SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION FINALS 2016: No. 2, Wednesday 20th July 2016, by Tony Magee

SIPC finals two, Wednesday 20th July 2016

Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Northey.

Oxana Shevchenko (29), Kazakhstan, Mozart 26 in D Major K.537

Oxana is a pianist of great skill with a flawless technique and immense musical insight. I generally don't like this concerto very much because it was written for a Coronation and therefore has all the associated grand fanfares and pomp and circumstance at the expense, in my opinion, of a genuine musical journey. However in the hands of Oxana, it was delivered in such a polished and refined way, with a minimum of emphasis on musical fireworks, instead delivering beautiful musical lines and glorious melodic runs. She chose the Italian Fazioli piano (as did all the performers on the previous night) and achieved bell-like clarity in her tone production.

Moye Chen (32), China, Mozart 27 in Bb Major K.595

A minimalist player - barely any body movement - just the fingers moving over the keys. The antithesis of Lang Lang. Incredibly relaxed, assured and confident. Obviously more experienced on the concert platform than the others. Chose the Sheguru Kawai piano. Slightly metallic sounding tone occasionally, I think due to the piano more than the player. A very mature reading and completely delightful.

Jianing Kong (30), China, Mozart 21 in C Major K.467

Back to the Fazioli. Arguably the most popular of all the Mozart piano concertos and containing some of his most mature and brilliant writing both for the piano and the orchestra. The classical form at its height. Played with a very developed tone, sometimes I thought a little too heavily, however this concerto, along with No. 24, anticipates some of the qualities of the Romantic style more than any others and a player could conceivably justify a more dominating and robust approach as was the case with Jianing. The slow movement was sublime and only marred by a constantly ringing phone from some office somewhere nearby (it wasn't an audience mobile), which continued for the rest of the performance. Inserted a brief improvisational flourish at the beginning of the third movement which was a nice touch and in keeping with the fashion of the day (Mozart's day). The only player to attempt anything of this nature. I hope the judges don't mark him down for it.

Notes: All players were at ease and as one with the orchestra and conductor. Steinway and Yamaha pianos not used on either night. The stand-out performance for me was of Andrey Gugnin from Russia from the night before.

SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION 2016 FINALS: No. 1, Tuesday 19th July, by Tony Magee

SIPC Final one, Tuesday 19th July

Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Northey.

Kenneth Broberg

Kenneth Broberg, USA (23), Mozart 25 in C Major K.503

A somewhat Romantic performance of a Classical era work. Most enjoyable and enthusiastically played but somewhat stylistically unconventional. Tempos occasionally ahead of the orchestra. Very large sound from the Fazioli piano, over-developed in places for the style of the concerto. First movement cadenza extremely stylishly played and with great conviction. The pianist had great fun playing this concerto, but at the expense of balance and authenticity.

Arseny Tarasovich-Nikolaev

Arseny Tarasovich-Nikolaev, Russia (23), Mozart 23 in A major K.488

Incredibly fluid and relaxed technique. Flat hands and minimum of movement to deliver an overall beautiful restrained sound, at times almost lacking in balance with the orchestra. At other times, he demonstrated glimpses of a broad majestic sound, almost tending towards Romantic piano volumes. A flawless performance and at times almost too perfect, bordering on robotic. His grandmother was the great Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva.

Andrey Gugnin, Russia (29), Mozart 9 in Eb major K.271

Andrey Gugnin

Stand out performance of the night. Clarity and beauty of tone, fluid lines and phrases perfectly executed in a dialogue format within the piano part itself, but also with the orchestra. Demonstrated such a masterful understanding of the structure of the work and how to bring out everything it has to offer, which is considerable. Absolutely at one with the orchestra and the conductor, at times semi-conducting himself from the piano. A magnificent display of perfect dynamics, ebb and flow, sensitivity, polish and poise.

General notes: All performers chose to play the Italian made Fazioli piano. No performers improvised their own Cadenzas, all choosing instead to play the ones written out my Mozart.

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies at 74

The former heavyweight champion was widely regarded as the greatest boxer of all time

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali - one of the world's greatest sporting figures - has died at the age of 74.

