COMPETITIONS, particularly those involving juries, tend to be contentious affairs. There are few things humankind appears to display a more innate flair for than darkly muttering We wuz robbed, or the succinctly unambiguous, `Kill the Ref.'
Some people can't even agree over the outcome of the local dog show. Unless the result is decided by the incontestable first past the post principle favoured by athletics or horse racing, jury results create public protest.
Any citizen given to watching international figure skating and gymnastics will know the frustration of dealing with professional experts who somehow never know as much as the rest of us.
As John O'Conor's important and necessary Guardian Dublin International Piano Competition drew to a close with Corrado Rollero's magnificent performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No 2, there seemed little doubt as to who would be the winner. It was a performance which was both elevating and moving.
Rollero (27), a gentle, self contained Italian from Genoa, had impressed throughout with the quiet passion and maturity of his playing. He collected five prizes, including the Schubert Prize for his performance of the Schubert Sonata in B Flat, and the Brahms Prize. Yet he didn't win, he came second.
Unlikely Venue
True, the National Concert Hall on a gala occasion, its stage flanked by the flags of the represented countries, is not a likely venue for riot. Many of the disgruntled observers were wearing formal dress, attire hardly conducive to clambering over seats and storming the stage.
The easy conversations usually overheard at the interval during a Concert Hall evening had a welcome sharp edge last week: Rollero "wuz robbed."
Competitions may be invidious and brutal, but they are also exciting. The politely tense discussions buzzing around the foyer reflected that knowledgeable classical music devotees and interested, non specialists alike were airing their views.
The individual performances as well as the choice of music engaged even the most analytical of listeners.
The distinguished international jury, it must be conceded had had a difficult task - sifting through excellence. Reducing an original field of 54 competitors down to a final six is not easy. Selecting a winner is even more difficult.
How about impossible? Except that Rollero is a remarkable musician. Possibly not the face to launch a thousand CD covers, but his performance of what is a definitive musician's concerto will live long in the memory of those privileged to hear it.
Return Recital
This was the fourth Dublin International Piano Competition, the first to be sponsored by Guardian Insurance Company. Max Levison (25), an affable Harvard educated American, the first non European to win, follows Philippe Cassard (France), Pavel Neressian (Russia) and Davide Franceschetti (Italy).
In terms of the future of the prize, it is important for it to be seen beyond Europe. Levinson's win will establish it in the US.
And at least there is some compensation to be had for the many, many supporters of Corrado Rollero, the winner who came second, that by having won the Guardian Prize and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland prize, he will be returning to Ireland to give a recital at the National Concert Hall and also to perform with the NSOI.
This event, which costs about £1 million and depends on sponsorship, brings international talent to Dublin, looks very professional, is well organised and is all the more impressive considering it is organised and sustained by a generous volunteer force.
Ida Delamer arranges the host families who agree to take a competitor on the understanding that each is a potential winner and may be staying for more than two weeks.
Annette Andrews seeks out people willing to donate their pianos for rehearsal use. Pat O'Malley coordinates a team of drivers - all volunteers.
Selecting Instruments
Away from the glamour of the final sessions at the National Concert Hall were the two days spent at the RDS library before the competition began, when Marie Foley and Bernardine Hurley supervised the newly arrived competitors selecting their preferred instrument: Kawai or Steinway.
By the second night of the finals, those gathered at the Concert Hall had made up their minds about the first three finalists. The consensus appeared to be on the side of the Swiss competitor Adrian Oetiker, who had won new admirers on the strength of his performance of Brahms's First Piano Concerto, a quality account which seemed to take even Oetiker by surprise. Levinson's Rachmaninov had left mixed feelings, as had Elisso Bolkvadze's beautiful though uneven Tchaikovsky.
Seiko Tsukamoto's technically adroit Prokofiev's Third Concerto was committed, if a bit too dogged to seduce the emotions which Massimiliano Ferrati's warm, if at times casual, treatment of Chopin's First Concerto did.
Rollero's Brahms made one forget the competition entirely, and concentrate the mind and emotions instead on the majesty of the music, his superb playing and that of the NSOI.
Afterwards Rollero seemed happy, if bewildered. Speaking in English, his third language, he explained the beauty and musical power of Brahms with a verbal grace approaching poetry.
Did he enjoy competitions?
"I don't get concert engagements, these competitions are very important as a way of getting a chance to play."
Forget about the vagaries of picking winners, the Guardian Dublin International Piano Competition brings young players of the quality of Rollero, Levinson, Oetiker, Ferrati and others to Dublin - leaving the rest of us grateful for the privilege.