On October 29th, the press conference of the 18th Chopin International Piano Competition (China Station) was held at the Opera Concert Hall of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Dr. Artur Szklener, President of the Polish National Chopin Institute, Professor Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron, President of the Jury of the 18th Chopin Competition, Chinese Pianist Chen Sa, Judge of the 18th Chopin Competition, Joanna Bokszczanin of the Polish National Chopin Institute, Jerzy Malicki, Director of the Cultural Department of the Polish Embassy, As well as Wu Ying, director of the piano department of the Central Conservatory of Music, attended the meeting.
The 18th Chopin International Piano Competition will kick off in mid-April 2020. At that time, the selection committee will select about 160 pianists in the qualifier stage and will arrive in Warsaw, where the jury will select the best 80 contestants to participate in the October competition. At the opening concert on October 2, 2020, audiences will enjoy the wonderful performances of previous champions. After that, the 80 contestants will undergo a nearly three-week competition until the announcement of the new champions on October 20, 2020 – the award ceremony and the first concert of the winners will be held the next day.
Historical photographs of the Chopin International Piano Competition
"Social media is playing an increasingly important role"
Since its inception in 1927, the Chopin International Piano Competition has become one of the oldest music competitions in the world – as early as 1932, in its second edition, 200 people had signed up for the competition. After three sessions (the third was held in 1937), it has begun to take shape. Due to the outbreak of World War II, the competition was interrupted for more than a decade and was not revived until 1949. Since then, the competition has been held regularly every 5 years. In memory of Chopin's death in October 1849, the opening date is usually placed in October of that year.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the competition gradually reached a truly international level, and the judging mode was a multi-person jury composed of former champions such as Lev O'Polin, Yakov Zach, Imre Wingal, and one of the most outstanding composers of the twentieth century, Vitord Lutoswawski. It is particularly worth mentioning that in the 5th competition in 1955, in addition to winning the third place, the pianist Fu Cong also won the "Special Prize" for Mazurka Performance, which was the first time that Chinese entered the top three in the "Shaw Competition", and it was also the first time that the Orientals achieved outstanding results in the competition.
The 1960s and 1970s were a heyday in the history of the Chopin International Piano Competition, which produced a number of outstanding winners such as Maulizio Pollini or Marta Agridge. In 1970, Gehrwick Olsen and Mitsuko Uchida won first and second prizes in the competition, respectively, and had a profound impact on the American and Japanese piano worlds. Over time, the reputation of "Chopard" and the interest in it have surpassed all other artistic activities related to Chopin. In each subsequent edition, young pianists from all over the world enthusiastically signed up, and the number of entries climbed day by year. In 1980, the winner of the tenth competition was Duntai An from Vietnam. Among the rest of the contestants, Ivo Bogolerić from Yugoslavia also impressed the audience.
The Chopin International Piano Competition presents six grand prizes and special prizes each edition. In line with the principle of "preferring lack to excess", the competition features that the judges will evaluate the awards according to the actual performance of the participants - if they believe that no one in a certain award is qualified to win, they will be absent and there will be no replacements. There are many interesting anecdotes and anecdotes surrounding this international competition: during the first two stages of the 1949 competition, the members of the jury listened to the contestants behind the curtains, and they knew nothing about the names and appearances of the contestants! The statute of the Sixth Chopin International Piano Competition in 1960 stipulated that "in the event of a serious underperformance of the players, the jury may, by unanimously decide, to ask the contestants to stop playing"; the competition also had the largest jury in history (37 experts), and the honorary president of the jury at the time, Artur Rubinstein, was a well-known Polish pączki enthusiast. When the jury deliberated, the best pastry chefs in Warsaw provided them with fried doughnuts and a wide variety of dessert sweets...