The former world heavyweight champion died late on Friday at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix, Arizona, having been admitted on Thursday.

He had been suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.

Ali's funeral will take place in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, said his family.

Tributes for the heavyweight great have been pouring in from across the world.

"Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it," said US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

Former President Bill Clinton - husband of Democratic frontrunner Hillary - said the boxer had been "courageous in the ring, inspiring to the young, compassionate to those in need, and strong and good-humoured in bearing the burden of his own health challenges".

Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that Ali was "truly great champion and a wonderful guy. He will be missed by all!"

George Foreman, who lost his world title to Ali in the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight in Kinshasa in 1974, called him one of the greatest human beings he had ever met.

American civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson said Ali had been willing to sacrifice the crown and money for his principles when he refused to serve in the Vietnam war.

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Ali shot to fame by winning light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Nicknamed "The Greatest", the American beat Sonny Liston in 1964 to win his first world title and became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.

He eventually retired in 1981, having won 56 of his 61 fights.

Crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC, Ali was noted for his pre- and post-fight talk and bold fight predictions just as much as his boxing skills inside the ring.

But he was also a civil rights campaigner and poet who transcended the bounds of sport, race and nationality.

Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said: "As a man who never sold out his people. But if that's too much, then just a good boxer.

"I won't even mind if you don't mention how pretty I was."

Ali turned professional immediately after the Rome Olympics and rose through the heavyweight ranks, delighting crowds with his showboating, shuffling feet and lightning reflexes.

British champion Henry Cooper came close to stopping Clay, as he was still known, when they met in a non-title bout in London in 1963.

Cooper floored the American with a left hook, but Clay picked himself up off the canvas and won the fight in the next round when a severe cut around Cooper's left eye forced the Englishman to retire.

Muhammad Ali's childhood home opened as a museum last week

Many residents of Louisville, Kentucky, woke up on this hazy Saturday morning to the news: Muhammad Ali is dead.

"I wouldn't have thought he'd go that quick," says Kevin Ishmael, a saw operator who laid a bouquet of daffodils at the Muhammad Ali Center, an expansive museum on the waterfront in downtown Louisville.

The news of his death is on every local television station, and the front page of the local newspaper reads simply "The Greatest" over the iconic image of Ali standing victorious over Sonny Liston in 1965.

Flags at Louisville's city hall will fly at half mast today and the mayor will deliver a memorial service there.

"I cried. I cried like a baby when I found out the news," says Arnold Mathis, 39, who was on his way to lay a wreath and light a candle at the museum. "It's so surreal. I know he's dead, but it hasn't really set in yet."

Almost everyone has a personal story about Ali, whether it's a favourite fight, a glance through a car window, or a trip to his boyhood home, which opened as a museum only last week, the interior recreated as if Ali were still living there as a precocious 12-year-old boy in the 1950s.

Dwight Smith, who was sweeping the empty downtown streets outside the hotel where he works, doesn't remember the day Ali hoisted him up for photos - he was only a baby - but he uses them as a motivator to this day.

"A great man held me high," he said. "Go for what you want. If you dream it, you can achieve it. That was one of his mottos.

"I'm just hoping we get a really nice statue of him."

In February the following year, Clay stunned the boxing world by winning his first world heavyweight title at the age of 22.

He predicted he would beat Liston, who had never lost, but few believed he could do it.

Yet, after six stunning rounds, Liston quit on his stool, unable to cope with his brash, young opponent.

At the time of his first fight with Liston, Clay was already involved with the Nation of Islam, a religious movement whose stated goals were to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States.

But in contrast to the inclusive approach favoured by civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King, the Nation of Islam called for separate black development and was treated by suspicion by the American public.

Ali eventually converted to Islam, ditching what he perceived was his "slave name" and becoming Cassius X and then Muhammad Ali.

"It's a sad day for life, man. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die. Like Martin Luther King his spirit will live on, he stood for the world.'' - Don King, who promoted many of Ali's fights, including the Rumble in the Jungle

"Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest human beings I have ever met. No doubt he was one of the best people to have lived in this day and age." - George Foreman, Ali's friend and rival in the Rumble in the Jungle

"There will never be another Muhammad Ali. The black community all around the world, black people all around the world, needed him. He was the voice for us. He's the voice for me to be where I'm at today." - Floyd Mayweather, world champion boxer across five divisions

In 1967, Ali took the momentous decision of opposing the US war in Vietnam, a move that was widely criticised by his fellow Americans.

