The Cliburn - Playing on the Edge

Customer Reviews:

Fine documentary and good performances on Side B.......2007-06-11

I enjoyed this DVD and especially the performances of Olga Kern. There must be something about going to a live performance of hers (as I've noticed other reviewers comment on) that captivates and somewhat provides us a bias towards her. My wife and I saw her perform the Schumann concerto a couple of years ago with the Utah Symphony and it was one of the highlights of the season - she was quite captivating, and emotive as always.

In the documentary, I especially liked the interaction between the good people of Fort Worth who open their homes to these (dare I say it) eccentric musicians. Worlds apart, they seem to have a common interest through the music and this competion which is of course world reknowned.

I also learned something of the structure of these events, never having competed in one myself (other than state band contest stuff). I especially liked the rehearsal sessions (for the competitors who made it that far) with the orchestra and Maestro Conlon - his patience and thoughtfulness deserved some kind of medal as well.

The Rachmaninoff 3rd on Side B was enjoyable to hear and watch, but for those unfamliar with Kerns 'theatrics' may be a bit much. The Tchaikovsky was also good, performed by Gold Co-medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch, but I just don't find it as interesting as the Rachmaninoff.

I suppose I agree with those who complained about the indexing issues on the documentary and on the liner notes, but I haven't really missed the deficiency of either.

W. Steven

Once again, the good, the bad and the arguably ugly .... .......2007-04-28

Well, this one had some surprises at the very get-go and I must agree with the original 2002 reviewer that the absence of any DVD scene tracking capability whatsoever or even a simple one page clip flyer naming the competitors was a let down. I mean this wasn't some $1.00 DVD kind of thing! The 'packaging', as it were, rather disappointing.

So too, I think far too much time was spent with issues such as poor Stan's [Stanislav Ioudenitch] chronic piano bench woes and the guy, as much as I admire his playing, always seemed to have a cloud over his head with perpetual precipitation. On the other hand to get a gander and hit the freeze button on the DVD remote for that "WOT THE ..." facial expression of juror Claude Frank's face when he watched Andy Russo reach over the piano keys and begin the 'string' plucking 'pizzicato variation' so to speak on a George Crumb piece ["A Little Suite For Christmas, A.D. 1979"] was really something to behold! Claude was at once both mystified and perhaps even secretly yearning to yell out, "Yo, Andy! More cow bell!"

The only thing missing after that one was one of the competitors to launch without any advance notice John Cage's 3 movements of his 4' 33" piece of total nothingness [Ohhh yes! Not a sound for 4 minutes and 33 seconds, the pianist simply observes a watch and then raises and lowers the piano lid at timed intervals to represent the 3 "movements" -- other than that, the "sounds" are what can be either envisioned or "ambient hall sounds" of whatever nature, real or imagined therein] ... and see what flies!

Then there is the business of the twin gold medals between Stan and Olga Kern. The problem with that is whenever the gold medal comes up in subsequent years it's always doomed to be a sort of "Ohhh yes, that was the one where you 'shared' first place with .... " kind of thing. Generally, I think awarding two gold medals is an unpopular move although as I've written previously is there 'any' classical piano competition on the face of the globe where one doesn't see the comment, "X [fill in the name] was robbed!" or, the variation, "Was the jury deaf or merely incompetent?" with regard to just who 'should' have advanced further much less the top spot itself!

On the other hand, the DVD gives a good dose of what the competitors in virtually any well known international piano competition go through including their down moments and frustrations. That is very real and in some cases adds fuel to the fire of those who chronically condemn piano competitions as being everything from "dehumanizing" to "harmful to the psyche of the competitor" although such competition floggers rarely wish to hear that in the reality world of making the classical piano circuit when the competitions are long over, it can be just as vexing and fraught with anxieties and stress as the presented laundry list of purportedly what is 'wrong' with or what 'ails' the classical piano competition system!

The music was good and as others have already reported but then when you talk of the Van Cliburn 'pro' competition or for that matter the Leeds, et al, it is 'expected' to be good, yes? Question is, how one stands up to it as a forerunner of things to come! Not an easy life! And well beyond issues of missed notes, memory lapses, tiredness, clinkers and, bottom line, poor playing for any number of reasons, stress related inclusive. So too, a lesson that competition juries hardly represent the "Burning Bush" and I distinctly recall a Van Cliburn competition spiel by John Giordano in one of the various Van Cliburn DVD's where he quite rightly said that the decision process in fact comes from people who are 'not' infallible! It's a judgment call after all and hence those ubiquitous murmurings and claims, worldwide mind you and in various piano competitions and of whatever genre actually, of who allegedly was "robbed" of competition advancement or indeed even the top spot win itself. But that 'can' and 'does' happen at times! That's life albeit a realistic assessment therein. Is there anything in the universe more enigmatic than the whys and wherefores of a human rendered judgment call? Hey, back to John Cage's 4' 33", I've actually heard some folks say, "Ahhh! The ultimate artistic interpretive [!?] freedom! How refreshing!" Yeah, well, there is also the matter when we return to actual sound of a classic piece taking a composer's work and murdering it outright with that same 'MY interpretive freedom' kind of thing and 'later' for the composer. Sometimes much later ... if at all!

