Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, 1972

Reupload of this precious documentary feauturing young Murray Perahia, Eugen Indjic and Mitsuko Uchida.
I claim I have no rights to this upload. I uploaded it for educational purposes.

[@rodneygreenberg3840]

This brings back many memories. I was the camera director, and on 5 subsequent Leeds Competitions. Nobody could envisage a time when you’d turn on an iPhone or a laptop and relive every moment. Rodney Greenberg

[@jaimepconde]

❤❤

[@morhywaden]

I remember this competition from all those years ago. This was when the BBC was prepared to devote time to this major artistic event. In later years they only show the concerto final which could have three pianists playing the same work. They then think they have done their duty to the music loving public. Contrast that with the endless hours of Wimbledon, cricket, golf etc. It still rankles with me that when Vladimir Horowitzs gave a recital at the Festival Hall in 1982 the broadcast ended on his second encore. I was at the F. H and heard the three encores. The Beeb said they had to adhere to the programme schedule. A few weeks later it was sod the schedules when the cricket overrun. One wonders did they really know what an event it was to have that pianistic legend in London.

[@yjyoon92]

A huge thank you for uploading!!

[@Johannes_Brahms65]

The only interview ever with Radu Lupu!

[@MorganHayes_Composer.Pianist]

RIP

[@nottingham_ChrisAllison]

Thanks for uploading this...what an amazing blast from the past!!

[@balladhe]

You're very welcome (:

[@MrInterestingthings]

Magaloff seems to have been one of the most famous teachers of his time. He loved young peple and everyone who aspired to a career studied with him for some time. The same can be said about Nadia Boulanger in terms of music study an composition ! Their wasa generation that got to also know each other an their ideas and personalities through this wonderful network . Those who have read about earlier times know this has always existed before Lechetitzky ,AntonRubinstein,Diemer,Cortot et .,

[@TheMightyFork_]

Perahia showed a unique musical sound and nobility. Thank god they gave him 1st place .

[@Johannes_Brahms65]

You would expect Shepert to play Beethovens pastoral sonata...

[@marcomauricio]

Professora Linda bem nova! Gostei desse registro. Grato.

[@פרסאופיר]

Apparently Andras Schiff had also participated in this competition(the same year) and was knocked out in the second round😮

[@paolofranceschi6874]

Bellissimo. Thanks 🎉

[@cecik5578]

What in the world was Indjic doing to those Schumann Symphonic Etude rhythms??

[@marineu8106]

I looked all over e internet for an interview with Mr. Radu Lupu and this tiny little one is all that there is out there!?

[@MaxLima1]

My teacher at 27:00

[@AnonYmous-ry2jn]

I think all 3 finalists could have won, and I agree with another's comment the Indjic "could do what he wanted with the piano." Although Perahia has obviously proved himself a towering musician in every respect, justifying his first prize, I strongly suspect the jury had an anti--Russian, anti-Rachmaninov in particular, bias; they are a very high-brow, aristocratic sort of jury, with a deep antagonism toward pyrotechnic flash or theatrics, heart-on-sleeve sentimentality. Refinement gets the highest respect. All this worked heavily against Rachmaninov in the final, helping Perahia. It may account also for there being no Russians present. (Carmen Or is an Israeli defector from Soviet Union; her story is incredible, independently fleeing from the KGB as a 13 yr. old, and likely inspired a similar subplot in "The Competition" starring Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving, made in the wake of the event featured here, but more like the Van Cliburn competition.)

[@AnonYmous-ry2jn]

Come to think of it: Murray Perahia, as I said, completely, completely outstanding musician, 1000% deserved to win. But the two runners-up shot themselves in the foot playing Rachmaninov in the final round. I don't know how they would have fared playing Chopin, Schumann, or Mozart (if these were all options; Mozart likely wasn't), more refined, intellectual, "aristocratic" composers Perahia has always specialized in, but it's obvious this jury, every one of them, would cringe at Rachmaninov. The two runners-up should have known this, and trying to win the Leeds with Rach. itself shows a terrible cultural (musical and beyond musical) sophistication deficit. In other words, their "plebian" repertoire choice alone (not to mention the "canceling each other out" factor) gave Perahia (who btw, to his credit, wouldn't touch Rach. with a 10 foot pole) an inherent automatic boost.