Entering the twenty-first century, the Chopin International Piano Competition faces unprecedented new challenges. Not only the organizers of the competition, but also the winners must respond to the changing social, cultural and media landscape. In 2000, Li Yundi undoubtedly became the focus of the spotlight chase, Chinese won the event for the first time. Following the tradition that winners will also be judges, Lee Yun-di became a judge at the 17th edition in 2015, when the winner was presented to South Korea's Cho Sung-jin. At the press conference, Artur Szczkleina, president of the Polish National Chopin Institute, recalled that from the last competition, he noticed that social media was playing an increasingly important role. For example, he said, video material of the competition was widely circulated online, with viewers in 196 countries and territories being able to watch videos in full HD; social media users forwarded about 5 billion messages about the game in October alone, and what surprised him most was that "during the competition, the word 'CHOPIN' surpassed 'SHOPPING' on search engines for the first time, and Chopin beat shopping." ”
"Whose music we look at is more direct to people's hearts"
The Bulgarian-born Polish pianist Katarzyna Popova-Zidron participated as a contestant in the 9th "Shaw Race" in 1975 and was the teacher of the 15th champion Lafau Brehać. Popova, who has been the chairman of the competition jury since the last edition, said at the press conference that the players born from the Chopin International Piano Competition have basically become very good pianists, "Generally speaking, the top six or even the top ten players in the competition will get a good career in the future." Our selection criteria are not to see who plays loud and fast, but many people play fast today. We look at whose music is more direct to people's hearts. ”
According to reports, the competition jury will include the best experts related to Chopin, former competition winners, music teachers and researchers of frederick Chopin's life, including Katarina Popova-Zidron, Dmitry Alexev, Marta Agrich, Chen Sa, Duntai, Akiko Uylao, Nelson Freiri, Philippe Chuciano, Nelson Güner, Adam Halasevich, Kzhřitov Jabwonski, Kevin Kenner, and Yanush Oleinichac, Peter Palezny, Ava Bobłockka, John Link, Voychech Svitava, Tina Joffe. In order to ensure that the whole process is open and transparent, the organizer will publish the score of each judge and the details of the evaluation after the competition.
At the press conference on the 29th, the famous Chinese pianist Chen Sa, as a representative of the jury members, also delivered a personal speech, "As a fledgling pianist, I also participated in the 'Xiao Competition' in 2000, and that experience is still unforgettable to me... The kind of pressure faced, in addition to the pressure to interpret the work, but also how to face the audience of the world in a state of high pressure, with the most natural and peaceful mentality, in front of those who are intoxicated with the charm of Chopin's art. In Chen Sa's view, the measure of the gold content of a competition is to see the birth rate of well-known pianists emerging through competition, "I believe and look forward to next year's competition can continue to be like a magnet, attracting more and more outstanding young pianists to come, and I will listen to their performances with this beautiful responsibility." ”
Compared to other similar piano competitions, the Chopin International Piano Competition has been unique since its inception. When competing, pianists play only one composer's work, which has remained the same from the beginning. Yes, next year the world will be able to concentrate on the most representative works of Chopin. First round competition: etudes, nocturnes, narrative songs, witty songs; second round: narrative, witty, round dance, ship song in F major, Opus 60, Fantasia in F minor, Opus 49, Polish dance in A flat major - Fantasia, Opus 61, Calming Row and Brilliant Polish Dance, Op. 22, Polish Dance in L F minor, Op. 44, Polish Dance in A flat major, Op. 53 Op. 53, Op. 3: Sonata in B minor, Op. 35, Sonata in H minor, Op. 58 Complete prelude, Op. 28, a set of Mazurka dances; Finals: Concerto: E minor, Op. 11 and F minor, Op. 21.
It is also reported that tickets for the competition can be purchased on the official website, and the ticket price will jump from 7 euros. Spectators can also watch it through the official website of the event and the official Youtube channel. In addition to this, for the first time this year, it will be transmitted in 4K quality, while it will also be broadcast directly from the stage with virtual reality (VR) technology. The Polish National Chopin Institute has also prepared a dedicated mobile app (Chopin Competition), smartTV, etc., as well as a dedicated website to publish real-time updates of all competitions. Artur Šzczkrina, president of the Polish National Chopin Institute, said in conclusion that the 18th Chopin International Piano Competition will inherit the development direction of 2010 and 2015, so there will be little change in terms of organization, charter and jury, "As an organizer, we focus on further expanding the influence of the competition and strive to create a good platform for international music lovers to exchange music and art." ”