Cliburn Finals 4: Starikov, Johnson, Lynov
Photos by Brandon Wade and Ralph Lauer
—Wayne Lee Gay
June 7, 2025: Thus began the final concert of the Final round of the Cliburn competition on Saturday afternoon: After the cascade of descending chords that open the first movement of Schumann's Concerto in A minor, Israeli-Russian Vitaly Starikov, 30, immediately delivered the main theme with arresting tenderness. And, throughout, he convincingly managed the combination of mood swings and arching grandeur that characterize this concerto.
In keeping with this approach, he applied a very broad rubato, often shifting tempo—subtly but noticeably—between adjacent phrases. While questionable, this is entirely defensible in light of what we know of Schumann's personality; ultimately, it worked musically, and that is the ultimate standard.
It also kept conductor Marin Alsop on her toes. While in the real world outside of a competition, the conductor is at very least an equal (if not greater than equal) partner in a concerto, inside the closed world of a competition, the soloist should have final authority. And through two succeeding Cliburn competitions, Alsop has constantly and skillfully allowed the competitor/soloist to lead the way.
Starikov continued to display an impressive array of shading and coloring throughout the three-movement concerto; in light of a momentous performance of Schumann's Symphonic Etudes earlier in the competition, he may well become known as a major interpreter of the works of that composer. Certainly in the final passages, in which Schumann ramps up the technical challenges, Starikov performed fluidly in a section that sometimes leaves soloists frantic.
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Carter Johnson, 28, from Canada, again showed a penchant for risk by programing, for his final concerto, Ravel's Concerto for Left Hand, a work never performed—well, almost never, as of now—at competitions. After a dark, ambivalent orchestral introduction, the piano makes a dramatic entrance equal to that of Carmen or Turandot in the opera world.
Johnson pulled it all off magnificently: the technical proficiency and volume range of his left hand alone, as well as the constantly imaginative and engaging interpretation, made this listener want and hope to hear more from this pianist.
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Russian Pilipp Lynov, 26, achieved one of the finest performances of the concerto round with Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2. Beautiful, varied tone and a fine balance and integration with the Fort Worth Symphony characterized the opening moments, leading to a fascinating mosaic of piano and orchestra in the exposition section. Besides incredible finger technique and arm weight, the cadenza showed off wonderful pedal skills and the ability to create intriguing sonorities.
Lynov tossed off the madcap perpetual motion of the second movement, and continued to display stamina in the more varied textures of the third movement. All of this came together in the fourth and final movement: brilliant and loud, but never pounded.
