Competition Rules – Violin 2023
1. Competition structure
a.) Video preselection
b.) Preliminaries
c.) Semi-final
d.) Final
The video preselection is not public, all live rounds are open to the public.
The repertoire of the rounds is available on the competition website
2. Performance
Video preselection:
Only high quality and recent video recordings (taken on or after 1 January 2023) are accepted. Audio recordings are not acceptable. The recording should show the applicant and his/her accompaniment (pianist) and each piece should be recorded in a single take (no editing permitted). The Bach piece presented on this recording may be included in the programme of the live competition.
Preliminary and Semi-final rounds:
The competitors perform their whole programme according to their choice from the repertoire list. The approximate performance time in the Preliminary is 20 minutes, in the Semi Final 40 minutes. The Preliminaries and Semi-final is to be performed with piano accompaniment - the solo pieces without, of course. The competitors are allowed to play with their own pianists, but the Bartók World Competition provides highly ranked pianists to accompany competitors. Each competitor will have the same amount of time to rehearse on stage and in practice rooms before the rounds.
Final:
The competitors perform a violin concerto with orchestra, chosen from the repertoire list. The time length of the performance depends on the given piece. No encore is allowed. The concertos are to be played from memory.
Each competitor will have the same amount of time to rehearse on stage with an orchestra on the day before the Final.
3. Order of competitors
The order of the competitors is decided by drawing of lots at the opening ceremony of the competition carried out in front of the assembled competitors and members of the jury.
The youngest participant in the competition draws a number, the holder of which will appear before the jury first. He/she is then followed by the other competitors in alphabetical order until the final competitor’s name in the alphabet, after which the order starts from the beginning of the alphabet and goes on until everyone has performed. This order of appearance remains valid for all other rounds.
If a competitor arrives late for reasons outside his/her control (e.g. flight schedule problems), the competition’s organisers may allow the person to appear in the Preliminary at a specially allocated time. In consecutive rounds, he/she should perform in the order given by the drawing of lots. If, in other rounds, any competitor is unable to appear before the jury at the time defined by the draw, his/her absence may be certified by the official doctor of Liszt Academy, or in the case of an obstacle of different nature, by the relevant official body. In this case the jury may allow the competitor to perform at a different time.
4. Judging
Members of the jury put their opinions in writing on scorecards, which are handed in to the competition secretary at the end of each round. A jury member is excluded from judging competitor(s) with whom he/she is in a master-student relationship. All jury members shall notify the secretary of the jury of such relations, so that she/he can consider this when counting the votes.
In the Preliminary, members of the jury vote either Yes or No. Competitors receiving the most “yes” votes qualify to the Semi-final. Max. 12 competitors can be selected for the semi-final.
In the Semi-final (and also in the Final) jury members award points on a scale of 1 to 10. The competitors getting the highest points will get to the Final. Maximum 6 competitors can be selected for the Final. In case of dispute, the decision of the chairperson of the jury shall prevail.
The competition secretary notes the scores of members of the jury and prepares a chart containing both the individual scores and the total number of points from jury members at the beginning of the evaluation discussion.
After the jury’s evaluation the list of names of the competitors proceeding to the next round is published in alphabetical order by the competition secretariat. Individual scores remain strictly confidential.
5. Prizes
The jury awards third, second and first prizes. The jury can decide not to award each and every prize.
The special awards are decided by the offering organizations.