‘We are not just looking for a pianist, but a true artist.’ Qualifying rounds for the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition
The qualifying rounds of the 19th Chopin Competition confirmed the growing popularity of Chopin’s music worldwide. The fact that pianists who have won prizes in other prestigious competitions registered to take part highlights the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition’s reputation as the most important event of its kind in the world, writes Marcin Wąsowski.
Chopin Competition 2010 Helene Tysman. Ph: Kacper Pempel Forum-0454537199
The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition is one of the most prestigious events in the classical music world. The 19th edition, scheduled for 2025, attracted a record number of candidates, with 642 applications submitted — a 100 per cent increase on the 327 applications received for the 2010 edition. The increase in subsequent years was as follows: 2015: 452; 2020: 500. The preliminary rounds took place between 23 April and 4 May 2025 in the Chamber Hall of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. This stage of the selection process traditionally precedes the main auditions, which are scheduled for October.
The jury’s preliminary selection process included ten distinguished pianists and teachers: Ludmił Angełow, Alberto Nosè, Nikolai Demidenko, Piotr Paleczny, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Ewa Pobłocka, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Kevin Kenner, Marc Laforêt and Wojciech Świtała. Their experience, including numerous awards in previous editions of the competition, guaranteed an in-depth understanding of its specifics, an insightful evaluation and the ability to recognise unique talent.
The jury was chaired by Professor Piotr Paleczny. His success in the 8th Chopin Competition opened the doors to many prestigious concert halls around the world. The awards he received alongside Garrick Ohlsson (1st prize) and Mitsuko Uchida (2nd prize) – the 3rd prize, the Special Prize for the best performance of a polonaise, and the Witold Małcużyński Prize – marked the beginning of his international career.
’We are not just looking for a pianist, but a true artist who understands and loves Chopin. On top of that, they must have a creative, artistic personality. That is the kind of pianist we are looking for,’ Paleczny said, summing up the essence of the evaluation process. In this, the jurors took into account not only technique, but also depth of interpretation and originality. It was an enormous effort – for almost two weeks, without a day off, the jury members listened to over 66 hours of music in total.
The preliminary rounds attracted participants from many countries, emphasising the event’s global nature. According to the rules, professional pianists born between 1995 and 2009 were eligible to participate in the 19th Chopin Competition. Of the applications submitted, which included mandatory video recordings, 171 pianists were invited to perform live. These pianists were from China (67), Japan (24), South Korea (23), Poland (8), the USA (6), Chinese Taipei (5), Canada (4), Italy (4), France (4), Great Britain (3), Bulgaria (3), Germany (2), the Czech Republic (2) and Georgia (2). Other countries, such as Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Spain, Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Serbia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, were each represented by one pianist. Ultimately, 162 pianists took part in the auditions in Warsaw at the end of April and beginning of May. This group included 13 people who qualified for the preliminaries without having to go through the video recording evaluation stage thanks to the laurels mentioned in the piano competition rules.
Each participant could choose between a Steinway or a Yamaha instrument. The young pianists performed a repertoire of works by Chopin consisting of two études, a nocturne (or one of the lyrical études: E major Op. 10 No. 3, E flat minor Op. 10 No. 6, C sharp minor Op. 25 No. 7), a scherzo and a mazurka. This varied programme allowed the pianists to demonstrate both their virtuosity and interpretative sensitivity. Interestingly, of the four scherzos specified in the rules, the one performed most often was the Scherzo in E major, Op. 54, which does not appear frequently in regular Chopin recital programmes (51 times). The distribution of performances of the other works in this genre during the qualifying rounds was as follows: B flat minor, Op. 31 (47 times); C sharp minor, Op. 39 (42 times); and B minor, Op. 20 (22 times). The rules permitted any order of pieces in the programme, except for the two non-lyrical études, which had to be performed consecutively.
The preliminary rounds were broadcast online via the event website (chopincompetition.pl) and the Fryderyk Chopin Institute’s official YouTube channel, enabling music enthusiasts worldwide to watch the performances live. The high level of interest in this stage of the competition is evident from the fact that materials made available via the Institute’s VOD channel have already been viewed over 4 million times.
Eighty-five pianists from 20 countries qualified for the first stage of the competition, with the largest groups coming from China (29), Japan (13) and Poland (13). The remaining group consists of artists from South Korea (4), the USA (4), Canada (5), Italy (3), France (2), Chinese Taipei (3) and the United Kingdom (3), with one representative each from Spain, Portugal, Germany, Vietnam, Malaysia, Georgia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Israel. In accordance with the rules, the group of those qualified for the competition without participating in the preliminary rounds includes 19 winners of the world’s most important piano competitions (in Leeds, Tel Aviv, Miami, Bolzano, Hamamatsu, Paderewski in Bydgoszcz, and the Fryderyk Chopin National Piano Competition in Warsaw): Piotr Alexewicz (Poland), Jonas Aumiller (Germany), Kevin Chen (Canada), Mateusz Dubiel (Poland), Alberto Ferro (Italy), Adam Kałduński (Poland), Kaito Kobayashi (Japan), Mateusz Krzyżowski (Poland), Shiori Kuwahara (Japan), Hyuk Lee (South Korea), Pedro López Salas (Spain), Eric Lu (USA), Philipp Lynov (under a neutral flag), Piotr Pawlak (Poland), Anthony Ratinov (USA), Tomoharu Ushida (Japan), Andrzej Wierciński (Poland), Krzysztof Wierciński (Poland), William Yang (USA).
The competition schedule includes an inaugural concert on 2 October and three stages: stage 1 (3–7 October, with 85 pianists participating), stage 2 (9–12 October, with around 40 pianists) and stage 3 (14–16 October, with around 20 pianists). The final takes place from 18–20 October, with around 10 pianists participating, and there are three concerts by the winners from 21–23 October. A concert will also traditionally be held at the Basilica of the Holy Cross on 17 October, the anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin’s death.
The qualifying rounds of the 19th Chopin Competition confirmed the growing popularity of Chopin’s music worldwide. The fact that pianists who have won prizes in other prestigious competitions registered to take part underscores the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition’s reputation as the most important event of its kind in the world. The qualifying rounds alone attracted the attention of thousands of people from all over the world. The large audience filling most of the Chamber Hall of the National Philharmonic during each audition session proves that Chopin music lovers treat this phase as an integral part of the competition. Thanks to the high standard of performances, this phase provides many emotional and artistic experiences.
Marcin Wąsowski
Musicologist. Head of the Science and Publications Department at the Fryderyk Chopin National Institute.
Source: DlaPolonii.pl
