my opinion about your opinion (this is what this blog’s comments are about!), came across to you as ‘me dictating what your views should be’ (!), I will end this discussion by answering some of your questions in the last paragraph. 1) Yes, Harliono and Wang are doing this to advance their careers (the goal of participating in any international competition). They represent themselves, though, not war-mongering politicians from the countries that have issued their passports. And not everyone in Biden’s United States feels that his war in Ukraine is what represents our country anyway. 2) If you followed this competition not from a political perspective, but from a musical one (and to that end, learned more about the contestants you’re referring to), you would know that Angel Wang, born in Los Angeles, studied at the Central Music School in Moscow and is currently a student at the Moscow State Conservatory. He holds an American citizenship, yes, but whom he ‘represents’ is a moot point His talent? For sure. Lastly, my respect to you for ultimately wishing both Harliono and Wang success in the competition and later. So do I!
Oh, and I should also mention that as a citizen of a free Western country (as opposed to the totalitarian ones), I, just like you, reserve the right to express my views in a free Western blog whenever I feel like it. With or without your or anyone else’s approval/permission. ) Take care.
And I will end this discussion by expressing my shock & dismay that for the 2nd time you are erroneously putting full blame for US involvement in Ukraine on just one person: the US president.
This reveals that you are likely a member of the party which opposes him, which is also the party which has just proposed massive cuts to US cultural organizations as part if their latest budget proposal. All whilst increasing military spending. The blood of the US’s demise culturally is on your party’s hands. Your comments are particularly hypocrytical in this light.
Angel Wang is the son of a Chinese American who is a US citizen & a Russian mother who chose to immigrate to the US. He has an older half sister who recently graduated from Juilliard. This is a family which is truly multi cultural. He has chosen to compete under the flag of the US. That’s what appears next to his name on the website, in the program.
You take care as well. I hope you find peace.
Angel Stanislav Wang has studied in Russia since 2012. Yes he’s American born, but he has lived in Russia for most of his life.
Anon, I thought I’d bowed out for good… but our exchange has been so perversely amusing ) that I will allow myself a few follow-up, “farewell” remarks.
You have laced into me as if I were a member of a political party (most, likely Republican). I would like to remind you that any voting US citizen can have an opinion about a sitting President without being a card-holding member of any party. We decide whether they should be in the office during the elections and how they are doing when they occupy the Oval Office.
On the contrary, it is your, quite partisan, diatribe that reveals your very close affiliation with the party which regularly spouts out the words like “diversity” and “multi -culturalism” and, at the same time, silences, suppresses, and “cancels” its opponents. Contending that young, talented musicians should cancel their participation in a prestigious competition because their governments pump billions into a war thousands of miles away from their borders is an essential part of this misguided worldview.
It isn’t easy to find peace when so many embrace and nourish a bloodshed… But I will definitely do my best.