Chopin 2025: I love Chopin's mazurkas, says Yehuda Prokopowicz
Yehuda Prokopowicz, one of the three Poles who advanced on Sunday to the third stage of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, said that he particularly favoured the Mazurka No. 4 in A minor.
"It's my little secret, but it also helps me focus," Prokopowicz said, referring to the long moment of silence which preceded his performance in the second round of the competition.
"I'm glad I had the opportunity to play mazurkas in the second round... I'd like to play them as often as possible," he added before sharing a story related to his favourite piece, the Mazurka No. 4 in A minor.
"You can find it in the letters Chopin wrote while on a holiday in Szafarnia (a manor house in central Poland, currently housing a Chopin centre - PAP)," Prokopowicz said. According to the story, Chopin once heard a Jewish girl play the violin there, wrote down the tune, which later inspired the composition, lending it a subtly oriental character.
The Mazurka in A minor is the fourth and last work of Opus 17, and a masterpiece in the form of a dance poem.
Born in 2005, Prokopowicz is currently a student of the Academy of Music in Cracow. In 2024, he received a ministerial stipend for outstanding young artists.
Prokopowicz has already won over 30 national and international piano competitions. Among his accolades are the Grand Prix at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Competition in Piotrkow Trybunalski, as well as third and special prizes at the 28th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition in Szafarnia.
The 19th edition of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, which runs from October 2 to October 23, is organised by Poland's Fryderyk Chopin Institute.
The third-stage auditions will begin on Tuesday at 10am and will last until October 16. Participants will perform one-hour recitals, the programme of which must include selected sonata and a cycle of mazurkas, as well as any other piece or pieces by Fryderyk Chopin.
The Polish Press Agency is a media partner of the competition. (PAP)
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