:01:17. > :01:22.For half a century the Leeds International Piano Competition has
:01:22. > :01:26.been picking the superstars of the future and pro propelling them on
:01:26. > :01:31.to the world stage. Tonight, we begin our coverage of the final
:01:31. > :01:37.stage of the 2012 competition. We will be show casing six of today's
:01:37. > :01:41.brightest young pianists and hearing a concerto. Here is a
:01:41. > :01:46.taster of some of the fantastic things to look forward to.
:01:46. > :01:51.Hundreds entered. This final will be one of the best in the history
:01:51. > :01:56.of the Leeds competition. Now just six remain.
:01:56. > :02:02.I'm looking for an experience, a journey, a dream. Testing
:02:02. > :02:10.themselves to the limit. How high in this Olympic year are we
:02:10. > :02:14.prepared to put the bar? For a life changing prize.
:02:14. > :02:19.Leeds is the opener to a concert year.
:02:19. > :02:29.You are born with it. But there can only be one winner.
:02:29. > :02:41.
:02:41. > :02:42.You have got to be something. To shine.
:02:42. > :02:44.APPLAUSE Over the coming weeks I'll be
:02:44. > :02:46.meeting the competitors going behind the scenes at the
:02:46. > :02:49.competition and finding out more about the history of the piano and
:02:49. > :02:55.the concert pianist. We will be getting an insider's view from two
:02:55. > :02:59.Leeds veterans and very fine pi fine pianists they are too.
:02:59. > :03:06.What are your memories? Very friendly and really exciting, but
:03:06. > :03:09.the only thing I would like to forget, this is silver jubilee year
:03:10. > :03:15.for me since the Leeds. Please don't go old programmes because I
:03:15. > :03:21.don't want you to find out! We will put that to one side. It can't be
:03:21. > :03:24.that friendly, Tom, it is a competition? It is friendly. It
:03:24. > :03:27.wasn't my finest hour in terms of results, but it was a wonderful
:03:27. > :03:31.experience in terms of meeting other musicians and having a great
:03:31. > :03:34.time. I was one of the naughty
:03:34. > :03:41.competitors because I was swapping the name cards so I confused
:03:41. > :03:47.everybody else and I used to be told off badly.
:03:47. > :03:51.Noriko came here and behaved badly and Tom came and made friends. We
:03:51. > :03:58.talk about the Leeds as being one of the prestigious competitions.
:03:58. > :04:03.Does it have the global, international cashe today? What
:04:03. > :04:08.makes it so amazing, it is very friendly and you can go out there
:04:08. > :04:11.and start your career almost immediately after the competition.
:04:11. > :04:15.We will meet later. Well, the Leeds International Piano
:04:15. > :04:20.Competition next year celebrates its 50th birthday and it does so in
:04:20. > :04:25.rude health. The artistic director and founder Dame Fanny Waterman
:04:25. > :04:34.announced some exciting news. The Burmese politician and amateur
:04:34. > :04:37.pianist, Aung San Suu Kyi becomes Honorary Ambassador and Lang Lang
:04:37. > :04:41.becomes becomes global ambassador for the Leeds.
:04:41. > :04:51.Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Lang Lang.
:04:51. > :04:52.
:04:52. > :04:54.CHEERING AND APPLAUSE At the age of just 30, Chinese
:04:54. > :05:02.pianist, Lang Lang is a musical superstar.
:05:02. > :05:09.He He brought piano music to a young, new audience and Time
:05:09. > :05:19.Magazine ranked him among the influential people on the planet.
:05:19. > :05:22.
:05:22. > :05:25.Today, he is going to meet someone very important.
:05:25. > :05:31.Dame Fanny Waterman is the driving force behind the Leeds.
:05:31. > :05:37.When you agreed to say you would be ambassador, I was thrilled because
:05:37. > :05:43.millions of people from my cleaning lady onwards have all heard about
:05:43. > :05:53.you and you bring the gospel of music to the world.
:05:53. > :05:53.
