JAVS Summer 2000

45

FROM THE IVS PRESIDENCY

by David Dalton

viola, April 14-20, and also as chair of the Vieux jury, was Marc-Olivier Dupin, an affa ble and obviously able executive whose impressive English, by the way, complete with American idioms, is apparently honed by reg ular reading of the International Herald Tribune. Joining Dupin on the jury were Gerard Causse, France; Michael Levinas, France; Jesse Levine, USA; Bruno Pasquier, France; Thomas Riebl, Austria; and Tabea Zimmermann, Germany, the first Vieux com petition winner in 1983. She provided an ele gant touch on stage at the announcements after the final round, held in the Salle des con certs of the Cite de la musique. The five final ists were joined by the Conservatoire orches tra, ably conducted by David Shallon, music director of the Jerusalem Symphony. The choice of each contestant was Penderecki or Walton, three choosing the latter. Of particular interest to American and Canadian Viola Society members would have been the performance of the Walton by Lawrence Power, the Primrose winner at the Guelph Congress in 1999. Power, from England, placed third, despite what to this hearer counted as the most persuasive showing of a public performance with orchestra. However, one needs to be reminded that the judges had heard the finalists not only in the concerto, but with various repertoire in the preliminaries during the week. Power was awarded 20,000FF, about US$3,000. A tie for first place resulted in no second prize being awarded. Antoine Tamestit, France, a student of Jesse Levine at Yale University, received 70,000FF ($11,000), as well as 20,000FF for the best interpretation of the commissioned piece. Tamestit also won the audience prize. Sitting next to Antoine's grandmere and in a sea, it seemed, of his relatives, I can attest to the almost unrestrained enthusiasm this announcement evoked on behalf of this deserving young man. Sharing first place hon ors was Aroa Sorin, a Rumanian living in

RENCONTRES INTERNATIONALES DE L'ALTO AND THE CONCOURS MAURICE VIEUX

The Pare de la Villette, constructed m 1987, stands on the site of the old Halles, the "broad shoulders" of Paris. In this place, on the southeastern edge of the city, butchers and boatmen once ruled the docks and slaughter houses, dispatching as many as 1300 head of cattle daily. Gradually, refrigeration allowed the slaughtering to take place on the farms and away from Paris. The beefwas then trans ported directly to the local charcuterie, cut ting out the middleman. In 1974 the parade of animals ceased and the old Halles was shut down. Today, on the southern end of the vast park, stands a monument to its former "gory," the Grands Halles, or cattle market. This large, and mostly metal, rectangle has been transformed into a multi-purpose cultural facility for concerts and exhibitions. Flanking the Grandes Halles are two pre dominantly white and gray, modern, and rather austere complexes, a bit reminiscent of the prevailing style of the Charles deGaulle airport: The Cite de la musique and the Conservatoire de Paris. These form an axis with the Cite des sciences, farther to the north, two understandable sources of Parisian pride. One wonders if the fifty-four contestants of the Concours Maurice Vieux had similar feelings to their predecessors on the site, like being herded through various stages of review under the careful scrutiny of bidders at an auction. Or was it the seven judges, who, after sitting for six days and being subjected to repeated performances of Clarke, Brahms, Hindemith, Honegger, Schubert, and the commissioned piece by Michael Levinas however well played-felt they were the ones being herded or put on the block? If so, there was never a complaining word, at least that came to the ear of this observer. Presiding over the events of the entire week dedicated to the