[@bobschaaf2549]

Quite true, I'm afraid. With Hess, Solomon, and Curzon in your heritage, Rachmaninoff won't cut it.

[@AnonYmous-ry2jn]

@@bobschaaf2549 thanks! I just watched the classic “Richter: the Enigma” documentary, and you should see how other artists sneeringly count Richter’s interest in Rachmaninov against him. In many cases the stigma was very very explicit.

[@jrb5077]

@@AnonYmous-ry2jn "wouldn''t touch Rach, with a 10 foot pole": this is rubbish. Perahia has often played Rachmaninov.

[@AnonYmous-ry2jn]

@@jrb5077 thanks for the reply; I was intrigued by your assertion (which may well be correct, far as I’m concerned), so I googled “Perahia Rachmaninov”; to my surprise this yielded evidence in your favor: the Etudes Tableaux (4 of them I think) were performed by him at the Aldeburgh Festival a couple decades ago. However that’s the only linkage of Perahia and Rachmaninov I saw, though obviously Google being Google, their algorithms could easily conceal very relevant info. So obviously MP did at some point play Rach; maybe even often as you say. Still, it’s fair to say that among contemporary and recent pianists, few have as much dissociation with a particular composer as Perahia has with Rachmaninov. Is musical personality, outlook and sensibility incline completely away from SR; I’d say he comes closest in this sense to Rubinstein and Kempff in his personality and proclivities, although straddling their 19th Century Romanticism focus with Mozart (Perahia’s specialty alongside his Chopin and Schumann, Brahms somewhat distantly 4th, then Schubert; Bach being a special case - probably getting MP’s deepest reverence of all - being left out).

[@jasonkim5503]

Wow, that was my VERY first time I’ve ever seen and heard Radu Lupu SPEAKING.

[@MorganHayes_Composer.Pianist]

maybe the one and only example there is!

[@da__lang]

RIP Radu Lupu. You are missed.

[@Daniel_Zalman]

23:07....Mitsuko.

[@eytonshalom]

that's a lovely melodic schoenberg piece she is playing...w/her typical good taste...

[@Alex_Gordon]

she has always been very emotional when she plays...you could see that even there in her younger years.

[@renzocalogero5528]

Merci !

[@voraciousreader3341]

“If one did not dream, one could not live.” Nadia Boulanger (VIVA!!!)

[@cecik5578]

You think the judge could have done without the phrase “by a very substantial majority” because by the time they announce 3rd prize, the poor kid is sitting there thinking- “well, by a substantial, subSTANtial majority, I lost first and second prizes….yay?” There’s a Jerry Seinfeld olympics skit in here….

[@Radiatoron88]

I agree with you! "So, I'm wayyyyy behind the second place guy, and he's wayyyyy behind the 1st place guy, so I guess I'm wayyyyy out of consideration! Great. Yeah. Guess I'm subSTANtially out of luck."

[@class87srule]

And dear old Sir Charles Groves in charge of the orchestra.

[@FC-uo6dh]

Radu Lupu answers some questions addressed starting 5:55

[@toutouzim007]

At that time the were still “musicians”...

[@mrlorco123]

❤️

[@davidmcnulty3618]

Indjic all the way. I’ve had several Masterclasses with him over the years, and apart from being a lovely and very funny guy ( he doesn’t take himself too seriously like a lot of them do ) , it’s pretty clear from the Rachmaninov 3rd segment here that he could pretty much do what he wanted Pianistic wise, even in the heat of the competition. I’m surprised Perahia won, actually... a tight and small tone- and quite a few mistakes...have never really been a fan. ( I’m not surprised he had tendonitis in later years ) ,Craig Shepard seems interesting based solely on this segment..

[@Johannes_Brahms65]

Am I glad you were not in the jury, by accident!

[@callum6660]

Indic is one of the great Chopin and Schumann interpreters of all time - and his Rach is astonishing in its phrasing and structure and sound - an exemplary artist and human being

[@nelsonjr2521]

Eugen Indjic should win.... injustice...

