It's over, and the Swiss have taken the title.
Cedric Pescia, 26, Switzerland, took home the top award at the 13th Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, which concluded Saturday evening at Abravanel Hall.
Pescia was the last of six finalists to perform in the exciting two-night final round of the world-renowned piano competition.
When the last three finalist finished performing Saturday with the Utah Symphony under assistant conductor Kory Katseanes, the 10 judges had their hands full as they left to deliberate the fate of the six young musicians.
Nelita True, the jury chairwoman, announced the rankings of the six finalists after a 45-minute break.
First place went to Pescia; second place went to Vassily Primakov, 22, Russia; third place was awarded to Lev Vinocour, 31, Russia; fourth place was taken by Nicolas Stavy, 27, France; Hea Jung-Cho, 21, South Korea, took fifth; and sixth place was given to Albert Mamriev, 27, of Israel.
Interestingly, the three top winners were those who performed Saturday night. The other three performed Friday.
Pescia won $30,000, a chance to record a CD and a performance with the Utah Symphony in the spring of 2003.
Primakov was awarded $15,000 and a CD recording opportunity and will also perform with the symphony at a future date.
Vinocour took home $10,000 and a CD recording opportunity while Stavy, who also won a chance to record his own CD, left the competition with $8,000.
Both Jung-Cho and Mamriev, who were awarded $6,000 and $4,000, respectively, will also get a chance to record their own CDs.
Pescia performed an excellent interpretation of Mozart's concerto No. 9 in E flat major K 271. His performance was clean, crisply executed and technically astute. He played with feeling, capturing the essence of the music with his thoughtful, intelligent playing.
Primakov's impressive performance of Tchaikovsky's B flat minor concerto was dramatic, vivid, intense and, above all, musical.
Primakov brought out the lyricism of the work in spite of the immense technical demands of the piece.
Beethoven's concerto No. 5, "The Emperor," suited Vinocour's serious personality. He played the work with authority, conviction and passion and brought out Beethoven's trademark romantic sensibilities.
Gene Pack, the newly retired arts reporter from KUER 90.1 FM, served as emcee for the competition.
Despite the financial difficulties that have plagued this year's competition, as reported earlier in the Deseret News, William Gibbs, a member of the Bachauer board of trustees, said the organization is planning to continue the competition next year.
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com