Behind the scenes notes. 15th day

Friday, October 17th (there were no competition auditions on this day) marked the 176th anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin’s death. Traditionally performed annually on this occasion at the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Warsaw, Mozart’s Requiem was this time played in transcription for solo piano.

According to some witnesses, Chopin himself requested that Mozart’s funeral mass be played at his funeral. This annual tribute to the composer takes place before his heart, which is buried in the Holy Cross Basilica.

Hundreds of people came to the church to hear the renowned Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko perform.

Chopin’s heart, in accordance with his wishes, was brought from Paris by his sister, Ludwika Jędrzejewiczowa, who was there at his death, and preserved in a jar of alcohol. Ludwika’s son, Antoni Jędrzejewicz, later told Ferdynand Hoesick that she hid itr in her skirt for fear of being confiscated by the Tsarist authorities. Years later, the urn containing the heart was embedded in one of the pillars of the Holy Cross Church as a national treasure.

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Commenting on the list of participants admitted to the finals of the Competition, Polish media emphasized that the Pole, Piotr Alexewicz, was included. Although the rules stipulate 10 finalists, 11 of them will perform, as two received exactly the same number of points (to the hundredth of a point!). In addition to the Pole, pianists from Canada, China, Georgia, Japan, Malaysia, and the United States will perform. All of them have their supporters – many people are happy to hear Shiori Kuwahara from Japan, Eric Lu from the United States, or Vincent Ong from Malaysia again. The listeners, however, lament the fact that the Hyo and Hyuk Lee brothers, Piotr Pawlak, and Yehuda Prokopowicz, among others, were eliminated from the competition after the third stage.

The final concerts will begin on Saturday evening.

Monika Ścisłowska-Sakowicz