Van Cliburn is numbed by lack of buzz

The competition has reached its semi-final stage without controversy. Three contestants pulled out and a fourth, Magdalene Ho, was dubiously eliminated after a first round performance in which she showed more character than all the rest put together. One non-judging pianist, Anna Geniushene, summarised: ‘She has something that maybe 0.1% of pianists have: real spontaneity, and that rare “silent intensity” that doesn’t impose itself — it simply exists.’

See for yourselves:

Meanwhile, here are the last 12 standing:

Piotr Alexewicz, Poland, 25
Jonas Aumiller, Germany, 26
Yangrui Cai 蔡阳睿, China, 24
Elia Cecino, Italy, 23
Yanjun Chen 陈艳君, China, 23
Carter Johnson, Canada/United States, 28
Philipp Lynov Филипп Лынов, Russia, 26
Evren Ozel, United States, 26
Chaeyoung Park 박채영, South Korea, 27
Aristo Sham 沈靖韜, Hong Kong China, 29
Vitaly Starikov Виталий Стариков, Israel/Russia, 30
Angel Stanislav Wang, United States, 22

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