Re: Competition.

[Przemek Dolowy <hmoll@POCZTA.ONET.PL>]

> There are sooo many competitions, and generally they
> recur every year, and thus there are lots and lots and lots of
> winners.  Far more than the market for piano virtuosos can absorb.  And
> so even the "winners" rarely benefit.


Leaving alone the whole argument "what does it mean, a good, a better
performer" - we would agree, that statistically the better, the less
numerous they are. 100 years ago, before the recordings age, one's musical
world consisted mostly of performers found nearby - usually mediocre -  and
rare virtuoso bolids, if they were lucky. A guy like me could have never
listened to a pianist of the class of Lipatti or Richter. Now, how many
pianists does an average F-minor keep on a shelf? (huh, probably one ;-)
Anyone in any forgotten corner of the world can choose from a full spectre
of all, especially best, pianists ever recorded, as the market tends to make
the selection quite opposite to statistics, making the better more easy to
found. (and successfully trying to replace such a fuzzy thing as quality
with clear and easy-to-measure popularity - it's another story)
I know who is the last Nobel Prize Winner in literature, just by chance know
a name of someone who got one of more important Polish literature prizes,
but I've no idea who won, or even took part in a local poetry contest in my
commune.
Size of individual world has its limits. Press more from outside into it,
something has to be thrown out of focus.
By the way, I don't know, either, any Gouldian in my place - I had begun
looking for on the net and found this list. How good you are there!
Greetings,
Przemek