He refused to be drafted into the US military and was subsequently stripped of his world title and boxing licence. He would not fight again for nearly four years.

After his conviction for refusing the draft was overturned in 1971, Ali returned to the ring and fought in three of the most iconic contests in boxing history, helping restore his reputation with the public.

He was handed his first professional defeat by Joe Frazier in the "Fight of the Century" in New York on 8 March 1971, only to regain his title with an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) on 30 October 1974.

Muhammad Ali was crowned Sportsman of the Century in 1999

Ali fought Frazier for a third and final time in the Philippines on 1 October 1975, coming out on top in the "Thrilla in Manila" when Frazier failed to emerge for the 15th and final round.

Six defences of his title followed before Ali lost on points to Leon Spinks in February 1978, although he regained the world title by the end of the year, avenging his defeat at the hands of the 1976 Olympic light-heavyweight champion.

Ali's career ended with one-sided defeats by Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in 1981, many thinking he should have retired long before.

He fought a total of 61 times as a professional, losing five times and winning 37 bouts by knockout.

Soon after retiring, rumours began to circulate about the state of Ali's health. His speech had become slurred, he shuffled and he was often drowsy.

Parkinson's Syndrome was eventually diagnosed but Ali continued to make public appearances, receiving warm welcomes wherever he travelled.

He lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and carried the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Games in London.

How Ali wanted people to remember him

"I would like to be remembered as a man who won the heavyweight title three times, who was humorous and who treated everyone right.

"As a man who never looked down on those who looked up to him...who stood up for his beliefs...who tried to unite all humankind through faith and love.

"And if all that's too much, then I guess I'd settle for being remembered only as a great boxer who became a leader and a champion of his people. And I wouldn't even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was.”

First published at BBC News, June 4, 2016

 

Prince, singer and superstar, dies aged 57 at Paisley Park

Prince. Photo courtesy The Carb Syndrome Project

The hugely popular, acclaimed and influential musician Prince has died at his home in Minnesota at the age of 57.

Police were summoned to his Paisley Park estate early on Thursday and found his body in a lift. An investigation has been opened.

Prince became a global superstar in the 1980s, with albums such as 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O' the Times.

No cause of death has been stated. A post-mortem investigation will take place on Friday.

His innovative music spanned rock, funk and jazz. He sold more than 100 million records during his career.

"It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died," his spokeswoman said.

In a statement, Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said his deputies responded to a medical call at about 09:43 local time (14:43 GMT) and later found an unresponsive adult male in an elevator at Paisley Park Studios.

First responders tried to revive him with CPR but he was pronounced dead at 10:07.

Hundreds of fans gathered outside Paisley Park. US President Barack Obama, the world had lost a "creative icon".

'A visionary' - Madonna

Born in 1958, Prince was a prolific writer and performer from a young age - reportedly writing his first song when he was seven.

A singer, songwriter, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, Prince recorded more than 30 albums. His best known hits include Let's Go Crazy and When Doves Cry.

Prince was in his element as a live performer, like here at the 2007 Super Bowl

A musical prodigy from a broken home, Prince famously wrote, arranged, produced and played almost all of his hit records.

But the Purple man's purple patch really came with his first band The Revolution.

With them by his side, he wrote more than two dozen rock classics in a five-year flurry.

Purple Rain, Little Red Corvette, 1999, Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry, Kiss... At the same time, he dashed off Manic Monday for The Bangles and Nothing Compares 2U, made famous by Sinead O'Connor.

In the studio, he was unstoppable. But the magic really happened on stage. He would vamp, preen and tease an audience into a frenzy, then slay them with a quiet moment of crystalline beauty. He was a joy to watch.

He also wrote music for several artists - Sinead O'Connor's version of Nothing Compares 2U became a worldwide smash in 1990.

In 1984, he won an Oscar for the score to Purple Rain, a film in which he also starred.

Throughout his career he had a reputation for secrecy and eccentricity, once changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol.

