About VIII Chopin Competition Edition

‘It turned out […] that in February our climate is too different from that in many other countries of the world, as a result of which the exotic candidates in particular caught cold on arriving in Warsaw. In the autumn, meanwhile, the climate is closer to the global average’, wrote Jerzy Waldorff in 1970 on the idea of moving the Competition to October. The experiences of 1965 showed unequivocally that the Chopin Competition ought not to be a Winter Olympiad, but at worst an early autumn competition.

The 8th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition was a great triumph for the American school: First Prize to Garrick Ohlsson, Fourth Prize to Eugen Indjic and a distinction for Emanuel Ax. It was also an historical success for Japanese pianism: Second Prize for Mitsuko Uchida and a distinction for Ikuko Endo.

There was huge interest in the Warsaw Chopin Concerts held at the Teatr Rozrywki on the Vistula embankment. Participants in the Competition performed there, usually in the programme they had presented the previous day during the auditions at the Warsaw Philharmonic. Nearly all the pianists taking part in the musical tournament performed during the twenty concerts.

The Competition was phenomenal – people on the streets were engrossed in the rivalry, taking to heart the successes and failures of their favourites, with emotions often running sky high. As Waldorff relates: ‘Over these days, the entire city talks only about piano playing, and every taxi driver knows best how the finale of the B flat minor Sonata should be played. On trams and buses, people are at one another’s throats over their favourites for the prizes. In front of the Philharmonic: crowds of people who couldn’t get a ticket. Sometimes, the militia has to be called to assist, but that doesn’t always help!’