It was expected there would be more than one winner in this year's Murray Dranoff Two-Piano Competition, which concluded here last Sunday. But four?
That was the judges' decision, however, as they awarded a combination of the competition's $10,000 first prize and $5,000 second prize to two Russian teams, Maxim and Irina Jeleznov from Moscow and Valentina Lisitsa and Alexei Kuznetsoff from Kiev.Characterizing the playing of both duos as "strong, brilliant and powerful," jury chairman Harold C. Schonberg explained, "No kind of sophistry could put one pianist ahead of another. The only thing to do is share first prize."
Third prize in this, the Florida-based competition's third year, went to the American team of Kathryn Lewis and Martin Perry, from Washington, D.C., and Maine respectively. In addition the Jeleznov duo was awarded the prize for the the best performance of the contest's commissioned piece, "Recuerdos" by William Bolcom.