Canadian half-wins the Joachim competition

The jury, without revealing the proportions of their split, divided the first prize in Hanover last night between Angela Chan, 27, from Hong Kong and the 19-year-old Canadian Jacques Forestier.

The Canadian came away with the better share of going-home prizes – a Warner Classics recording, a 1765 Guadagnini to play for the next three years and, overwhelmingly, the audience prize.

Chan got the right to call herself co-winner.

The jurors were: Juliane Banse (chair), Lorenza Borrani, Liza Ferschtman, Kim Kashkashian, András Keller, Gidon Kremer, Alexander Lonquich, Feng Ning, Kathrin Rabus and Stephan Zilias.

This was a total fudge. A jury that cannot makwe up its collective mind should be sent home unpaid.

EDITORIAL: When a jury can’t make up its mind