Snowbound! Snow fell heavily and stranded travellers throughout western Europe. This kept two applicants from performing their audition recitals today; they will prepare DVDs and send to Fort Worth for the jury to view later in the month. However, the programs performed presented several spectacular moments. Liszt and Scriabin had special spotlights.
Snow does not dampen enthusiasm. Dr. and Mrs. Heiniger are from Zurich; she is in the arts and he is a geophysicist/mathematician/teacher and amateur pianist; they came to Lugano Thursday to spend vacation time at the auditions. He has been following the Cliburn since 1997; hopefully, we will see them in Fort Worth for the next Amateur Competition. Several Cliburn enthusiasts ~ board member and friends ~ came from Italy and Switzerland for these performances. Their ardent admiration fills the hall with applause and bravos.
Christian will be in Fort Worth as an Official Guest at the competition. He is director of the classical music series for RTSI in Lugano and is planning to present Cliburn winners in the coming seasons. In fact, there are several plans in the making for adding opportunities and venues for Cliburn laureates in Europe and elsewhere.
It was especially moving to speak with some of the pianists today; perhaps a comment from one of them reflects the aspirations of others:
“This is my dream ~ to compete in the Cliburn, the best, the highest competition in the world.”
You feel as if your heart is on the line with theirs!
This will be the last blog from Lugano. Tuesday, we hear 6 recitals, lasting until almost midnight; we leave at 4:00 in the morning for the connections and flight to the states. To be resumed in New York, Alann