Chopin 2025: Musical event that captivates Warsaw for three weeks
The 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, which began on October 2, in Warsaw is a musical event that will captivate the city for next three weeks, Aleksander Laskowski, spokesman for the Chopin Institute which organises the contest has told PAP.
The Chopin Competition, which will soon celebrate its centenary, has attracted interest from around the world and has often been compared by the media to a sports event.
"It is true that the competition was inspired by the Olympic movement, which was revived at the end of the 19th century. There is certainly a sporting element to it, involving the competition for the first prize and the gold medal," Laskowski said.
However, he cautioned that it is not so much a sporting competition as a search for the greatest talent and the most compelling pianist. "Someone who will be, on the one hand, the next guardian of the magnificent Chopin tradition, and on the other, who will develop this tradition and bring it closer to future generations of listeners around the world," Laskowski said.
This year, 84 pianists from 20 countries are competing for a pass to the most important concert halls. They are judged by a 17-person jury chaired by the legendary American pianist and winner of the 1970 Chopin Competition Garrick Ohlsson, the first non-Polish jury chairman. Ohlsson has been promoting Fryderyk Chopin's work worldwide for five decades, regularly returning to Poland to perform concerts. The jury panel includes distinguished Chopin experts: former competition winners, teachers, and experts on the life and work of Fryderyk Chopin.
The inauguration concert of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition on October 2 featured four winners of previous editions accompanied by the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Andrzej Boreyko. The gala opened with Fryderyk Chopin's Polonaise in A major in an orchestral version. Then, Bruce Liu (the 2021 winner) performed Camille Saint-Saens's Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, and Julianna Avdeeva (2010) and Garrick Ohlsson (1970) played Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. Avdeeva, Liu, Ohlsson and Dang Thai Son (1980) performed Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto for Four Pianos.
The first stage of the competition began on the morning of Friday, October 3. The participants performed in alphabetical order. During Tuesday's press conference, the letter T was drawn, meaning that the first pianist to be heard during the competition was Ziye Tao from China. Three Poles also performed in the same Friday morning session: Jan Widlarz, Andrzej Wiercinski, and Krzysztof Wiercinski.
Before, the drawn letter was used as the starting letter for each subsequent stage, but this either favoured or disadvantaged some pianists. Research showed that participants who perform at the beginning of the stage have a slightly lower chance of receiving a high score than others. If someone had to perform first in the first stage and then advanced to the subsequent rounds, they were also the first to audition. Therefore, new regulations have been introduced in this year's regulations. After the letter starting the first stage is drawn, the first to perform in the second stage will be the participants whose surnames begin with a letter six letters away from the one drawn (that is if K were drawn, the second stage would start with R), and in the third stage – the next six letters, so that after four stages all 24 letters of the Latin alphabet are covered.
The competition is held publicly in three stages (two sessions – the morning session begins at 10:00 a.m. and the evening session at 5:00 p.m.) plus the final.
Stage I (from October 3rd to 7th), with all participants participating, involved the performance of selected etudes, a nocturne, a waltz, a ballade, or another longer form, such as a barcarolle or fantasy.
In Stage II (from October 9th to 12th – the regulations assume that 40 pianists will qualify), participants will perform 40-50-minute recitals, whose programme must include selected preludes, one of the following polonaises: Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise in E-flat major, Op. 22; Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44; Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53, or both polonaises from Op. 26, as well as another piece or pieces of their choice by Fryderyk Chopin.
In the third stage (October 14-16 – the regulations stipulate that 20 pianists will qualify), the artists will present approximately one-hour (45-55-minute) recitals, including performances of a selected sonata, a cycle of mazurkas, and other compositions by Chopin. The final test for the competition finalists – the regulations stipulate that 10 pianists will qualify – will be a performance of Fryderyk Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasie, Op. 61, and a selected Piano Concerto, accompanied by the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw (October 18-20, from 6:00 p.m.).
The winner of the 19th Chopin Competition will be announced on October 20. The following day the awards gala and the first of three laureates' concerts will be held. Two further laureates' concerts are scheduled for October 22nd and 23rd.
The six highest-scoring finalists will be awarded the main prizes and the title of laureate. The first prize winner will receive EUR 60,000 and a gold medal; the second prize winner will receive EUR 40,000 and a silver medal; and the third prize winner will receive EUR 35,000 and a bronze medal. The fourth, fifth, and sixth prize winners will receive EUR 30,000, EUR 25,000, and EUR 20,000, respectively. The remaining finalists will receive awards of EUR 8,000 each.
This year's Chopin Competition features 84 pianists from 20 countries born between 1995 and 2009. China is the most represented country with 28 pianists, Poland and Japan each have 13 representatives, Canada and the United States have five, South Korea have four, Chinese Taipei, the United Kingdom, and Italy have three each, and France has two. Similarly, two pianists perform under a neutral flag, and one artist each comes from Germany, Portugal, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Georgia, Spain, and Vietnam.
Poland is represented by: Piotr Alexewicz, Michal Basista, Mateusz Dubiel, Adam Kaldunski, Antoni Kleczek (also from the United States), Mateusz Krzyzowski, Viet Trung Nguyen (also from Vietnam), Piotr Pawlak, Yehuda Prokopowicz, Zuzanna Sejbuk, Jan Widlarz, Andrzej Wiercinski, and Krzysztof Wiercinski.
This year, in addition to the pianos from Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, and Fazioli, already familiar from previous editions, pianists also have at their disposal a C. Bechstein D-282 concert instrument, from a manufacturer with a history dating back to 1853 and a consistent presence on major concert stages. Participants had 15 minutes to choose their instrument.
The competition is organised by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. Established in 2001, it is the world's largest institution promoting, preserving, researching, and disseminating the legacy of the composer.
The Polish Press Agency (PAP) is a media partner of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, publishing materials about the event on PAP services, on the PAP.pl website, in the PAP Studio, and on its foreign-language websites.
The materials will include current reports from the Chopin Competition, commentary, interviews with previous winners and experts, profiles of participants and jurors, as well as interesting historical and statistical facts – in short, everything you need to know about the Chopin Competition, and more. Our experts include pianists Aleksandra Swigut and Pawel Kowalski, and musicologist and music journalist Marcin Majchrowski.
The Chopin Competition, dating back to 1927, is one of the oldest musical events of its kind in the world. Celebrations of its 100th anniversary will officially begin in 2025. The competition's format has been continually refined: the number of stages, the programme, the method of judging participants, the prizes, and the media through which the competition recitals were heard have all changed. From the very beginning, only two aspects of the competition have remained constant: that the repertoire consists exclusively of Chopin's music, and that it attracts increasing interest from pianists and listeners. (PAP)
