27th International Piano Competition “Mauro Paolo Monopoli Prize”
First prize to the Australian pianist Caitlan Rinaldy, second to the Chinese Mu Wanqiao and third to the Indonesian pianist Calvin Abdiel
Barletta 8 May 2024 – First Prize to the Australian pianist Caitlan Rinaldy for this 27th edition of the International Piano Performance Competition “Premio Mauro Paolo Monopoli”, to her is the Nuovo IMAIE Prize of 10,000.00 Euros, yet another recognition for the work done over the years Culture and Music G. Curci – ETS, which will allow her to carry out a concert tour throughout Italy. There was a lot of anticipation, this year too, for this important edition of the “Premio Mauro Paolo Monopoli” International Piano Performance Competition, the 27th, organized by Cultura e Musica G.Curci – ETS in collaboration and with the patronage of Municipality of Barletta, of the Puglia Region, of the Ministry of Culture, of Buzzi – Unicem, of the Megamark Onlus Foundation, of the Barletta Ricettiva and Hotel dei Cavalieri Association, with the Special Prizes offered by the engineer Luca Dimiccoli, which took place, as every year, in the splendid setting of the Curci theater in Barletta.
Certainly an important achievement for an International Competition, which boasts the Honorary Presidency of maestro Carlo Maria Giuliani, created to remember, with much affection, Mauro Paolo Monopoli, a high figure of an artist, of refined sensitivity, brilliant, enthusiastic and with an always cordial, who, despite suffering from an incurable leukemia, strenuously continued studying the piano until the end of his short life, winning various piano competitions and achieving enthusiastic successes in the various recitals held, thanks to an inimitable taste for sound and phrasing and to a perfect mastery of technical and expressive means.
The ICO Suoni del Sud Orchestra, masterfully directed by maestro Benedetto Montebello, was the backdrop for the three finalists of the final evening of the 27th Competition, an event which every year brings the city of Barletta into the limelight throughout the world, projecting it into a new dimension truly international.
A very high level was found by the International Jury made up of the masters Roberto Domingos (Brazil/Germany), Aki Kuroda (Japan), Marsida Koni (Albania), Mario Coppola (Italy), Herton Mikeli (Albania), Gianluca Luisi (Italy) and Francesco Monopoli (Italy), which found itself judging participants from Indonesia, Serbia, Ukraine, China, Japan, USA, Taiwan, Republic of Singapore, Russia, France, Australia, Mexico, Armenia, Great Britain and Poland, who expressed an artistic and musical sensitivity of the highest level and technical expressive quality never seen in previous years, making the Jury’s task truly difficult.
Three very young pianists competed for the stage on the final evening of May 5th: the Chinese pianist Mu Wanqiaothe Indonesian pianist Calvin Abdiel and the Australian pianist Caitlan Rinaldy, 22,23 and 21 years old winners of international music competitions of the highest level.
The Chinese pianist opened the evening Mu Wanqiao with a fresh interpretation and
technically perfect of the Concerto n. 1 in E minor Op. 11 by Chopin involving both the Jury and the audience.
Then it was the Indonesian pianist’s turn Calvin Abdieljust 23 years old, a multifaceted artist, try his hand at Beethoven’s Concerto n.4 in G Major Op. 58, a concert that immediately put the pianist at the center of the scene in a delicate conversation with the strings
always experienced intensely which made the public participate.
The Australian pianist concluded the evening Kaitlan Rinaldy, very young, just 21 years old, who re-proposed the Concerto n. 1 in E minor Op. 11 by Chopin showing off her virtuosic ability and her painstaking attention in the cantabile with an incomparable elegance in the cadence, a clear example of her very high qualities as a soloist which led her to be one of the three finalists of the evening , totally involving the public who applauded her for a long time and who wanted to pay tribute to her “Audience Award”offered by the Artistic Direction
At the end of the evening the prestigious international jury decided to award the first overall prize to the Australian pianist Kaitlan Rinaldy, Nuovo IMAIE Prize of 10,000.00 Eurosand First Prize Offered by from Buzzi Unicem – Barletta plant,
To the Chinese pianist Mu Wanqiao Second Prize was awarded, offered by Buzzi Unicem – Barletta factory, while the third prize, offered by Megamark Foundation onlus, went to the Indonesian pianist Calvin Abdiel.
The Special Prize “Young Artist Special Prize “Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli”, offered by master engineer Luca Dimiccoli, went to the Serbian pianist Vasilije Basarab and to the Ukrainian pianist Mykita Burzanitsa while the Semifinalist Awards went to Alyssa Kok, to Vito Alessio Calianno it’s at Xinchen Wang .
Also relevant this year is the collaboration of the Municipality of Barletta, the Puglia Region and the Ministry of Culture, together with the intervention of the Sponsors, who wanted to collaborate to make this event increasingly important and better, which can be defined as one of the most important competitions and a reference of absolute value in the Italian and international musical panorama.
For the awarding of the prizes to the various winners, the Deputy Mayor Giuseppe Dileo, Dr. Domenico Ingegno, representing Buzzi – Unicem, Barletta plant and Raffaele Rizzi President of the Barletta Ricettiva Association.
The public appreciated and underlined the skill of the finalists with very long applause and ovations of enthusiastic admiration both towards these young artists who, for the love of music, do not hesitate to travel all over the world and every year find themselves in Barletta, and towards of the International Jury who, in these long days of intense auditions, found themselves listening to many artists of international level and having to choose the best.
