They say the piano battle in TEPPEN 2015 was faked...

I had no idea about this, but apparently there was a piano battle between celebrities on Fuji TV's entertainment program TEPPEN 2015. Among them, three people are currently the talk of the internet: HKT48's Madoka Moriyasu, AKB48's Sakiko Matsui, and comedian Sayuri. They were the top three, but Madoka Moriyasu was overwhelmingly ranked third, and people are saying that it might be faked.

Madoka Moriyasu is a serious player who has won the Encouragement Award at the PIARA Piano Competition (I've never heard of it before. I know about the Pitina Piano Competition). If the video image below is of her at home, her piano seems to be a Bösendorfer. (Amazing.)

On the other hand, Sakiko Matsui is a piano student at the Tokyo College of Music. She's a professional in the making. In the video, she's playing a Steinway. Is she at school? If she's at home, that would be amazing.

The last one, Sayuri, is a comedian,Osaka College of Music Junior CollegePianoThey are people who dropped out of school, and others who are/were professionally studying piano.

So, the results were Sayuri > Matsui > Moriyasu, and this was harshly criticized on the internet by Hirohiko Fukuda of "Seifuku" of "Contentless Concert" and others.¹, this is the structure.

Well, experts such as Hattori Katsuhisa have chosen the order above, while another expert, Fukuda Hirohiko, has it the other way around, so perhaps it is not my place as an amateur to say anything, but I would like to use my amateur privilege to think a little about the performance.
First, let's take a look at each performance.

Madoka Moriyasu

Matsui Sakiko

Sayuri

Now, here are my amateur comments on each one.

First of all, in terms of touch and the consistency of the sound particles, Moriyasu wins by a landslide. His fingers move well and the hard sound is somewhat Bösendorfer-esque. It feels like he would have preferred to have played on a Bösendorfer or Fazioli, or at least a Steinway, rather than a Yamaha. I think this is what made it so popular with netizens. In contrast, Matsui's is a bit inconsistent, and Sayuri's is even more inconsistent. Or rather, Sayuri's is too broken. Unlike many Japanese listeners, I'm of the opinion that it's fine if there are a few mistakes as long as there's music, but even so, this is just a bit too much. Her technique just doesn't keep up. From this point of view, there's no doubt that Moriyasu > Matsui > Sayuri.

But there's more to music than that. I'm sure many people thought, "Huh? The sound is different" when they started listening to Matsui after listening to Moriyasu. Even though both are Yamahas and probably tuned by the same person. Matsui's sound is fuller and deeper. And from that, the melody floats out. Why? This seems to be due to whether or not the performer is trying to properly compensate for the weakness of the piano being an equal-tempered instrument (although in most cases the performer is not conscious of this, but rather distinguishes the tone). As mentioned above, modern pianos are tuned to equal temperament. This makes the sound muddy. This muddiness is particularly noticeable when each note of a chord is played at the same volume. To reduce this disadvantage, professional performers play while changing the volume of each note and the balance of the sound output.²So, even if it's the same piano, when a true professional plays it, it produces a clear sound, and when someone who isn't a professional plays it, it produces a muddy sound. This is why Matsui's sound has more breadth and depth than Moriyasu's. Moriyasu's "tones are in tune", which makes the "muddy equal temperament" more pronounced. Similarly, Sayuri also takes care of this when playing. In other words, it seems that the education at music college is producing some results. Moriyasu has such great technique, so if he pays a little attention, I'm sure he'll improve in no time. From this perspective, Matsui > Sayuri > Moriyasu.

Next, the songs and interpretations. First, Ijinjin. Well, it's not that kind of song. It doesn't convey the loneliness that begins with "Children spread their arms toward the sky, trying to catch birds, clouds, and even dreams." In terms of age, Saki Kubota was 19 at the time, so there isn't much difference... I wonder if kids today are more childish... As for the accompaniment, the zurna...³Santoor⁴I can't hear it. I feel like if I get a terrible breakup and wander around an Arab town, I'm sure it will get better. Technically speaking, I would pay more attention to the legato of the song melody, and play the phrasing more firmly, changing the volume of each note as if I were singing (it was too piano-like). I would lower the volume of the accompaniment.

Saki Kubota herself is a foreigner: (It doesn't really matter, but she was such a beautiful woman. I only knew her from the sound of her voice... And she's from the same hometown as me, Kunitachi City.)

https://youtu.be/4njVnvBTBcs

On the other hand, the parts of Let It Go are good. The singing is good. But the song is too choppy. The arrangement is too bad. I guess it's because of the time limit, but this is not something you should do as music.

On the other hand, Cruel Angel's Thesis is not cut into pieces, so it is well put together. The introductory part (especially up to the third note) has a lot of breadth and is good. The melody that follows is also well sung, although not as well as Matsui's. The rest of the piece feels like it's just played with feeling. The ending feels a bit tacked on. Not enough strength.

So, if Sayuri is greater than Matsui, it would be a case where the song selection points carry a lot of weight. That's the only thing I can think of.

As mentioned above, "Matsui > Moriyasu" is how he handles the piano and how he composes music.

But...

If you're going to have a "contest," I think it's best to choose a proper classical piece to play. For example, something like this:

"Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major" by Nao Matsushita (another entertainer)⁵

If that happens, things like "Sayuri > Matsui" won't happen, and if Moriyasu receives proper guidance, I'm sure it will become Moriyasu > Matsui. His fingers move.

And one more request to Fuji TV. The recording is too bad. Please do something about it.

Finally, as a bonus, here is a performance by a real pianist. It's Zimmermann. He's good! A professional is different.⁶

As expected, this was a good product, so we were able to enjoy it.

1. Rocket News http://rocketnews24.com/2015/01/06/530471/
2. Furthermore, changing the volume balance actually changes the pitch slightly. If you play hard, the string vibrates all the way to the end, making the pitch lower, and if you play lightly, the pitch higher.
3. An Arab double reed instrument.
4. An Arab percussion instrument, which traveled west along the Silk Road to become the Hungarian cimbalom, the German hackblet, and the British hammered dulcimer, and traveled east to become the Chinese yangqin.
5. Well, if it's the three above plus Matsushita Nao, I think Matsushita Nao is the best.
6. If you listen at the same volume, you might think the opening sound is quiet, but that's because the dynamic range is wide, the pianissimo is very quiet, and the fortissimo is very loud. The dynamic range is wide, each note is filled with nuance, and the phrasing is wonderful. This is how music should be. By the way, this performance was carefully selected by the author from among the performances of Horowitz, Kissin, and others that were uploaded to YouTube. I've been listening to Horowitz for a long time, but Zimmerman is great.