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June 17: The second day of piano auditions in Round I continued in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. There were seven musical performances on the stage of the Great Hall. A Russian, Mikhail Berestnev, began the proceedings in the afternoon session. Following him, Jeung Beum Sohn (South Korea), Moye Chen (China), and Andrey Dubov (Russia) played their programmes in the competition. Beginning at 7pm a trio of competitors rounded out the day: Sangyoung Kim from South Korea, Dmitry Onishchenko from Russia, and Reed Tetzloff from the USA. This was a day when the audience would hear the timbre of all four grand pianos used in the Competition. Mikhail Berestnev, Sangyoung Kim, and Reed Tetzloff chose the Steinway, while two other competitors—Jeung Beum Sohn and Andrey Dubov—were partial to the Fazioli. Moye Chen played the Kawai, and Dmitry Onishchenko used the Yamaha instrument. The programmes of the competitors today were more varied than yesterday’s. There were sonatas by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven (his “Appassionata” proved the favourite as two competitors played it). And it was the first time in Round I that pieces from Tchaikovsky’s “The Seasons” was played. On June 18th there will also be an afternoon and evening session. Four competitors will perform in the afternoon session: representing Russia are Ilya Rashkovsky (1:00 pm), Georgy Voilochnikov (1:50 pm) and Marina Yakhlakova (3:00 pm); and then representing the United States, George Li (3:50 pm). Frenchman Lucas Debargue begins the evening session (7:00 pm), and Russians Daria Kameneva (7:50 pm) and Lukas Geniušas (9:00 pm) end it. June 17: Round I of the violin competition began in the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory Seven musicians went on stage in the Small Hall on the first day of the competition. Three Russians lead off the auditions: Pavel Milyukov, Elena Korzhenevich, and Lyubov Stekolshchikova. After the intermission the contest continued at 7 pm with Alexandra Conunova (Moldova), Mayu Kishima (Japan), Boson Mo (Canada) and Younguk Kim (South Korea). Round I in the violin competition includes one of Bach’s compositions (the Adagio and Fugue from Sonata No. 3 in C major or the Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor), two of Paganini’s caprices (one chosen by the competitor and Caprice No. 24, which is mandatory), Tchaikovsky’s “Valse-Scherzo”, and one or more pieces at the discretion the competitor. Of this day’s seven competitors, six chose Bach’s Chaconne (and four of them began their performances with it); the exception was Lyubov Stekolshchikova who began with the Adagio and Fugue. Paganini’s Caprices Nos. 1, 5 10, 11, 15, and 23 (twice) were also heard. Aside from the mandatory pieces, there were Lutoslawski’s “Subito” and Chugaev’s “Capriccio” for solo violin (Pavel Milyukov); Bacewicz’s Violin Sonata (Elena Korzhenevich), Ravel’s “Tzigane” (Lyubov Stekolshchkova), Kreisler’s “Gypsy Capriccio” (Alexandra Conunova), Brahms’ “Scherzo” and Tchaikovsky’s “Valse sentimentale” Mayu Kishima), Messiaen’s “Theme and Variations”(Boson Mo), and Schubert’s “Rondo brillant” (Younguk Kim). The whole series of auditions lasted 10 hours including intermissions. On June 18th the Round I auditions will continue. The afternoon session beginning at 1pm will offer Stepan Starikov (1:00 pm), Stephen Jee Won Kim (2:00 pm), and Tikhon Lukiyanenko (3:00 pm). In the evening Bomsori Kim (7:00 pm), Yu-Chien Tseng (8:00 pm), and Jumi Kang will play. _______ June 17 was the first day of auditions for cello competitors in Round I. Competitors from the USA, Russia, and Spain went on stage at the Small Hall of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic. American cellist Brannon Cho went first in the contest of cellists at 1 pm. During the afternoon session Rustem Khamidullin and Alexey Stadler also performed. At the evening session that began at 7 pm, Anastasia Kobekina (Russia), Ivan Sendetsky (Russia), and Pablo Ferrández-Castro (Spain) played. One of the mandatory works in the programme, the “Pezzo capriccioso”, Op. 62, that Tchaikovsky composed in just one week in 1887 became a classic of the cello repertoire almost immediately. From the Bach suites for solo cello certain movements were recommended, and most of the competitors (five out of six) chose the Prélude and Sarabande in D major from Suite No. 6. The cellist playing last, Pablo Ferrández-Castro, performed the Prélude and Sarabande in C major from Suite No. 3. For a Romantic solo piece the competitors were to select one of twelve Caprices (Caprice No. 1 was excluded) for solo cello by the 19th century composer Alfredo Piatti. As it turned out, the audience heard Caprice No. 6 twice (played by Brannon Cho and Anastasia Kobekina), Caprice No. 7 twice (Alexey Stadler and Pablo Ferrández-Castro), and Caprice No. 12 twice (Rustem Khamidullin and Ivan Sendetsky). When it came to the freely chosen pieces in the programme, on the first day there was much 20th century music performed by the competing musicians with great artistry. Perhaps the most memorable musical passages of the day were in the interpretation of contemporary music. Foreign composers (Zoltán Kodály and Henri Dutilleux) were juxtaposed with accomplished Soviet composers (Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Alfred Schnittke, and Adam Khudoyan). On June 18th in the Small Hall another seven competitors in Round I will perform (Sandra Lied Haga, Leonard Elschenbroich, Tristan Cornut, Andrei Ionuț Ioniță, Bruno Philippe, Alexander Buzlov, and Valentino Worlitzsch). Auditions begin at 1 pm and continue to 10-30 pm with an intermission from 3:50 to 7:00. The biographies and programmes of the competitors have been posted on the Competition’s official website in the “Contestants” area http://tchaikovskycompetition.com/ru/contestants/. Just as yesterday, all the performances in all three disciplines will be streamed online by medici.tv.