This year’s jury of the Honens International Piano Competition has made an interesting choice of finalists. “Interesting” being an unflattering epithet. Carter Johnson—one of the favourites to win the Gold Laureate—is a fair and expected choice given the mastery and maturity he has shown in all stages. Yet the selection of both Élisabeth Pion and Anastasia Vorotnaya comes as a surprise to most. Here’s a finer look at the reasons why.
Sandro Nebieridze at semifinal I
If you read my previous reviews, you will know that I ranked two semi-finalists above everyone else: Sandro Nebieridze and Chaeyoung Park. Nebieridze had shown more personality than almost the entire group of semi-finalists. After hearing over a dozen Variations on a Theme by Corelli, I can attest to the originality of his interpretation. Park demonstrated the most maturity and mastery over a far larger repertoire than anyone else at the competition. Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Messiaen, Chin and Sokolović—she played it all with exemplary gravitas. Together, these two performers overwhelmed the competition by their distinctive stage presence, intense focus, suspense, original ideas, and depth of repertoire.
Anastasia Vorotnaya at semifinal I
My readers will also note that both Pion and Vorotnaya played a mostly romantic and post-romantic repertoire with the few excursions in the 20th century being flops, rather than hits. While delivering an impeccable and poetic performance of Chopin’s Etudes op.25, Pion’s Miroirs was simply not up to par given the standard set at today’s competitions. As an example, Philip Lynov’s Miroirs at the Cliburn was nothing short of mercurial. Cecino’s Alborada and La vallée des cloches (from the same opus) outshone any other Ravel played at this year’s Honens with his daring timing, ear for colours, and imagination. In comparison, Pion’s sounded more like a run through.
For her part, Vorotnaya’s solo performances tend to follow two main modes: beautiful, song-like playing of slow melodies and merciless banging in forte passages. Her repertoire fundamentally turned around those two attributes.
Élisabeth Pion with Rachel Mercer at semifinal II
Yet, both ladies flourished in the chamber music setting. Pion was the first contestant to show a truly natural collaborative presence with Rachel Mercer—a touch even more charming than Johnson’s. Vorotnaya dazzled in the single most complete chamber music performance of the competition. Was that the distinguishing factor that convinced the jury?
Addressing the packed crowd at the Jack Singer Concert Hall at the Werklund Centre in downtown Calgary, Artistic Director Jon Kimura Parker emphasized the importance of the Finals I—Piano Quintet round, given that “chamber music is at the heart of the complete artist.” This sentence provided a hint into the jury’s decision-making process in “choosing the complete artist.” All things being equal, chamber music performances weighed more than solo.
Chaeyoung Park at semifinal I
To be fair, Johnson, Pion and Vorotnaya distinguished themselves in the chamber music context. Unfortunately, Park did not. As I noted earlier, her chamber music was excellent, but much more standard than her solo. Instead of growing, she stagnated in that context: playing with Mercer more as a requirement of the competition than a joyous opportunity for music making. As unfortunate as this may be, given her stellar solo performance, her elimination makes sense if you look at it from that perspective—and that perspective only.
Yet, the real question remains: why has Nebieridze not made it to the finals? His Prokofiev cello and piano sonata was exemplary in terms of his listening abilities, ideas, expressivity—sounding even more natural than Carter’s excellent version. To put it simply, it was “his” language.
In Nebieridze’s case, his strongest asset may point to the reason for his elimination: his “wild” personality. For all their qualities, Carter, Pion, and Vorotnaya blend in. As a listener, your ego isn’t threatened by the inability to frame them, their unconventional ideas, or their distinctive stage presence. In Nebieridze’s case, we are looking at someone approaching Ivo Pogorelich levels of originality. We all know his fate: jury member, Martha Argerich, walked out in protest at Pogorelich’s elimination at the 1980 Chopin Competition. Perhaps we needed an Argerich in this jury to stay the ground in favour of the young Georgian.
Elia Cecino at semifinal I
Elia Cecino would have been a deserved finalist too, for he excelled in all settings equally well as Pion. Yet, for Cecino, everything ran smoothly—no hiccups, no drama. In Pion’s case, the page turn flop that may have ruined her Rachmaninov cello sonata, may just have been the catastrophe that gave her the edge. By proving that she can manage a crisis, she showed her professionalism in an unfortunate situation. Perhaps the jury found this charming—giving them a reason to protect her from stricter scrutiny.
Be that as it may, the jury has made a carefully calculated decision that has removed some of the potential drama and excitement that we would have had the pleasure to witness had the gutsier and more competitive candidates been chosen. Johnson would have had his hands full competing with Nebieridze and Park. Park would have had to improve her chamber music skills to match the two boys. And Nebieridze … would just have to be himself—no less. That would have been a gladiators’ fight. As it is, we have a polite contest between three talented and tame candidates.
Carter Johnson with Rachel Mercer at semifinal II
The 2025 Honens International Piano Competition concludes tonight, Oct. 24 in Calgary.
