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Hummel Competition takes place despite lockdown

10th Edition in Bratislava

The winner of the 10th Johann Nepomuk Hummel International Piano Competition is Robert Bily (24, Czech Republic), to whom the jury also awarded the Prize for the best interpretation of the Johann Nepomuk Hummel Piano Trio. Second place went to Sunah KIM from South Korea and Leo de María from Spain.   The competition has taken place under extremely difficult conditions. Even though the first round (30 competitors) had been online, 14 pianists were still invited to Bratislava. Initially planned with full audience, the competition had to take place in empty halls. The neighboring country, Austria, had already announced a lockdown, but after the second round, Slovakia followed suit and shut down businesses, restaurants and of course theatres and concert halls. Still, the Hummel competition finals could take place even with the full Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, which performed three Beethoven Concertos (all of them No. 4) with the finalists.


 

jury and winners of the 2021 Hummel Competition

Robert Bily, Sunah Kim and Leo de María

They competed as piano virtuosi, but each of them went their own way as a composer: Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1937). Born in Bratislava, Hummel was more commercially successful and often supported Beethoven financially. At Beethoven’s request, after his death in 1827, Hummel improvised on the famous themes of Beethoven’s compositions as part of a concert in his honor. Hummel spent the last period of his life (since 1819) as a famous man in Weimar, where he is buried. He worked here as the bandmaster of the Grand Duchy Orchestra and toured across Europe. He became the most sought-after and most expensive piano teacher in Europe at the time and, together with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a kind of attraction of Weimar; everyone who visited Weimar had to see Goethe and hear Hummel play the piano.

Just as Beethoven had a major influence on the formation of European music, Hummel had a major influence on shaping the ideal of piano playing in the 19th century, and so it seems natural to  hold an international piano competition in his hometown Bratislava. 
As the only music competition in Slovakia even today, the Johann Nepomuk Hummel International Piano Competition has been held since 1991. It was initiated by the leading Slovak pianist Marian Lapšanský.

 

1st Prize: Robert Bily (24, Czech Republic)

2nd Prize: Sunah Kim (21, South Korea) and Leo de María (25, Spain)- ex aequo

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
Rastislav Stur, Conductor

Jury: Pavel Gililov (Chair), Eugen Indjic, Ivo Kahanek, Marian Lapsansky, Maecel Stefko, Peter Pazicky, Torleif Torgersen

©WFIMC ©Slovenska Filharmonia