:05:53. > :06:01.And to me, that's very important. When Fanny asked me about doing
:06:01. > :06:05.global ambassador I was very honoured, I mean seriously, deeply
:06:05. > :06:11.honoured. The Leeds competition is one of the greatest competitions
:06:12. > :06:21.that exist in the world and I know many people actually who came out
:06:22. > :06:26.
:06:26. > :06:31.from this amazing competition such as other well-known pi anists. It
:06:31. > :06:38.really inspires young people from around the globe.
:06:38. > :06:46.It isn't the competition that is an inspiration, its founder at the age
:06:46. > :06:56.of 92. The true hero of the competition is
:06:56. > :06:56.
:06:56. > :07:04.is Fanny Waterman. I mean she is a legendary piano teacher, mentor,
:07:04. > :07:08.pianist, mother. She inspires so many young pianists and that's why
:07:08. > :07:14.the Leeds competition is so successful and so unique, it is
:07:14. > :07:20.because of her. I come across young pianists, they
:07:20. > :07:24.don't need anymore lessons, they have won a competition. The real
:07:24. > :07:28.life begins after you win a competition and at no age do you
:07:28. > :07:38.stop learning. Lang Lang's role as global
:07:38. > :07:38.
:07:38. > :07:43.ambassador for the Leeds will see him boosting the competition's
:07:43. > :07:49.profile around the world. I stopped playing competitions when I was 13.
:07:49. > :07:54.So for me, it is great to see, you know, part of the process and to
:07:54. > :08:04.feel the heartbeat. At the same time, you know, talking to the kids
:08:04. > :08:07.to let them be more relaxed, be more focused on making music.
:08:07. > :08:12.do you fight nerves before going on stage? It is nice to have a little
:08:12. > :08:17.bit of nerves to cheer it up, but if there is too much of it, it is
:08:17. > :08:22.not helping. So it is best to just think about making music and then
:08:22. > :08:26.everything somehow comes. We need to always remember the reason we
:08:26. > :08:30.become a pianist is because we love music.
:08:30. > :08:35.I like having photos with you. While the Leeds is all about the
:08:35. > :08:40.talent of the future, for Lang Lang, there is one piano guru who has
:08:40. > :08:48.nothing left to prove. Read it to me!
:08:48. > :08:52.Dear Fanny, you are the best. Love as always, Lang Lang.
:08:52. > :08:55.Ah, lovely. Lovely. Lang Lang is clearly thrilled to be
:08:55. > :08:59.taking on this new role in the competition and that's no surprise
:08:59. > :09:03.because for half a century the Leeds has been the place to spot
:09:03. > :09:10.the stars of the future. Everyone of this year's finalists is hoping
:09:10. > :09:19.to follow in the footsteps of previous winners, amazing pianists,
:09:19. > :09:25.but what does it take to make a truly great concert pianist?
:09:25. > :09:30.We look for breathing life into the great master work so it becomes
:09:30. > :09:37.unpredictable, dangerous, full of rapture. That is to create it as if
:09:37. > :09:43.it is being heard for the first time. The great artists are the
:09:43. > :09:48.ones who can do that. The talent to be a great pianist comes from
:09:48. > :09:58.inside. There is something individual. There is something that
:09:58. > :10:03.everybody recognises as being your sound and your style.
:10:03. > :10:05.They have this ability when they walk on the stage to make people
:10:05. > :10:14.almost before they play a note realise something very, very
:10:14. > :10:18.special is going to happen.. There are so many different sorts of
:10:18. > :10:28.concert pianists, I mean there is Lang Lang who is a huge
:10:28. > :10:45.
:10:45. > :10:51.international sensation. I would travel hundreds of miles just to
:10:51. > :10:56.hear some play. I really like Louis Schwizgebel.
