A snapshot from Preliminary Round 1 Concert 3 of the Sydney International Piano Competition


With 16 performers down and another 16 to go, Preliminary Round 1 Concert 3 opened the second day of recitals in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s Vergbrugghen Hall, the concert hosted by ABC Classic FM’s Damien Beaumont. The competition is getting everyone talking, and there is a lively Twitter commentary running online.

A prodigious young pianist from Cairns, Reuben Tsang, stunned the crowd as the Australia Showcase performer with his renditions of Chopin’s florid Etude in A Flat Major Op. 25 No 1 and the Prestissimo from Beethoven’s Sonata in F minor Op. 2 No 1.

Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin continued the Beethoven theme with Fantasia in G Minor Op. 77, the emotional intensity of the work visible on his face as he rocked forward and back. He followed the Beethoven with Liszt’s Faribolo Pastour (Pastoral Whimsy) and Transcendental Étude No 5 Feux Follets (Wills o’ the Wisp), practically leaping off the stool as he placed...