In Friday’s (6/3) Gazette (Montreal), Wah Keung Chan writes, “Italian pianist Beatrice Rana is the 2011 winner of the Montreal International Musical Competition, this year dedicated to piano. Rana, 18, translated an exacting and transcendent performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 on Tuesday night, beating out five other finalists to take home the $30,000 first prize. Although her performance of the inner movements could have used more rubato, Rana’s lead seemed to be quite obvious, as her performance stood out against the others. According to French judge Jean-Philippe Collard, Rana was his and most of the other jury members’ top candidate from the moment she played her first note in the first round. ‘She has an innate musicality and she brought us to tears,’ said Collard, who underscored the competition’s priority of musicianship over technical prowess. … The Montreal competition was Rana’s first at the international level. … Second and third places went to Americans Lindsay Garritson and Henry Kramer, respectively.
Posted June 3, 2011