:10:56. > :11:01.Whe we talk about speaking through the piano, he did it and not only
:11:01. > :11:10.that, his personality was always glowing and he just made friends
:11:10. > :11:18.with everybody in the audience. You need people to inspire the next
:11:18. > :11:25.generation to keep going. When I was 12 I heard a pianist in Dublin
:11:25. > :11:31.and I waited 45 minutes for him to come and my mother says I didn't
:11:32. > :11:41.wash my hands for a week. They promote you and inspire you and you
:11:41. > :11:44.say, "I want to do that." The piano legends of the past and
:11:44. > :11:49.the present had a multitude of different musical personalities.
:11:49. > :11:54.Each of them putting their unique stamp on a performance. So how do
:11:54. > :12:00.this year's Leeds finalists measure up? Let's meet them now.
:12:00. > :12:06.To begin the series from Switzerland, the refined playing of
:12:06. > :12:13.Louis Schwizgebel with a performance of Beethoven's fourth
:12:13. > :12:21.piano concerto. In next week's programme, Jiayan
:12:21. > :12:27.Sun from China throws down the gauntlet with the violent concerto
:12:27. > :12:32.number two. Beethoven's Emperor concerto is
:12:32. > :12:40.always a competition favourite and in programme three, Jayson Gillham
:12:40. > :12:48.brings classical elegance to these famous walls.
:12:48. > :12:51.Andrejs Osokins follows hoping to impress with sheer brilliance in
:12:51. > :12:59.another concerto. The Emperor makes a second
:12:59. > :13:06.appearance in our penultimate programme under the fingers of
:13:06. > :13:16.Federico Colli. And to end the series, American
:13:16. > :13:25.
:13:25. > :13:29.American Andrew Tyson. Will his Six of the best young pianists from
:13:29. > :13:34.around the world hoping to dazzle and beguile us. Well, throughout
:13:34. > :13:41.the series we will be here to see each of them perform a concerto in
:13:41. > :13:47.full with the the Halle orchestra. Beginning first tonight with the
:13:47. > :13:57.first of our Leeds finalists. 24-year-old pianist, Louis
:13:57. > :14:00.
:14:00. > :14:06.Schwizgebel is from Switzerland. This competition - I have always
:14:06. > :14:12.wanted to compete at least once just to try because I think for
:14:12. > :14:17.pianists it is one of the greatest. One thing I really like, you can
:14:17. > :14:20.present what you like in terms of the programme. You can really show
:14:20. > :14:23.your personality. You can really build your own programme for every
:14:24. > :14:27.round. What kind of a pianist are you
:14:27. > :14:36.presenting to the jury? What is it that you want to show them? I don't
:14:36. > :14:46.think I am the kind of pianist that wants to impress with my technique.
:14:46. > :14:47.
:14:48. > :14:53.I feel very close to them and for the semi-final I played a piece I
:14:53. > :14:57.really like. It is funny, because I realised the other day, I have no
:14:58. > :15:07.Russian music in my programme. It is not that I don't like this music,
:15:07. > :15:17.I just feel more close to German and that's why I close Beethoven
:15:17. > :15:17.
:15:17. > :15:22.number four for the final. All right. Louis has the chance to
:15:22. > :15:26.go through the music with Sir Mark Elder.
:15:26. > :15:36.Louis is extremely sensitive and he plays with a great deal of poetry
:15:36. > :15:36.
:15:37. > :15:41.and he has chosen the right con One feels that he has to clear
:15:41. > :15:47.identified with what this piece speaks undeterred the tenderness
:15:47. > :15:52.and intimacy that suits his rather introverted -- introverted and new
:15:52. > :16:00.Obst style. Do you think you can win the competition? I don't think
:16:00. > :16:05.I have won it for the moment. I want to do the best, the best
:16:05. > :16:14.concerto I can do. Do you really going to a competition not caring
:16:14. > :16:24.about winning? It is better to concentrate only on the music, well,
:16:24. > :16:24.
:16:24. > :16:28.The recipe for a concerto is pretty straightforward. So take one
:16:28. > :16:31.soloist with plenty of swagger and mix together with an orchestra.
:16:31. > :16:36.Serve it up in three movements, which goes something like this.
