About V Chopin Competition Edition

The year 1955 brought the return of the Competition to the rebuilt Warsaw Philharmonic. The finishing touches were still being put to the building moments before the inauguration, and so the Competition was moved from October 1954 to February the following year, which exceptionally increased the gap between editions to six years. Its starting date was linked on this occasion not to the anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin’s death, but to the date of his birth, which according to current research was 22 February. The Competition would be held in the winter also in 1960 and 1965, before returning to the autumn in 1970.

For participants in the 5th edition, the bar was raised very high. In each of the three rounds, the pianists had to tackle a lengthy programme. And that was after having battled through the qualifying rounds. Seventy practice pianos were installed at the Hotel Polonia, where the participants were accommodated. The jury, which during pre-war editions of the Competition had sat on the concert platform, was moved to a much more secluded spot – on the balcony of the auditorium, where it has traditionally been located ever since.

The Competition was a grand musical and society event, playing host to Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, and seventy concerts and eighty recitals were given in Warsaw and other cities.

In the pianistic tournament, victory went to a representative of the host nation: Adam Harasiewicz secured the win with an excellent performance in the final. Vladimir Ashkenazy, who had been leading up to then, performed less strongly at the final stage and ultimately came second.