Sussex International Piano Competition, Grand Final
What a marathon! Aided by excellent acoustics and the unfaltering Worthing Symphony Orchestra, John Gibbons conducted three glorious concertos: Prokofiev’s effervescent 3rd, played by Rabiga Dyussembayeva (Kazakhstan), Rachmaninoff’s fiendishly difficult 3rd, played by Poom Prommachart (Thailand), and Brahms’s monumental 2nd, given by Olga Paliy (Ukraine), who won the audience prize.
Rabiga was runner-up to Poom, who comes from Thailand via the Royal College of Music. The outstanding performances of all three finalists expressed the very high standard of this competition. It was an afternoon of intense concentration and enjoyment. Poom Prommachart, we’ll certainly hear from him again. What a winner!
Assembly Hall, Worthing, 14 April 2013
Rating:
Andrew Connal
Thoroughly enjoyed the semi-finals although one hour for each competitor made it a bit of a marathon – the jury looked shattered by the end and refreshments for them were rather sparse: at one point John Gibbons was doling out water in plastic cups from a large bottle – no trays of tea, coffee, juice which seemed a bit mean and not very professional.