In 2004, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which said he "rewrote the rulebook".

He had a mercurial relationship with technology. In 2000, he released singles via the pioneering music-sharing service Napster, but he later declared the internet "completely over" and refused to allow his music on major streaming platforms.

Prince's latest album, HITnRUN Phase Two, was released last year and he had been touring as recently as last week.

On 15 April he was taken to hospital after his private plane made an emergency landing in Illinois. It happened just hours after he had performed on stage in Georgia. He was treated and released after a few hours.

Tributes have been pouring in from artists young and old, across the musical spectrum.

• Madonna, who dated Prince briefly, described him as a "visionary who changed the world"
• 
  Chic guitarist Nile Rogers said there were "tears and love on our tour bus"
• 
  Singer Justin Timberlake: "Numb. Stunned. This can't be real"
• 
  Guitarist Slash said Prince was "one of the greatest musical talents of my lifetime. Maybe of the 20th century"
• 
  Boy George: "Today is the worst day ever. Prince RIP I am crying!"
  "I can't believe it, I'm in total shock. So many wonderful memories," wrote Lionel Richie
• 
  Musician and actor Wyclef Jean: "RIP to the King Prince thank u for inspiring me to be a Musician First and using this tool to heal people"
• 
  Mick Jagger said Prince's talent was "limitless", calling him a "revolutionary artist, a great musician, a wonderful lyricist"
  

"It's such a blow. It's really surreal. It's just kind of unbelievable," Aretha Franklin told MSNBC. "He was definitely an original and a one of a kind. Truly there was only one Prince.”

First published at BBC News, April 22, 2016

Ronnie Corbett, best known for The Two Ronnies, dies aged 85

Entertainer Ronnie Corbett, best known for BBC comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies, has died aged 85.

His publicist said: "Ronnie Corbett CBE, one of the nation's best-loved entertainers, passed away this morning, surrounded by his loving family.

"They have asked that their privacy is respected at this very sad time."

Corbett was one of the UK's best-loved comedians and along with Ronnie Barker; their double act was one of the most successful of the 1970s and '80s.

The entertainer had been suffering from ill-health for some time and had been in hospital in 2014 with gall bladder problems.

Following Barker's death in 2005, Corbett continued to be regular fixture on UK TV and is perhaps best-known for his armchair "shaggy dog" sketches.

His most memorable solo projects include the sitcom Sorry! and the game show Small Talk. He most recently starred in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom When the Dog Dies.

Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker were a regular fixture on British TV in the 1970s and 1980s

'Huge talent'

Sir Bruce Forsyth spoke emotionally about his friend, colleague and fellow golf enthusiast, saying it was "one of the saddest days of my life".

"Ronnie was a friend, someone I admired so much. It's a very, very sad day. I'm going to miss him like crazy, I really will."

Sir Bruce said one of the first times he saw Corbett was when he was working in the cast of a Danny La Rue show in the West End.

"That was one of the wonderful things about Ronnie - he was very adaptable. He could work with anybody, even me," he said. "We always say a one-off, but he certainly was a one-off and a half. He really was."

Ronnie Corbett 'a one off and a half' - Sir Bruce Forsyth

Veteran comedian and actor John Cleese, who worked with Corbett on The Frost Report, tweeted: "Just heard about Ronnie C. So sad. He had the best timing I've ever watched. He was a great, kind mentor and a wonderfully witty companion."

Comedian Ricky Gervals, who appeared alongside Corbett in his TV show, Extras, tweeted: "RIP the lovely, funny legend Ronnie Corbett. It was an absolute honour and joy to have known him."

Little Britain star David Walliams, added: "Goodbye my friend and comedy idol Ronnie Corbett Thank you for all the laughs. It was the greatest honour to know and work with you. Goodnight."

Movie star Russell Crowe, added: "And it's good night from Ronnie Corbett. Thanks for all the laughs mate."

And comedy star Miranda Hart, said: "Having a little weep at the death of one of my heroes Ronnie Corbett."

Former BBC chairman Michael Grade also spoke of his sadness at the loss of Corbett, who he described as a "huge talent".