:16:36. > :16:41.Fast, slow and fast again. So far, so simple. But when it is Beethoven
:16:41. > :16:46.cocking it up, the concerto becomes a much more interesting dish --
:16:46. > :16:51.cooking. A concerto should begin with a big and preferably loud tune
:16:51. > :16:54.hammered out by the full orchestra but in the 4th concerto it is the
:16:54. > :17:04.pianist who takes the lead, opening the piece so low. Not only that but
:17:04. > :17:18.
:17:19. > :17:23.It is such a simple, beautiful idea, that. It is a startling beginning,
:17:23. > :17:27.not the fireworks and audience might be expecting. Usually the
:17:27. > :17:30.soloist gets a good few minutes to focus on what is ahead and gays in
:17:31. > :17:35.artistic reverie into the middle distance while the orchestra gets
:17:35. > :17:38.the crowd nicely warmed up for them. Here, the pianist has to take
:17:38. > :17:43.charge from the start. It is completely exposed, this music.
:17:43. > :17:53.There is simply nowhere to hide. It is a brave performer who chooses to
:17:53. > :17:58.
:17:58. > :18:04.Rehearsals are in full swing for tonight's performance of
:18:04. > :18:09.Beethoven's's 4th concerto. I have two expert guests, the pianists
:18:09. > :18:14.Noriko Ogawa and Tom Poster. Tom, this is a heck of a concerto to
:18:14. > :18:17.open the final with. It is no mean feat, is it? No, I think this
:18:17. > :18:21.opening is a great gift in all of music, actually. It is like a
:18:21. > :18:26.window opening on to the wonderfully intimate thoughts. It
:18:26. > :18:30.is wonderfully difficult to war, and open in such a natural and
:18:30. > :18:35.artless way that it requires, but it is such wonderful music. It is
:18:35. > :18:39.the greatest concerto ever written, there is no greater. Noriko, you
:18:39. > :18:46.have played on this stage, in 1987, you were a finalist. What will be
:18:46. > :18:49.going through Louis Schwizgebel's mind that? I hope something happy,
:18:49. > :18:53.not to be intimidated by the orchestra, not to be intimidated by
:18:53. > :18:57.the grand atmosphere but to feel free and let everything out. What
:18:57. > :19:02.do you think is the secret of coming on and taking the stage and
:19:02. > :19:06.really feeling like you own it? would like to know really myself!
:19:06. > :19:14.Well, I think we just have to feel this is really the opportunity for
:19:14. > :19:17.us. Then he knows the concerto, so let it go, but is the way.
:19:17. > :19:27.should be a fantastic performance. We are really looking forward to it.
:19:27. > :19:28.
:19:28. > :19:32.For nearly three weeks, Leeds has been the centre of the piano world.
:19:32. > :19:37.As the Town Hall opens its doors to this, the 17th concerto final,
:19:37. > :19:44.there is a real sense of anticipation. For Louis Schwizgebel,
:19:44. > :19:54.this could be the most important performers of his life. --
:19:54. > :19:59.The task ahead, to seize the moment and convince a distinguished panel
:19:59. > :20:09.of judges. Time to meet the people making the decisions, the Leeds
:20:09. > :20:11.
:20:11. > :20:15.The overall standards of technical perfection are so dizzying, that
:20:15. > :20:19.kind of prowess alone does not suffice to anoint a prizewinner.
:20:19. > :20:23.You are looking for something unique, somebody with imagination,
:20:23. > :20:28.somebody with flair, somebody with a stage personality. The great
:20:28. > :20:33.ability to communicate that touch of magic. Something individual.
:20:33. > :20:37.Among those people who all play so well, somebody who has a language,
:20:37. > :20:41.somebody who says things differently. An ability as an actor,
:20:41. > :20:46.as a dramatist, making the instrument not only sing but be
:20:46. > :20:52.colourful and intense and have a wide emotional spectrum. Character,
:20:52. > :20:55.personality, emotion and quality of sound. You can hear the most
:20:55. > :21:00.regularly play piece of the repertoire and they make it sound a
:21:00. > :21:10.new and you think, OK, this is somebody special. But they have to
:21:10. > :21:15.
