In sport, competition is the only way to show your talent. But in art, it is not always necessary. The only worthwhile competition is against yourself.”

    Helen Deng

    ISRAELI pianist Arie Vardi, whose proteges include Shenzhen-raised Chen Sa and Li Yundi, is in Shenzhen scouting for talent.

    The pianist is a jury member of the Second China Shenzhen International Piano Concerto Competition, which is being held from Oct. 13 to Nov. 5. In an interview last week, Vardi said he would vote for “somebody who would make me forget that I’m a judge.”

    The way a player injects their own personality into a work is more important to Vardi than technical ability. “Before casting a vote, I would ask myself: if I weren’t on the jury, would I buy a ticket to see this person?”

    Forty-five contestants, mostly from Asia, will take part.

    Competition is very important to the students’ development, because students can see the level of the rest of the world, he said. However, Vardi said he would not encourage his own students to attend competitions, because he “doesn’t want to hurt young pianists.”

    “A concert can be an entirely pleasurable experience, you play, and people love it. In a competition, most people will lose out,” he added.

    “I tell my students that if it is possible to avoid competitions but still advance your career, then do so. One of my greatest students, now a world-famous pianist, never took part in one,” he said.

    “In sport, competition is the only way to show your talent. But in art, it is not always necessary. The only worthwhile competition is against yourself,” he said.

    Having taught Li and Chen, Vardi fell in love with China and Chinese music. He has visited China more than 15 times and feels it is his “second home.”

    The pianist said piano education in Shenzhen was “as good as and may be even superior to that in the West.”

    Vardi said he felt privileged to have taught Li and Chen, who won the first and fourth prizes respectively at the 14th International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2000. He still remembers the surprise of the judges. “The Polish judges thought it a miracle that the best interpretations of Chopin’s work were not by Polish players, nor Russian, but two Chinese,” he said.

    In an interview with the Shenzhen Daily, Vardi heaped praise on China. Social phenomena such as the dedication of parents, individualism, willingness to express feelings, intelligence, manual skills, a good education system and a cultural environment, all played a role in the success of young Chinese pianists. He believes that the combination of these elements is “typical of China.”

    Vardi is looking forward to playing Chinese music, especially that of composer Wang Xiaohan. “When he writes music, I can feel China,” he said.

    Vardi will give a piano recital Nov. 8 at Shenzhen Concert Hall. The concert, according to him, is a program “never played before.”

    “It will be an unusual concert, including what we really love, instead of a combination of what we love and what we are less familiar with,” he added.

    He chose the best-known pieces in the piano repertoire, including the masterpieces of Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Brahms, Schubert, Dedussy, Chopin and Beethoven.

    He said: “I chose only the most famous and attractive pieces. I want people to ask themselves what has made this music so popular for so long.”