Chopin 2025: Twenty pianists qualify to 3rd stage of Warsaw's Chopin Competition
Twenty pianists from eight countries, including three from Poland, have advanced to the third stage of this year's International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition.
From Tuesday to Thursday, they will be taking part in the third stage auditions, playing monumental sonatas and mazurkas, which require not only outstanding skills, but also knowledge of their composer's experiences.
"It was a long and exciting stage," Garrick Ohlsson, chairman of the jury, said the second stage of the event was very long and exciting. Artur Szklener, director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, the competition organiser, announced the lucky pianists who advanced to the event's semi-finals.
The pianists who qualified to the third stage are: Piotr Alexewicz (Poland), Kevin Chen (Canada), Yang (Jack) Gao (China), Eric Guo (Canada), David Khrikuli (Georgia), Shiori Kuwahara (Japan), Hyo Lee (South Korea), Hyuk Lee (South Korea), Tianyou Li (China), Xiaoxuan Li (China), Eric Lu (United States), Tianyao Lyu (China), Vincent Ong (Malaysia), Piotr Pawlak (Poland), Yehuda Prokopowicz (Poland), Miyu Shindo (Japan), Tomoharu Ushida (Japan), Zitong Wang (China), Yifan Wu (China) and William Yang (United States).
After a one-day break in the competition, the semi-finalists will proceed to further auditions, which will last from Tuesday to Thursday.
On Tuesday, the following performers will appear in the morning session (starting at 10am): Yang (Jack) Gao from China, Eric Guo from Canada and David Khrikuli from Georgia. The evening session (from 5 pm) will feature Shiori Kuwahara from Japan, two brothers from South Korea, Hyo Lee and Hyuk Lee, and Tianyou Li from China.
On the second day, Wednesday, the following will perform: in the morning session, Xiaoxuan Li from China, Eric Lu from the United States and Tianyao Lyu from China. In the evening, Vincent Ong from Malaysia, Piotr Pawlak and Yehuda Prokopowicz from Poland, and Miyu Shindo from Japan will appear on the stage of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw.
Thursday, the third day of auditions, will begin with a performance by Tomoharu Ushida from Japan in the morning session, followed by Zitong Wang from China, and the morning auditions will conclude with her compatriot Yifan Wu. In the evening session, William Yang from the United States, Piotr Alexewicz from Poland and Kevin Chen from Canada will perform for the jury and audience.
The programme for the third stage includes sonatas and mazurkas. Pianists must show not only outstanding musical skills, but also knowledge of the time in which the works were composed, as well as the circumstances and experiences of their composer. During the 45- to 55-minute performance, pianists must perform a complete cycle of Fryderyk Chopin's mazurkas from the following opuses: 17, 24, 30, 33, 41, 50, 56, 59. The mazurkas must be played in the order of their opus numbers. Participants will also play one of two musical masterpieces: Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35 – with one of its most recognisable fragments, the 'Funeral March' – or Sonata in B minor, Op. 58.
Chopin composed his Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35, in Nohant in the summer of 1839, and it was published in Paris and Leipzig in the spring of the following year. It was not dedicated to any person, as it would have been difficult to dedicate a sonata with a funeral march to anyone. As described by Mieczyslaw Tomaszewski, author of the Fryderyk Chopin radio series 'Complete Works', the music of the Sonata in B flat minor, which grew out of the patriotic sentiments of the 'Funeral March', was influenced by the composer's personal experiences. It can be heard and felt as a testimony to the extreme situation in which Chopin found himself at that time and in that place. "The sonata was written in an atmosphere of newly revealed passion frozen by the threat of death," wrote Tomaszewski.
"Chopin continues to have ups and downs. He is never completely well or completely ill. Whenever he feels a little strength within himself, he is cheerful, and when melancholy overtakes him, he throws himself at the piano and composes beautiful pages," wrote George Sand in one of her letters.
The second sonata is Sonata in B minor. It is the very essence of Romantic music. The first and the final parts are ballads, the second is a scherzo, and the third is a nocturne. According to Hugo Leichtentritt, a German musicologist and composer, the second theme of the first part of this sonata is "one of the most beautiful lyrical ideas the piano can boast." The Sonata in B minor features all the characteristic features of Chopin's style: turbulent and sophisticated playing, changing moods, lyrical melodies and a poignant sense of longing.
Chopin worked on it during his fifth stay at George Sand's estate in Nohant from May 29 to November 28, 1844. The work on the composition was described by Polish writer Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz in his work entitled 'Summer in Nohant'. The piece was dedicated to Countess Emilie de Perthuis, Chopin's pupil.
In addition to sonatas, the programme includes mazurkas. Chopin composed 57 of them between 1825 and 1849. Although mazurkas originated as a dance, they became a form of reflective lyricism, a very personal expression. They are an expression of Chopin's longing for his homeland. They are characterised by their miniature form, clarity, condensed harmonies, simplicity, but also subtlety of expression.
The Mazurkas of Opus 33 were composed between 1837 and 1838. Chopin dedicated them to Countess Roza Mostowska.
"The last Mazurka, in B minor, which closes Opus 33, is one of Chopin's miracles. It is a synthesis of what he heard and remembered with what he personally experienced, deeply true. Lyrical reflections and dialogues, sudden bursts of passion, swaying and silence. Where did Chopin hear and catch red-handed the melodies of kujawiaks, full of plaintive grace, the fiery rhythms of the mazurka or the dizzying arabesques of the oberek?" asked Polish writer Stefan Kisielewski in his beautiful essay on Chopin.
The mazurkas of Opus 41, composed between 1838 and 1839, were dedicated to Chopin's friend, poet Stefan Witwicki. One of the most beautiful is Mazurka No. 3, written in A flat major. It clearly features rhythms and tonalities heard in the Kujawy region of Poland. "The muted melody (sotto voce) suddenly comes to a crossroads. As a whole, the Mazurka in A flat major exudes simplicity of folk origin, modesty, but also subtlety of pianistic means," Mieczyslaw Tomaszewski said of the piece.
Pianists may supplement their competition performance with any solo piece or one of Fryderyk Chopin's works, but only if the compulsory part of the programme does not fill up the minimum time requirement specified in the regulations.
The day after the end of the third stage, October 17, marks the 176th anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin's death. Traditionally, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem is performed at the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw to commemorate the composer. This year, Vadym Kholodenko will play it on a historical piano.
The Chopin Competition finals will take place from 18 to 20 October, with the winner being announced on the night of the last day.
The competition, which runs until 23 October 2025, is organised by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. The Polish Press Agency is a media partner of the event. (PAP)
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