The jury has decided
The winners of the 11th International FRANZ LISZT Piano Competition Weimar – Bayreuth have been chosen
The jury's decision came at the end of an exciting week of competition: the winners of the 11th International FRANZ LISZT Piano Competition Weimar – Bayreuth have been chosen.
The first prize, endowed with €12,000 by the NEW LISZT FOUNDATION, and the audience award (endowed by Ulrich Bergmann) were won by Zhonghua Wei, a 16-year-old from China. The 2nd prize, worth €8,000, was won by 25-year-old Chia-Yang Hsu from Taiwan, and the 3rd prize, worth €5,000, went to 27-year-old Viktoria Baskakova from Russia.
In addition, there were a number of special prizes to be won: Chia-Yang Hsu (Taiwan) was awarded the special prize for the best interpretation of a classical sonata. This includes an engagement for a piano recital at the Steingraeber Haus, donated by the piano manufacturer Steingraeber & Söhne.
Zhonghua Wei (China) won the special prize for the best interpretation of a song transcription by Franz Liszt, sponsored by Gilbert Hönig. The special prize for the best interpretation of a chamber music work, also sponsored by Gilbert Hönig, was shared by Chia-Yang Hsu (Taiwan) and semifinalist Sébastien Somorjai-Pellet (France).
At the final concert on 31 October in the Weimarhalle, the prizewinners were accompanied by the Staatskapelle Weimar under the direction of Johannes Klumpp. After the first round of the competition in Bayreuth and the further rounds in Weimar, the competition returns to Bayreuth for the prizewinners' concert on 1 November at 7:30 p.m. in the “Zentrum”. Tickets are available at the Bayreuth Theatre Box Office and at the box office on the night.
The Liszt Competition, organised in cooperation with the City of Bayreuth, is considered one of the most important international competitions focusing on the work of Franz Liszt. The University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar and the City of Bayreuth invited participants to the competition for the eleventh time from 21 to 31 October 2024.
The international jury, chaired by Weimar piano professor Michail Lifits, included Michel Dalberto (France), Wolfgang Döberlein (Germany), Norma Fisher (Great Britain), Leslie Howard (Great Britain | Australia), Mariya Kim (Germany), Vivian Li (China), Boris Petrushansky (Italy) and Lilya Zilberstein (Austria).
The competition repertoire in the first and second rounds of judging clearly emphasised the piano works of Franz Liszt. The semi-final featured a new twist: the piano quintets of Robert Schumann and César Franck were performed together with the Karol Szymanowski Quartet. The final focussed on the competition's namesake with his Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major.
The Liszt Competition, which was launched 30 years ago by the Weimar Music university, is largely financed by the Free State of Thuringia and the city of Bayreuth. The NEW LISZT FOUNDATION also provides significant support.
Zonghua Wei (1st prize, China) made his solo debut at the age of 10 and by the age of 12 had already studied the complete Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach, all of the etudes by Chopin and Liszt, and all of Mozart's piano sonatas. Born in Guangzhou, China, in 2008, he initially enjoyed success in the national Chinese competitions Pearl River Kayserburg and Xinghai Cup, as well as a 2nd prize in the Steinway National Competition.
In 2023, he ventured into an international competition for the first time and was immediately awarded 1st prize at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition for Young Artists. He also won 3rd prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists.
After his initial piano training in his home country, Chia-Yang Hsu (2nd prize, Taiwan) was accepted into Prof. Stepan Simonian's class at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre at the age of 16, where he completed his master's degree and is currently studying for his concert exam. Born in Yilan, Taiwan in 1999, the pianist has already been invited to perform solo recitals in China, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and the United Arab Emirates.
He has performed with orchestras including the Xiamen Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra. In 2017/18, he won first prize and the C.P.E. Bach special prize at the ICoM piano competition and the special prize for song arrangement at the Gustav Mahler song competition in Hamburg.
Viktoria Baskakova (3rd prize, Russia) received her training primarily at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg and at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow, but she also studied for a time in the Weimar piano class of Prof. Christian Wilm Müller in 2018.
Born in Nyagan, Russia in 1997, she has already enjoyed success in numerous international piano competitions. In 2021, she won first prize at the Sigismund Halberg Competition and in 2023 she won third prize at the RPM – Sanremo Competition. Concerts have already taken her to the Gasteig in Munich, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, St. Catherine's Church in Vilnius (Lithuania) and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Israel), among other places.
Further information:www.hfm-weimar.de/liszt
[31 October 2024]