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24-year-old Canadian pianist Bruce Liu has won first prize at the 18th Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Here is a video of his final-round performance:
Congratulation to Mr. Liu.
By the way, Mr. Liu was played a Fazioli concert grand. The two tying second-prize winners played a Shigeru Kawai and a Steinway, respectively. The third-prize winner played a Fazioli.
Besides Fazioli, Shigeru Kawai and Steinway, does anybody know what other piano makes were made available to the Chopin Competition contestants?
Leonora Armellini Fazioli Jun Li Bui Shigeru Kawai Alexander Gadjiev Shigeru Kawai Martin Garcia Garcia Fazioli Eva Gevorgyan Steinway Aimi Kobayashi Steinway Jakub Kuszlik Steinway Hyuk Lee Shigeru Kawai Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu Fazioli Kamil Pacholec Steinway Hao Rao Steinway Kyohei Sorita Steinway
In the finals are the Pianists competing against that particular performance at the Finals? Or do the judges take into account the entire performance through-out the competition?
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In the finals are the Pianists competing against that particular performance at the Finals? Or do the judges take into account the entire performance through-out the competition?
The special "Warsaw Philharmonic Prize for the best performance of a concerto" goes to the 3rd prize winner, so the ranking must be based on all performances considered.
I was surprised that Yamaha, which sponsored the event, was not chosen by any of the finalists. The Yamaha CFX had been chosen by some of the finalists in earlier Chopin Competitions.
In addition, notice that other prestigious piano manufacturers - Bechstein, Bluthner, Bosendorfer, August Forster, Grotrian, Sauter, Steingraeber - were not included in the final round. In fact, with the exception of Bosendorfer, none of these other prestigious marques are represented at major competitions (Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Cliburn, Rubinstein, etc.). Does anybody know why?
I was surprised that Yamaha, which sponsored the event, was not chosen by any of the finalists. The Yamaha CFX had been chosen by some of the finalists in earlier Chopin Competitions.
In addition, notice that other prestigious piano manufacturers - Bechstein, Bluthner, Bosendorfer, August Forster, Grotrian, Sauter, Steingraeber - were not included in the final round. In fact, with the exception of Bosendorfer, none of these other prestigious marques are represented at major competitions (Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Cliburn, Rubinstein, etc.). Does anybody know why?
Maybe at the finalists thought if they went with the CFX the judges might subconsciously feel less compelled to choose that finalist to squelch any perception of being pro Yamaha at a Yamaha sponsored competition so to play it safe the finalists avoided the Yamaha. Has there been a finalist playing the CFX who won in the past? Sounds kind of far fetched I know.
Or possibly and most likely most of the contestants simply liked other pianos over the CFX.
I was surprised that Yamaha, which sponsored the event, was not chosen by any of the finalists. The Yamaha CFX had been chosen by some of the finalists in earlier Chopin Competitions.
In addition, notice that other prestigious piano manufacturers - Bechstein, Bluthner, Bosendorfer, August Forster, Grotrian, Sauter, Steingraeber - were not included in the final round. In fact, with the exception of Bosendorfer, none of these other prestigious marques are represented at major competitions (Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Cliburn, Rubinstein, etc.). Does anybody know why?
Maybe at the finalists thought if they went with the CFX the judges might subconsciously feel less compelled to choose that finalist to squelch any perception of being pro Yamaha at a Yamaha sponsored competition so to play it safe the finalists avoided the Yamaha. Has there been a finalist playing the CFX who won in the past? Sounds kind of far fetched I know.
The trouble with that reasoning is that the same argument could be applied to all the rounds.
I was surprised that Yamaha, which sponsored the event, was not chosen by any of the finalists. The Yamaha CFX had been chosen by some of the finalists in earlier Chopin Competitions.
In addition, notice that other prestigious piano manufacturers - Bechstein, Bluthner, Bosendorfer, August Forster, Grotrian, Sauter, Steingraeber - were not included in the final round. In fact, with the exception of Bosendorfer, none of these other prestigious marques are represented at major competitions (Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Cliburn, Rubinstein, etc.). Does anybody know why?
Maybe at the finalists thought if they went with the CFX the judges might subconsciously feel less compelled to choose that finalist to squelch any perception of being pro Yamaha at a Yamaha sponsored competition so to play it safe the finalists avoided the Yamaha. Has there been a finalist playing the CFX who won in the past? Sounds kind of far fetched I know.
The trouble with that reasoning is that the same argument could be applied to all the rounds.
True. But one could also surmise that only the brightest made it to later rounds.
I think there is a significant logistical challenge and financial investment for a piano company to be represented at these competitions. This is product placement par excellence - so if it's not going to give a good return, or if it's not going to reflect well on the company, they may think twice before committing to such an effort. At the 1985 competition Bösendorfer suffered the indignity of being chosen by only one competitor, and was never seen again. Incidentally, the same year marked the first appearances of Yamaha and Kawai. Fazioli debuted in 2010, and it looks like the investment has paid off. Good for them.
I have also noticed that all of the final-round performances that I have seen feature either of two works - Chopin Concerto #1 or Chopin concerto #2. I realize this is the "CHOPIN Piano Competition" we are talking about, but is it written into the Chopin Competition rules that the final round MUST be a performance of one of the Chopin concerti?
Other competitions allow just about any basic-repertoire concerto to be performed in the final round. For instance, Alexandre Kantorow played the Brahms Concerto #2 in the final round of the 2019 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition and won.
Not exactly. The Tchaikovsky rules are that two piano concertos should be played, one by Tchaikovsky. Kantorow also played Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto.
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Not exactly. The Tchaikovsky rules are that two piano concertos should be played, one by Tchaikovsky. Kantorow also played Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto.
Okay. I didn't know that. Thanks.
What about the non-concertant works? Are the solo piano works limited to Chopin at the Chopin Competition, and limited to Tchaikovksy in the Tchaikovsky Competion? That would not be so limiting with Chopin due to the fact that Chopin wrote so many piano works, but that would be a limiting factor where Tchaikovsky is concerned.
And what of competitions not named after composers, like the Cliburn in Ft. Worth or the Rubinstein in Tel Aviv?
