The Competition
2021 marks the year of Géza Anda’s 100th birthday and the 15th edition of the International Piano Competition.
The schedule and essential information on the Concours Géza Anda in 2021 can be found here.
Timeline
The participants are registered and lots are drawn to determine the order in which they will play in the Audition (1st Round) and the Recital (2nd Round). The playing order that is thus determined remains identical for both rounds.
The participants admitted to the Audition (1st Round) each play for ca 25 minutes. Their programme must comprise works by Bach or Scarlatti, Mozart or Beethoven, and Chopin or Liszt taken from the “Repertoire list for the Audition (1st Round)” and specified in their online application.
When making their online application, candidates must choose for the 1st part of the Audition (1st Round) either two Scarlatti sonatas or two Bach partitas or one Scarlatti sonata and one Bach partita, all from the “Repertoire list for the Audition (1st Round)”; for the 2nd part of the Audition (1st Round), they must choose either two Mozart sonatas or two Beethoven sonatas, or one sonata each by Mozart and Beethoven; and for the 3rd part of the Audition (1st Round), candidates must choose either two Chopin etudes, two Liszt etudes, or one etude each by Chopin and Liszt, all from the “Repertoire list for the Audition (1st Round)”.
The Jury will decide on the evening before each day of the Audition (1st Round) – thus on the evening of either 26, 27 or 28 May – which of the works they would like to hear from the list submitted by the participants with their online application. The Jury will choose one Scarlatti sonata or one movement from one Bach partita, one Mozart sonata or one Beethoven sonata, and one etude by Chopin or one etude by Liszt.
During the Audition (1st Round), the Jury may interrupt or halt the performance of any work.
Works that were already played on the video recording (either in part or in full) for the online application may not be played again in the Audition (1st Round).
On the evening of 29 May 2021, on the website www.geza-anda.ch, the Jury will announce the names of those who are being admitted to the Recital (2nd Round).
The Jury will discuss the recital programme together with each participant admitted to the Recital (2nd Round). This programme must last ca 55 minutes and in principle will comprise the following parts:
a) one of three complete sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms or Bartók, taken from the “Repertoire list for the Recital (2nd Round)” and specified in their online application;
b) one or several further works (except sonatas) selected from the “Repertoire list for the Recital (2nd Round)” and specified in their online application;
c) one brief supplementary piece of the participant’s own choice, also specified in their online application (an “encore”).
Works that were already played on the video recording (either in part or in full) that was submitted with the online application may not be played again in the Recital (2nd Round).
Works that have already been played either in part or in full in the Audition (1st Round) may also not be played in the Recital (2nd Round).
The Jury will inform the participants behind closed doors as to which of them will be admitted to the Mozart Semi-Final with orchestra. This will be done by means of a letter handed over to the participants on the stage of the MKZ after the last session of the Recital (2nd Round).
The participants will play a piano concerto by Mozart that they selected from the “Repertoire list for the Mozart Semi-Final” and specified in their online application.
The participants will be accompanied by the Musikkollegium Winterthur, conducted by Stefan Blunier.
The rehearsal and performance times of the participants will be determined by the conductor, in consultation with the Chairman of the Jury.
On 3 June, the Jury will announce the results after the 2nd part of the Mozart Semi-Final, and will then present the semi-finalists with their certificate. This will be done behind closed doors.
In consultation with the finalists themselves, the Jury will decide on the individual works to be performed at the Final Concert (Final Round), as well as the order of rehearsals and of the Final Concert (Final Round) itself.
The Final Concert (Final Round) will be accompanied by the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, conducted by Gergely Madaras.
When submitting their online application, the participants will choose two piano concertos from different groups on the “Repertoire list and compulsory pieces for the Final Concert (Final Round)” (Beethoven, Bartók, Liszt).
The piano concertos by Liszt have to be combined with a further work by Liszt or Dohnányi from the “Compulsory pieces for the Final Concert (Final Round)”.
The participants must thus prepare two piano concertos by different composers for the Final Concert. If one of these works is a piano concerto by Liszt, then they must prepare three works in total.
After the Mozart Semi-Final, the Jury will decide which concertos will be played by the participants in the Final Concert.
After the deliberations of the Jury subsequent to the Final Concert, the Chairman of the Jury will announce the results of the 2021 Concours Géza Anda to the public, from the stage of the Tonhalle Maag.
The Jury is not obliged to award prizes. The decisions of the Jury are final.
Prizes
1
CHF 40’000.-
2
CHF 30’000.-
3
CHF 20’000.-
Special Prizes
LISZT-BARTÓK SPECIAL PRIZE
This prize rewards the candidates best interpretation of a work by F. Liszt or B. Bartók. It will consist of the sum of CHF 10,000 .- .
MOZART PRIZE OF THE MUSIKKOLLEGIUM WINTERTHUR
The Jury, in consultation with the Musikkollegium Winterthur, will award the Mozart Prize to the semi-finalist whom they consider to have given the best Mozart interpretation during the Mozart Round of the Concours Géza Anda 2021. The Mozart Prize, sponsored by the Musikkollegium Winterthur, consists of a concert accompanied by the orchestra and the sum of CHF 6,000.- .
GÉZA ANDA AUDIENCE PRIZE
This Prize rewards the finalist whose personal and musical character makes the greatest impression on the concert audience. Please note: in contrast to the awards made by the Jury – which bases its decision on all four Rounds of the Competition – the Audience Prize is awarded solely on the basis of the Final Concert in the Zurich Tonhalle on 5 June 2021. The Audience Prize is sponsored by Privatbank IHAG Zürich AG. It provides the winner with the chance to perform in a concert.
HORTENSE ANDA-BÜHRLE SPECIAL PRIZE
The Géza Anda Foundation will award the Hortense Anda-Bührle Special Prize to one of the young participants for a performance of outstanding artistic merit during the Competition. The Prize will consist of the sum of CHF 3,000.- .
