When it comes to music contests, a cynic might tell competitors to keep one thing in mind: Don’t make the audience fall too much in love with you. If you do, the experts on the jury will be sure to hand the title to someone else.

And at the fourth International Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn from December 2 to 8, the cynics would have been right. Jingge Yan of China won first prize at the demanding event for interpretations that head jurist Pavel Gililov praised as "independent and virtuosic." The audience, however, ranked the pianist third among the three finalists.

But that’s not to say the Peking-based performer failed to win over his share of admirers.  After playing, he darted with a grin back to the front of the stage for the second of several curtain calls. His own reservations about turning musicianship into a contest were nowhere to be seen.

"I really don’t like music competitions!" Jingge Yan told Deutsche Welle after the finale. "But this competition is special because I really focused on Beethoven because of it - I got great inspiration from the environment and people in Bonn."

Playing in the city where Beethoven was born drew out the 25-year-old pianist’s own appreciation for the composer.

"There are similarities between my personality and the spirit of Beethoven - so vivid and so much passion. I really dedicate a lot of time to Beethoven," Jingge Yan said.

At the finale, he performed with full-scale orchestra, delivering a crisp and effective take on Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5. A recording of that performance is available for download below.

‘Fondness for youth’

Jingge Yan stood out from his competitors in more ways than just the jury’s evaluation - from his patterned silk shirt against their tuxedos to his age. He is six years older than Chi Ho Han from Korea and Remi Geniet from France, both born in 1992. They were among the youngest competitors at the event, restricted to musicians 32 years and under.

"People have a certain fondness for youth, of course. When you hear comparable performances from a 30-year-old and a 19-year-old, somehow you have more of an appreciation for the younger player, but that’s far from the only reason why these two made it so far," reflected Pavel Gililov after the competition.

Perhaps age was a factor in the audience’s choice when 55 percent voted for Chi Ho Han as their favorite finalist. But the charismatic performer offered a take on Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto that audience members also described as "astonishingly mature" and "moving to the core."

Chi Ho Han was born in Seoul and now studies piano in Essen, Germany under Arnulf von Arnim. The precocious talent began playing piano eight years ago.

"I was at a concert and heard Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and was so impressed by the music that I thought: pianist, that’s it," Chi Ho Han said of taking up the instrument.

The jury awarded second place to the 19-year-old player, which includes a prize of 20,000 euros ($26,810). The first-place winner took home 30,000 euros, and third place carries a 10,000 euro prize.

Career springboard

Arguably more important than the prize money for the young competitors are the numerous concert engagements that a contest victory brings. Winner Jingge Yan can look forward to performing - without any contest pressure - at festivals and venues across Europe and North America that have partnered with the International Telekom Beethoven Competition.

There will be concert support for the other two finalists as well, deservedly so in light of the tight competition this year. Leading up to the finale, jurist Pavel Gililov noted the changing approach to music contests, reflected also in the jury’s selections.

"It used to be that technical ability and correct formal playing were in the foreground. But today that’s different. Musicians with personality are sought, who take faithfulness to the scores as the basis and inspiration for their own imagination," Gililov said.

And there was no shortage of personality at the finale, from Remi Geniet’s concentrated and intense interpretation to Chi Ho Han’s captivating presence on stage. Follow the links below to get a taste of the event with final round performances by Jingge Yan, Chi Ho Han and Remi Geniet.