[@twistedsymposium3744]

Nah. Mediocre. Uchida knocked out, more like.

[@virtuosiproducoes2591]

@@twistedsymposium3744 If a person who plays Rach 3 is mediocre, what would be you?

[@davidmcnulty3618]

Nelson JR yep, I agree.

[@cheryledelman4457]

i WENT TO SCHOOL WITH MURRAY. HE WANTED TO MARRY MY BEST FRIEND AT MANNES COLLEGE OF MUSIC, SHE MARRIED A LOSER DUMMER INSTEAD! WHAT A LOVELY GUY HE IS AND SUCH A TALENT!

[@NikoHL]

Mitsuko looks so young! Playing Schoenberg ??!! Brave choice!

[@arturozeballos1]

EN EL JURADO ESTA NIKITA MAGALOFF-NADIA BOULANGER Y INGRID HAEBLER???

[@balladhe]

Si :)

[@Johannes_Brahms65]

Raimond Leppard too

[@sofijavukic9126]

Can somebody please tell me what's the very first concerto heard in the video?

[@balladhe]

finale of Rachmaninov 3rd concerto!

[@brittopiano]

Linda Bustani

[@Alex_Gordon]

so beautiful

[@luizantoniosilva8980]

Maravilha,

[@QuantumVoid]

Artistry won over virtuosity. But competition was fierce!

[@avocatdenis]

Well, not necessarily. The Chopin No. 1 is very much a virtuoso piece - certainly not as demanding as the Rach No. 3, but a showpiece nonetheless. Perahia did an absolutely outstanding job of it. From a technical and aesthetic (performance practice) perspective, he outclassed the other pianists.

[@Johannes_Brahms65]

They play so loud! Except for Murray Perahia and Mitsuko Uchida of course. Uchida is my favorite pianist, and she didn't pass! But she made a hell of carrier. That's what authenticity does, thank God!

[@TomTom53421]

She got 2nd prize in 1975

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Beethoven wanted louder instruments piano fortes! And concert Halls were small Beethoven's time!

[@TJFNYC212]

Competitions have not changed much... the same old war horses.... THE RACHMANINOV 3rd....

[@da__lang]

Hard to believe that Mitsuko Uchida didn't make the finals.

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Uchida was 10th place Queen Elisabeth competition! Uchida was Second both Chopin competition 1970 and Leeds 1975!

[@sanjosemike3137]

Such WONDERFUL artists. It's a shame that the classical music world CANNOT support these people and that most will end up doing something other than music. If I were "counseling" young virtuosi, I would advise him/her to get a degree in IT along with their "competition." They will be better off for it in every way. Sanjosemike (no longer in CA)

[@DJStefandeJong]

They either become a concert pianist through various means, such as wining a competition or become a teacher in music or sometimes do something else entirely. Yes it is always good to spread your chances but doing both at the same time (study IT and music) is very hard, studying music requires tremendous dedication.

[@NothingFunnyAboutTheseCarpets]

09:50 amazing 7/8 lol

[@avocatdenis]

The Russians were too afraid to show up.

[@Johannes_Brahms65]

Maybe they didn't care. After all could have sent a whole army of pianists. They had Jury Egorof, Grigori Sokolov, and many others that did't play socialistic enough and were forced to play in villages in Siberia (like Anatol Ugorski).

[@Alex_Gordon]

I don't think the russians were afraid...plenty of talent from that part of the world, there might have been political reasons for them not to participate

[@Mike1614YT]

hmm

[@anibournoutian7033]

Since there were no Russians, the Americans finally had a chance

[@theshitheads9419]

Ani Bournoutian murray is better then any russian

[@mcrettable]

wrong haha.

[@cecik5578]

Such a silly comment. While the Russians had a good showing early on in the Leeds history, if you will notice, only TWO Russians have placed since 1972.

[@pauljackson1029]

Some great playing but some appalling fashion statements

[@sanfordpress8943]

Dude it was 1972. Who cares

[@pauljackson1029]

@@sanfordpress8943 not you obviously, but maybe you don't get British humour

[@sanfordpress8943]

@@pauljackson1029 it's all humorous dude