Cultured Views

Sydney International Piano Competition 2008 reveals some true gems

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The Sydney International Piano Competition 2008 is currently underway and from what I hear there are some real gems coming out of this years series.

I attended the 2000 competition and was bowled over by the sheer intensity of the demands made on the competitors; each must give recitals of up to 50 minutes as well as ensemble playing plus perform etudes, preludes, sonata’s and concerto’s - all from memory of course. I don’t know how they do it, the pressure must be incredible.

As talented as these pianists are there are some who particularly stand out; there are also those who make it through to the coveted finals but somehow seem to disappear afterwards. That’s fame for you - it can be a fleeting thing…

This year a young Japanese pianist, Tomoki Kitamura ( pictured ), has been spellbinding in his performances to date. At 17 years of age this young man is standing at the threshold of greatness so extraordinary is his playing and his effect on audiences. ‘The real thing’ is what he is being called - forget about needing to throw superlatives around; so much is said about so many but when one comes along and the music speaks for itself…how could mere words suffice?

Australian composer Phillip Wilcher tells me that there are other treasures making a huge impact on competition goers; Charlie Albright, 19 years of age and American, whose playing is ‘most memorable’ and, like Tomoki, has been playing since the age of three. Also Mariangela Vacatello (pictured) and Marco Ciampi, both 26 from Italy - no-one can doubt the passion of the Italians when it comes to music.

Nor for that the fire and spirit of the Spanish Jose Menor, 30 from Barcelona.

One always anticipates great things when it comes to the Russian pianists and this year Tatiana Kolesova, 23 from Moscow, has played exceptionally from an inspired repertoire creating a unique narrative and dialogue with each note. Music as language, music that speaks!

 A diverse and extraordinary collection of supremely talented pianists; names to remember - their music will ensure that alone.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Self-diagnosing online

The internet has become a very interesting tool in recent times to the extent that people are now using it to diagnose their own illnesses. Would you try such a thing…?

Most families, years ago, had one of those medical encyclopaedias that sat on the bookshelf in the living room or study. If the kids came down with some strange rash Mum would run to the book and look it up but always head off to the doctor in the end.

I suppose the internet, with it’s seemingly endless store of information, has replaced the old family medical bible and this has proved to be a divine providence for some people. One lady suffered recurring miscarriages until she looked up her symptoms online and took her information to the doctor - she now has two healthy children.

Another lady in the UK was desperate to find out what was causing her little girl’s sudden blackouts - scans and tests had not revealed the cause - she went online and after a few weeks of searching discovered the actual cause. Result…? her little girl is now receiving the treatment she needed and is doing well.

It seems that a ‘find-it-yourself cure can be found online so long as you are diligent and willing to put in the time to do the searching. Depending on what the condition is just a few keywords could suffice; then there are conditions which are very well served on millions of websites enabling people to stay up to date on new advances in treatments. Just for an example; those with recurring acne will be able to find a myriad of treatments online these days - the words “click here for acne cures” will lead you to a host of solutions.

Just remember though, as informative as the internet can be, don’t forget that your doctor needs to be kept in the picture along the way.

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When is English NOT ‘english’ ?

Well actually it never has been really. I came upon a messageboard recently where a debate was raging about the origins of the english language. An english lady made the sweeping statement; ” We english invented the english language so we know how to speak it better than anyone else…”

In fact she is quite wrong. Those who would call themselves “english” today are in fact descended from invading Germanic tribes who turned up on what is now called England and drove the native “English” out (England didn’t exist as a country in those days). Those who were originally living in what is now England were driven back to what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

The English language is actually an amalgam of, mainly, a Germanic based language (Old English) which provides the majority of the key words (eg in, of, the), Danish (because they occupied about half of what is now England for several hundred years) which provides some other aspects such as “their” and a substrate of grammar and French (because they invaded the country in 1066 and remained as an occupying force for hundreds of years before being assimilated) which provides an awful lot of the vocabulary. Ironically, the original population provide very few words in what is now called English.

However, she’s also wrong because the Americans, at least on the east coast, speak English much better than the vast majority of English courtesy of a language reform started after their independence by Webster (of dictionary fame) who produced books telling them how to pronounce the words correctly and indeed who succeeded in rationalising some of the crazy spelling of English. For example, we use “colour” only because that word came from the French “coleur”; it’s clearly more logical to spell it “color”.

Quite why they have kitchen faucets whilst we have ‘kitchen taps’ though, I don’t know.

Popularity: 15% [?]