Doc Tony

Most Interesting Stuff!!.......2006-02-13

A most interesting film.

Interesting in that all award winners here (and not just the gold medalists) are very good pianists. It is also interesting as it throws light into the very nature of the ordeal whereby most young pianists nowadays have to go through before they could really launch their career.

Here we could see how some contestents could take the contest with relative ease, and some just couldn't sleep for a number of consecutive nights. There was one who got so nervous that he burned his hands by accident. And the older a contestent gets, the bigger ordeal would the contest become as 30 is the usual limit. And then there is the question of different standards by different jurors and one juror could give a contestent the highest whereas the other could give him/her the lowest score. So, the outcome may not be as fair as it appears at all!

Furthermore, there are a number of practical tips from some of the contestests here as how to deal with such stress-- they could be used for, supposedly, for any kind of examination at all. There are also some suggestions as how to keep yourself in the best shape before you approach the stage, including the use of a hair-dryer! This film will also show you how a not so gigantic or bombastic pianist could appear so like John Wain before the camera...

A lot of interesting stuff particularly appealing to those who intend to or had the experience of taking part in some similar contests...

Piano enthusiast.......2005-02-10

Although this DVD is nice and reveals the efforts put forth behind the scenes, Tchaikovsky's piano concerto has been performed better than that seen on this video. Stanislav Ioudenitch (performer) smeared several notes throughout the concerto. You don't need to be a seasoned pianist or have a trained ear to pick up on several sloppy key strikes. He doesn't really stay with the tempo of the orchestra at times, prefering speed over accuracy. I don't know if he was nervous or had too much adrenalin running through him, but, his hands tremble (noticeably) in sections of the 1st movement. Having said this, I'm unable to play this piano concerto just yet, and he did great for a composition of this magnitude.

Concerto performances 5 stars, documentary not as great.......2004-09-30

The PBS broadcast of the 1997 Van Cliburn Competition was a superior documentary than the one found on the current DVD. The 1997 had more in-depth and more intriguing interviews with competitors than the 2001 one. Not all the 2001 interviews are bad, but a couple of the competitors come off with rather uninteresting personalities (and one pianist's negative attitude really was uncalled for)and too much time is spent on them, while not enough screen time is given to some of the pianists that really interested me. Also, the musical excerpts in the documentary are far too few; brevity of the excerpts is understandable, but what worked quite well in the 1997 documentary was a montage of musical excerpts.
As for the Ioudenitch and Kern concerto performances, these alone were worth the price of the DVD. It's true that both pianists make a lot of facial gestures that could be distracting to the listener watching them, but their performances are worthy of the gold medals they received. These concertos played by these two performers are not available except on DVD (at the time of writing). And Kern delivers a far more interesting Rachmaninov 3rd than Jon Nakamatsu did in 1997.

Average customer rating:

Outstanding piano competition

The Cliburn: Playing on the Edge
Director: Peter Rosen
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000A2T1NU
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Description

There is an excitement in live competition that is seldom heard in any other kind of performance. Every nerve is on fire; every competitor is giving the performance of his or her life. This documentary by Emmy(R) Award-winning director/producer Peter Rosen takes the viewer backstage at the world's most prestigious piano competition, revealing up close the personal lives of a few of the most extraordinary young pianists. "Real life" is set against a backdrop of intense recitals, piano quintets, and concerti with an orchestra led by renowned conductor James Conlon.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding piano competition.......2007-05-06

I am a pianist (non professional) and feel well qualified to comment on this DVD. I have followed the Cliburn for years and find this tape absoutely excellent. One has a chance to get to "know" the lead competitors, the life of a competitor both away from the competition and during it, the feelings of tension and excitement, and excellent coverage of the music, which is itself most rewarding. I have seen other Cliburn tapes, and this one is superior. The best yet. The viewer is drawn into the procedings and develops feelings for the various performers. I would recommend "The Cliburn" to anyone with an interest in music, not at all necessarily just an interest in the piano.

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