:21:15. > :21:18.get a majority of the jury to say I So here is 24-year-old Louis
:21:18. > :21:23.Schwizgebel from Switzerland, the first to perform in the 2012 final
:21:23. > :21:27.of the Leeds International Piano duo -- Planet competition. He has
:21:27. > :21:32.followed on to stage by Sir Mark Elder, music director of the Halle
:21:32. > :21:42.Orchestra, the orchestra led tonight by Lyn Fletcher. Louis
:21:42. > :21:42.
:21:42. > :55:52.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2049 seconds
:55:52. > :55:57.Schwizgebel has chosen one of the He APPLAUSE. Louis Schwizgebel, the
:55:57. > :56:01.first finalist to perform in this, the 17th Leeds International Piano
:56:01. > :56:11.Competition. The Halle Orchestra, led by Lyn Fletcher, conducted by
:56:11. > :56:38.
:56:38. > :56:43.Well, listening to that performance with me, the pianists Noriko Ogawa
:56:43. > :56:47.and Tom Poster. Tom, earlier you said when we heard him playing in
:56:47. > :56:53.rehearsals that Beethoven's forces pretty much the Supreme achievement.
:56:53. > :56:57.Does it live up to expectations? thought his playing was musicianly,
:56:57. > :57:01.and respectful to the score, which is crucial in Beethoven. It is not
:57:01. > :57:04.music which needs a huge personality imposed on it. It is
:57:04. > :57:09.music which speaks directly and he was respectful to Beethoven's Mark
:57:09. > :57:14.King. I have to say are looking at him, he looked nervous, very sweaty,
:57:14. > :57:17.a lot of sighing going on. I wondered if he ever really let go
:57:17. > :57:22.during the performance? I felt it came alive in the last moment? --
:57:22. > :57:25.movement? To start with I thought he was nervous and in the first
:57:26. > :57:30.movement in particular I could have done with more dynamic range and a
:57:30. > :57:34.bit of change of colour. But in the last movement, suddenly he really
:57:34. > :57:37.cheered up and it was a very charming performance, as thought.
:57:37. > :57:42.Is it enough to win the competition? There were moments
:57:42. > :57:46.when I craved more freedom, more improvisation, which I think this
:57:46. > :57:50.piece has and in the softer moments I wanted him to find that hounds
:57:50. > :57:55.more fantasy. But there were so many admirable things, I thought.
:57:55. > :57:59.There was a daring movement with a handkerchief, seconds before he was
:57:59. > :58:04.about to play he mopped his brow. There was a magical moments in the
:58:04. > :58:08.second movement, I thought. There was some new ideas as well, but to
:58:08. > :58:14.win the competition you need a little bit more something, a bit
:58:14. > :58:20.more on top, a thought. Thanks to both of you. We will catch up with
:58:20. > :58:22.you in next week's episode. It is great to talk to. The finals of the
:58:22. > :58:25.2012 Leeds International Piano Competition are well and truly
:58:25. > :58:28.under way. The bar has been set and over the next five weeks we will
:58:28. > :58:32.see how the rest of the finalists measure up. Join me at the same
:58:32. > :58:39.time next week here on BBC Four, Friday night. Hit this is what you
:58:39. > :58:44.have got to look forward to. 22- year-old Jiayan Sun from China
:58:44. > :58:48.tackles the might of Prokofiev's Second Piano Concert of. It is an
:58:48. > :58:56.enormous work and this young player, who studied at the Juli art, is
:58:56. > :59:01.very up to the demands of it. moments of power. It was absolutely
:59:01. > :59:04.amazing. He gave everything. take a look behind the scenes, as
:59:04. > :59:08.an army of volunteers keep this competition afloat. We are trying
:59:08. > :59:12.to give the appearance that we are like swans, swimming across the