Behind the scenes notes. 14th day

The good news at the start of the day Thursday was that Eric Lu, of the United States, was able to perform, following illness. His evening recital was the last one of Stage 3. Other participants that we heard earlier on Thursday came from Japan, China, Poland and Canada, and there was also another pianist from the U.S.A.

Tomoharu Ushida, from Japan, who has lived and studied in Poland for a few years, said he can see similarities in the character of the Poles and of the Japanese and he is probably putting them together in the way he plays. Having an endearing personality and ready to laugh, Ushida thanked his professors, jury members and his fans for their support, decisions and encouragement that allowed him to participate in the Competition. At the age of nine he began taking lessons from his Polish professor, Piotr Paleczny, who has taught him that silence matters a lot in music. Paleczny, a Jury member (and therefore, in accordance with the regulations, he does not award points to his student), won the 3rd prize at the Chopin Competition in 1970.

In Ushida’s opinion, one of the values of the Competition is that it shows the many faces of Chopin as a composer.

According to Yifan Wu from China, who started to take piano lessons at the age of 4 and a half, piano is an easy instrument for the beginners, but as the level of the performances gets higher, they are beginning to notice the limitations of this instrument; it does not always yield to the will of those who would like to produce long, singing sounds. If it were possible, he would like to ask Chopin how he played his forte.  

An additional celestial element was added to the Competition when Polish astronaut, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, handed back the facsimile of Chopin’s manuscript of Mazurka in A flat major (edited by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute), which he took into space during his journey to the International Space Station in June.

‘I can’t help thinking that when Chopin was in space, he was actually at home, because many people say that this is celestial music, so, in the space he belongs,’ said director of the Institute and of the Competition, Artur Szklener.        

On Thursday night the jury announced the names of the 11 pianists admitted to the final stage. In that group are pianists from China, Canada, Japan, Georgia, Malaysia, Poland and the United States. 

The last round of the Competition begins on Saturday evening and winds up on Monday evening, when all the prizes are to be announced.

In this round, the pianists are to perform solo Polonaise-Fantasy in A flat major, Op. 61, and one of the two piano concertos, with the orchestra of the National Philharmonic conducted by Andrzej Boreyko.

Monika Ścisłowska-Sakowicz