An Englishman conquers the Piano Competition

Julian Trevelyan was one of five finalists, selected from almost 200 contenders, in the Long-Thibaud-CrespinPiano Competition, held in Paris every three years.  Facing him were Japanese, Korean and Russian pianists. 

At one time, classical English musicians dominated the European stage.  Perhaps the first true superstar was John Dowland.  Dowland was the ultimate singer/songwriter/lead guitarist at the time that the lute was the preferred instrument.  Dowland and his contemporaries like William Byrd were simply the greatest composers in Europe.  The Reformation also encouraged private learning of music, and developed the need for printed music.  Writing for keyboards made it easier to play virtuoso music, and Britain in the 17^th Century was a major centre for such music.

Recently, there have been few British piano victors in piano competitions: John Lill and John Ogden and more recently Barry Douglas won the Tchaikovksy, Peter Donohoe took second place and Freddy Kempf came third; Tom Poster won a prize at the 2009 Honens.  And that is it.

The lack of competition winners in British concert pianists increases the difficulties for future performers.  There are few teachers with experience of winning competitions or of living as concert pianists, most perhaps wisely preferring the lower stress of a job as an orchestra conductor or teacher; and there are few British judges with the experience to be selected for the juries that decide who wins; unfortunately, this is a major factor in making champions.

It is worth looking at Britain’s newest competitive success to see what has made a winner.  Julian is home schooled, which should give him an advantage in terms of time, and both his parents are musical, but he squanders as much time as any teenager, studying geology, playing the violin, singing and composing, and playing sport.  He is supported by grants.  He has reached his level of performance by regularly participating in musical activities, in his local Cathedral, St Albans, where he is a chorister, at musical summer camps, and with chamber orchestras.  But perhaps his defining characteristic, or characteristics, is the eagerness with which he competes, and his eagerness to collect feedback.

Julian’s success in the Long Piano Competition is not a surprise to those who know him.  He is well-supported by his family and by other home-schooled pupils, as well as by a musical network that includes the Aldeburgh Young Musicians and the Britten Sinfonia Academy.  Last year, he was a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition.  This year, before arriving at the Long, he had already won two prizes in international competitions.  He won the Grand Prix as well as the special Ravel prize in the Concours-Festival Répertoire Pianistique Moderne (CFRPM or Contemporary Piano Music Festival Competition) in Paris; and he took 2^nd place in the Île-de-France International PianoCompetition in Maisons-Laffitte, along with the prize for interpretation. 

Marguérite Long was MauriceRavel’s favourite pianist, and Julian’s proven expertise in the CFRPM in playing Ravel was sure to attract attention in the piano competition which she founded.  In the eliminatory round of the competition, he chose a Beethoven sonata, and Ravel’s Scarbo from the obligatory list.  Julian used the hall’s acoustics well in his semi-final interpretation of Shostakovich’s 1^st Piano Sonata to blast his way into the finals, shocking the public and the judges with his ferocity and poetry. 

Nothing gives the young Trevelyan away better than his attack on the N^o 8 Sonata, written by Mozart, another child prodigy and gifted musician.  Immediate and total ownership of the piece, and domination of the piano, is coloured by a depth of feeling, of humour, of fun that can only create an image of the composer in any spectator’s mind.  Colour is a word Julian often uses: the colour he can produce from his playing or from the piece, or from the piano.  He stretches the gamut of the competition grand to every extreme, and never more than when he is furthest from the keys.

If the piano is a concert grand, Julian’s playing style is upright, constantly shifting his position left and right, forwards and backwards, to attack with greater force, or more intimacy, or elegance as required.  Sometimes he leads with his left foot, and sometimes with both feet square, but rarely with his right foot, preferring to let his hands dictate the power of this most awesome weapon.

Julian followed the Mozart with the Frank Martin Preludes and Chopin’s No 4 Scherzo, both beautifully played.  He then had 24 hours to prepare for the final concert, for which the jury had asked him to play Bartok’s 3^rd Piano Concerto.  He gave another brilliant concert, winning the special concert prize awarded by the Prince of Monaco.  His enthusiasm for this piece was visible, his interaction with the orchestra was constant, mostly looking at them rather than the piano, and at the end he made to shake hands with them before bowing to the audience.

Julian Trevelyan is still only 16 years old, the youngest finalist ever, the youngest competitor by three years, and the youngest finalist by ten years.  So he qualified for England’s Young Pianist of the North competition and won that as well to bring the year’s tally to seven prizes in four competitions in a single year.

The next major piano competitions will be in 2018 (Leeds), 2019 (Tchaikovsky), 2020 (Chopin).  The British press and the British public should make the effort to get to know this remarkable young man, to listen and preferably to see him play.