He told the BBC the entertainer was "one of the all-time greats of British comedy, no question - I'm so sad for [his wife] Anne and the family - and the nation, really. We've lost a great friend and entertainer.

"He learned his craft the hard way. He was a master of comedy of all kinds - TV, cabaret, variety. The most wonderful man."

BBC director general Tony Hall called Corbett "a wonderful comic and entertainer".

"A man of great charm and warmth who brought laughter and joy to millions. He was quite simply one of the true greats of British comedy."

The Two Ronnies ran on the BBC from 1971 to 1987

ANALYSIS - David Sillito, arts correspondent

It was one of the West End's great disasters. Lionel Bart's Robin Hood musical Twang closed after just 43 performances but it was a stroke of good luck for a young Ronnie Corbett.

Over cucumber sandwiches at The Ritz with David Frost he had been offered a starring role in his new satirical TV programme, The Frost Report.

Suddenly freed from his duties as Will Scarlett, it was Corbett's big break in TV and paired him up with another performer, Ronnie Barker.

And why had Frost chosen Corbett? He had seen him in a show in a London nightclub with Danny La Rue.

There, in one story, is one of the main reasons Ronnie Corbett was such a popular performer - acting, revue, the 1960s satire boom, music hall - he brought it all together at the right time and the right place in one five-foot-one performer.

Corbett was made a CBE in the 2012 New Year Honours

Scottish-born Corbett started his TV comedy career on David Frost's satirical comedy the Frost Report in 1960.

It was here he first worked with Barker, although they had met before, and formed the duo whose TV sketch show became a British TV classic, regularly cited by the public as one of their enduring favourites and by other comics as a big influence on their careers.

The Two Ronnies ran from 1971 to 1987 and saw the comedians take part in musical performances and sketches.

Speaking to The Telegraph about how well they got on in 2013 he said of Barker: "We were a real couple with matching tastes and styles.

"Of course we were quite different but somehow we fitted so well together. I think it's a more pleasant and palatable thing to see people being funny together because you're touching areas of truth. Dinner parties or falling out with people - it's the naturalness of it."

The programme won a Bafta in 1972 for best light entertainment performance and was staple viewing for much of the UK audience on a Saturday night, with more than 15 million viewers.

One of their most enduring sketches was the famous hardware shop "fork handles" skit.

When on his own, Corbett specialised in long, rambling jokes delivered from an outsize armchair with his legs dangling in the air.

Four candles: Ronnie Corbett's most famous sketch?

Former BBC chairman Michael Grade described Corbett as 'a huge talent'

Born in Edinburgh on 4 December 1930, Corbett was educated at the James Gillespie School and the Royal High School, Edinburgh.

He did not attend university after leaving school and instead joined the Ministry of Agriculture.

After two years he moved to London where his first roles were playing schoolboys due to his diminutive height of 5'1".

Corbett also started to do summer seasons, intimate revues and running the bar at the Buckstone Club off Haymarket, central London, which is where he first met Barker.

He met his wife, the actress and singer Anne Hart, while working at Danny La Rue's Club in London.

It was here he was spotted by Frost who invited him to join Barker and Monty Python star John Cleese in The Frost Report, one of the most influential TV shows of the 1960s.

The social class sketch featuring John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Corbett was one of the best known on
The Frost Report

One of the satirical comedy series' best-known sketches featured Corbett, Barker and Cleese. The social "class" sketch saw the comedy actors ranked in height order, which also corresponded to their class.

Barker says: "I look up to him [Cleese] because he is upper class, but I look down on him [Corbett] because he is lower class."

Corbett says: "I know my place."

Following Barker's retirement in 1987, Corbett had a number of roles in the theatre, including The Seven Year Itch, Out of Order and The Dressmaker, while he also took guest roles on TV and in film.

He wrote books including Ronnie Corbett's Armchair Golf, The Small Man's Guide To Life and his autobiography High Hopes. He was also a keen and proficient golfer, and a member of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

He was awarded a CBE in the 2012 New Year Honours for his services to entertainment and charity.

Corbett is survived by his wife, with whom he celebrated his golden wedding anniversary last year, and the couple's two daughters, actresses Emma and Sophie Corbett.

First published at BBC News, March 31, 2016