[데일리한국 민병무 기자] Most of the world’s top pianists prefer the ‘Steinway’ piano. But there are those who don’t. Mikhail Pletnev, a Russian pianist and conductor, is a prime example. He stopped playing the piano for regarding six years starting in 2006 and devoted himself to conducting. The reason was that “I don’t like the sound quality of modern pianos.” It was the ‘Shigeru Kawai’ piano from Kawai of Japan that made the master once more sit on the piano chair. Pletnev liked Shigeru Kawai’s dynamically steerable volume.
All six finalists in the piano section of the recently finished ‘8th Sendai International Music Concours’ used the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX full concert grand piano and became a hot topic. The Sendai Competition, held every three years in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, is held in the piano and violin categories and is considered one of the world’s largest competitions.
It is a music competition established in 2001 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Sendai City, emphasizing the importance of concertos. Because of this, participants must perform the concerto with the orchestra in both the semi-finals and finals. Seonwoo Ye-kwon, winner of the 2017 Class Cliburn, made a name for himself by winning this competition in 2013.
In the piano section of this competition, held from June 11 to 26, six finalists performed two piano concertos in concert with the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra. played on a grand piano. Among them, the top three winners were selected by Shigeru Kawai SK-EX in each round.
The SK-EX concert grand piano, unveiled in 2001 as the flagship instrument of the Shigeru Kawai line, undergoes a unique ‘prototyping’ manufacturing process and is produced by a limited number of hands. To achieve the highest expressive range demanded of a concert piano, we use a variety of carefully selected materials in conjunction with our premium aged spruce soundboard.
Shigeru Kawai adopts advanced Millennium III keyboard action featuring extended wooden keys and high-grade ABS carbon action parts, providing superior responsiveness than traditional wooden action parts. This allows the pianist to perform and express a wider range of emotions.
Since the first hosting of the Sendai International Music Competition in 2001, Kawai has been providing instruments officially selected by the competition.
In the 2nd competition held in 2003, 4 out of 6 finalists selected Kawai, and both the 3rd place winners of the 4th contest held in 2010 and the 2nd place winners of the 6th contest held in 2016 were Shigeru Kawai SK- Played with EX.
All Kawai pianos, including Shigeru Kawai, are officially imported from Cosmos Instruments. If you are curious regarding the special sound and touch of a Kawai piano, you can try it by visiting the Kawai store on the 1st floor of Cosmos Musical Instruments in Seocho-dong.
