In the words of the CompetitionвЂ™s founder, Jerzy Е»urawlew: вЂњI often met with the opinion that Chopin is too romantic, makes the soul sentimental and disarms the listeners mentally. It is, to this date, one of the rare music festivals dedicated entirely to the work of one composer born out of the desire to re-establish a studied understanding of ChopinвЂ™s importance that seemed to have been lost post-WW1. Announcement of laureates: on concert stage, properly dressed contestants, announcements translated in English, presentation of medals/trophies to winners by distinguished people, and unhurried paceвЂ¦.make it memorable and dignified).The first edition of the International Chopin Piano Competition was held in 1927 in Warsaw. A special commendation for the youngest (and promising) finalist. Give online viewers the chance to vote for the вЂonline audience prizeвЂ™ including best in etude, mazurka, sonata, etc. Only 2 finalists per evening performance (spread over 4 nights for 8 finalists). Allow curtain calls starting the 3rd stage. Explain if the scores earned in the 3 stages are вЂresetвЂ™ for the final round (or are they cumulative?). Add to the juries of the final round: respected talent managers/agents, major recording company label producers, classical Grammy award representative, orchestral conductors. Criteria for judging should be transparent and published to the public (i.e., scoring value corresponds to certain qualitative merit). A set of finalists from every continent вЂ“ in addition to Europe and Asia (to make it a more global participation). Teachers of finalists should abstain from voting on their student in the final round. My wishlists: Blind judging for stages 1 вЂ“ 3 (blinded only to the juries, but not to the audience). Liu- is a different matter- with the right repertoire choices & mentoring he may become a pianist people will want to hear in the long term. I agree that the recent Leeds winner (nice chap) may sink without a trace- mainly owing to the intense competition he faces in the real musical world. He also seemed to be aware of what was going on in the orchestra despite ChopinвЂ™s obvious deficiencies in this area. I thought his Chopin E minor was enchanting- very delicate playing throughout- not too rushed (or overpedalled) & I heard all the filigree in the slow movement for one. But his concerto performance did change my mind a bit. His solo rounds were unmemorable however & didnвЂ™t stick out from many others (Nehring, for example, was more consistently engaging). As regards Mr Liu- I found him to be a highly proficient young keyboard artist. It has to be said that the Chopin contest displayed a far greater amount of pianistic talent- probably agreed. We seem to be the English armchair SD critics of recent piano concours- including the Leeds.

The rules need revision.Д¬hristopher- IвЂ™m always interested to read your perceptive views. But once it became clear that Liu was a strong contender he should have been asked to step down. LiuвЂ™s teacher Dang Thai Son won the Chopin in 1980. The non-voting room must have got quite crowded at times. Seven other jurors had students among the competitors. However, a juror has access to those who do vote and is also in a position to feed their likes and dislikes back to his student.

Warsaw does not allow teachers to vote for their pupils. The age of Steinway is almost over.ДЈ Canada is now a world piano power, ahead of France, the UK and Germany in its ceaseless talent production: Hewitt, Lortie, Lisiecki, Hamelin (x2), Parker (x2), Goodyear and now Bruce Liu.Д¤ Pianists of Chinese origin are proving remarkably diverse.ДҐ It is unacceptable in 2021 for a competition jury to contain teachers of top contestants. The audience loved him and the judges had no doubts.Дў He played a Fazioli piano the Italian runner up, Alexander Gadjiev, played a Kawai. 1 The winner Bruce Liu is a major talent.

Chopin music competition