Patrick Gallois, the chairman of the jury for flute, said at the award ceremony that this year’s competition had a “top level that is unique worldwide”. The international habitus is part of the ARD music competition, 45 participants from 21 nations were there for the flutes – which, as in previous years, is a bit of a cheat. Quite a few have studied in German-speaking countries and are already in leading positions in German orchestras. A competitive award is more of a good resume accessory that can bring additional solo performances. All three candidates in the final round in the Herkulessaal seem pretty cool, concentrated in interaction with the large Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Joshua Weilerstein.
The two works available could not be more different: Einar Englund’s flute concerto from 1983 is a neoclassical three-movement work, while Marc-André Dalbavie’s, revised in 2006, is an entry in two alternating states: virtuoso scales through all registers are required here , in exchange for wide lines. The South Korean Yubeen Kim, who studied in Berlin until this summer and has been solo flutist in the Konzerthaus Orchestra there for six years, delivers brilliantly: in the rapid figuration he gives weight to every note, in the slow passages he shows a taste for the use of rubato and internal dynamics. The Italian Mario Bruno, still studying in Munich but already solo flutist in the Kassel State Orchestra, has a hard time making a direct comparison with the same piece.
For a happy change, Leonie Virginia Bumüller chose Einar Englund’s concert. The German has just completed her studies in Salzburg with Michael Martin Kofler, the solo flutist of the Munich Philharmonic, and is a flutist in the NDR Radio Philharmonic in Hanover. It allows large, breathing arches to flourish and also convinces with distinctive and imaginative phrasing. In the end, she wins the audience award, but only manages third place with the jury. The second goes to Mario Bruno, while Yubeen Kim emerges as the winner of the first decision of the ARD music competition and takes home the prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned composition.