Chopin 2025: US competitor says pianists should also sing
Anthony Ratinov, a US pianist who advanced to the 2nd stage of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition on Tuesday, has said that a pianist should also be able to sing the pieces they play.
Speaking to reporters after his 1st stage performance on Tuesday, Ratinov described his experience.
"I think... I had a lot of thoughts in my head today, but as soon as I walked out and sat at the instrument, I just felt more calm than I ever have in my life, and I just felt extremely inspired, and I almost had this feeling that the performance already happened, and I was just watching it as an audience member," he said. "It was a very surreal moment in this hall. I mean, it's so iconic, and so it's the greatest privilege to be able to play here."
Ratinov recalled his first teacher, his grandmother Edit Ratinova, and the advice she had given him.
"She told me many, many things, and she was very severe, but the one thing I remember, her yelling at me, well, lovingly saying from the age of four I was to sing, and the number one job of a pianist is to make the audience forget that they're listening to a piano and instead to think that maybe it's a voice, maybe it's a tenor voice, a soprano. So she said everything always has to be sung. And what (is a more - PAP) perfect way than through Chopin?"
Asked if he remembered the first time he had heard Chopin's music, Ratinov confirmed that he did.
"I do. My grandmother playing the C-sharp minor waltz. And I was dancing to it. So I actually also remember that on my seventh birthday, my grandma's birthday present to me was the sheet music for Fantasy Impromptu, so I could start learning it because that was also one of the first pieces I fell in love with."
Ratinov also said he enjoyed being in the Polish capital.
"I speak Russian, so I understand some words, but not all. But I love Warsaw. And I mean, playing the last day of the first round, I feel like I've been living here for a month already. I think I arrived nine days ago, which is so long. And so I've been just walking everywhere. And I just, I love Warsaw. I really, really do, and I love the weather. I really am very happy with it here."
The second-stage auditions will begin on Thursday at 10am and will last until October 12. Participants will perform 40-50-minute recitals, the programme of which must include selected preludes and one of the following polonaises: Andante spianato and Grand 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 any other piece or pieces by Fryderyk Chopin.
The 19th edition of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, organised by Poland's Fryderyk Chopin Institute, runs from October 2 to 23.
The Polish Press Agency is a media partner of the competition. (PAP)
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