Korean brothers share award in Chopin piano competition

Lim Dong-min and Lim Dong-hyek(front)

Twelve young virtuoso pianists competed in the final of the competition, which was held from Oct. 18-21, and the Korean brothers were named next to Polish Rafal Blechacz, the first place-winner (second-place winner was not selected). Held every five years in Warsaw, Poland, the competition had never seen Korean awardees before.

"I didn't expect to come first, but I can't understand why there's no second-place winner," Dong-hyek told Yonhap News Agency on Saturday right after the final. "I'm not very happy about what I've done, but the result would have been just the same if I did a better job," Dong-min said.

The brothers seem to share much more than their last name, but in terms of performing style, they are somewhat contrasting with each other.

"Dong-hyek is more of a technician while Dong-min seems to have a deeper insight into music he plays," Lee Dae-wuk, pianist and the artistic director of Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra, said.

"We don't enjoy listening to each other practice or play. He is always trying to detect my mistakes," the younger brother once said in an interview.

Although he used to say that he prefers concerts to competition out of fear of failure, Dong-min takes both in stride.

He came first in the International Chopin Competition of Young Pianists in September 1996, beating his biggest rival and companion, Dong-hyek, who was awarded the second prize. Last year, he became the first Korean to win a prize in the Prague Spring International Music Competition, as he was placed second among five awardees.

Dong-hyek created a stir in the international classical music scene by refusing to accept the third prize in the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels in 2003, saying that his performance had been demonstrably better than that of the second-place winner.

Whether he meant it or not, the fuss in the competition promoted his name in Europe, and eventually led him to a successful United Kingdom debut at the Wigmore Hall, London, in the following year where he received four curtain calls.

Martha Argerich, the Argentinean "empress of piano," once extolled him: "He never stumbles at all but let me have listened to his playing through the end. His playing is, with particular stream, sophisticated and identified with his personal character."

In 2001, he became the youngest classical musician to get a contract with EMI, one of the biggest and best-known classical labels in the world. Both his first and second album won the honorable Golden Diapason of the Year (Diapason d'or) awards in France.

The fourth prize of this year's Chopin competition went to Japanese Shohei Sekimoto and Takashi Yamamoto, while Chinese Ka Ling Colleen Lee was ranked sixth. Eight of the 12 finalists are Asians, which also drew worldwide media attention.

In the 2000 Chopin competition, Chinese pianist Yundi Li, who was then 18, became the youngest first-place winner. The competition didn't have a first-place winner in 1990 and 1995.

The competition will be officially concluded on Oct. 22 to 24, with all the winners performing once again.

<By Lee Yong-sung, The Korea Herald>