The International Chopin Piano Competition (Polish: Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina), often referred to as the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition held in Warsaw, Poland. It was initiated in 1927 and has been held every five years since 1955. It is one of the few competitions devoted entirely to the works of a single composer,[1] in this case, Frédéric Chopin. The competition is currently organized by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.[2]
The competition was initiated by Polish pianist and pedagogue Jerzy Żurawlew, who began seeking funds for a piano competition in 1925, influenced by Aleksander Michałowski. Żurawlew recalled later: "Young people at that time, not long after the end of the Great War, were taking a keen interest in sports. They were dyed-in-the-wool realists in their outlook on life. I would often hear that Chopin was excessively romantic, that he enervated the soul and weakened the psyche. Some went so far as to discourage the inclusion of Chopin as required repertoire in music schools. All that showed a fundamental lack of understanding, which I found very painful... As I watched young people’s enthusiasm for sporting achievement, I finally hit upon a solution: a competition! Here was a format to bring tangible advantages to young performers of Chopin in the form of monetary prizes and an international performing career."[3]
Gathering funds for the competition proved to be a difficult task. As Żurawlew remembered in later years: "I met with utter incomprehension, indifference and even aversion. The opinion among musicians was unanimous: Chopin is so great that he can defend himself. At the Ministry, it was announced that there were no funds for it [...] and that the whole idea was unfeasible". In this difficult situation, help arrived from Henryk Rewkiewicz — a businessman, music lover and board member of The Warsaw Music Society, who offered his personal financial guarantees to cover the entire deficit expected to arise from the first Competition.[4]
Many years later Jerzy Żurawlew wrote, “[…] I was greatly helped by my friend Henryk Rewkiewicz, director of the Match Monopoly, who offered 15,000 złoty - a substantial sum at the time - for the Competition”.[5] Ultimately, things picked up with the election of a new Polish president Ignacy Mościcki, who became the patron of the Chopin Competition.[6]
The pre-war editions of the competition as well as three editions after World War II (1955, 1960, 1965) were held in winter, close to the date of Chopin's birth – 22 January. However, due to repeated cases of jurors and competitors falling sick in this period, the organizers decided that the competition be held in October, the month in which Chopin died.[8]
The 1980 edition of the Chopin Piano Competition was marked by controversy over the elimination of Ivo Pogorelić, who was seen as one of the favourites, in the third round of the competition. This prompted juror Martha Argerich to resign from the jury in protest, calling Pogorelić a "genius". Her action was supported by two other jurors, who declared that it was "unthinkable that such an artist should not make it to the finals". Other judges spoke out about their disapproval of what they considered Pogorelić's eccentricities.[9][10][11]
Traditionally, during the competition on 17 October – the day of Chopin's death – a solemn mass is celebrated in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw, during which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem is performed in accordance with the wishes of the composer.[12][13]
Traditional special awards at the competition include the Polish Radio prize for the best mazurka performance (since 1927), the Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw prize for the best polonaise (since 1960), and the National Philharmonic prize for the best performance of a piano concerto (since 1980).
Note: Medals were only awarded after 1975. In this table, winner of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Prize prior to 1975 are included as having won Gold, Silver, and Bronze respectively.
In popular culture
The Chopin Competition is a major plot device in the Japanese manga series Forest of Piano, serialized from 1998 to 2015 and adapted as an anime from 2018 to 2019. It follows the story of pianist Kai Ichinose, who ultimately wins the Chopin Competition.[25] Creator Makoto Isshiki was inspired to write the series when she watched a documentary showing Stanislav Bunin winning the XI International Chopin Piano Competition.[26] In 2023, a documentary film Pianoforte directed by Jakub Piątek shows the realities of the Chopin Piano Competition through exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and is set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.[27]
