Notes from behind the scenes. 2nd day

The stage 1, sometimes referred to as “elimination” by laymen, is supposed to show the pianist’s range and comprises of technical but also ambiance and melody challenges: an etude, a waltz, a nocturne and a ballade or the barcarole, or the fantasia.

The players on the stage Saturday were from China, Chinese Taipei, Great Britain, Poland, Austria, Canada, while Andrey Zenin, born in Russia, is taking part as a neutral pianist, representing no country.  

Listening from the balcony, the Jury members were visibly focused on each performance, taking notes and occasionally nodding their heads or noiselessly tapping their fingers, as if encouraging the young pianists on.

Jury Chairman, Garrick Ohlsson, would sometimes stand up between these mini recitals to freshen up his mind and aid concentration, for the benefit of the players.

Second to play was Zenin, who said afterwards that due to the stress he was up at around 6 a.m.  

About his own performance Zenin said: “you cannot achieve everything, you always want something new, (…) but for today it was almost everything I wanted to express.”

About his neutrality status required for the Competition Zenin said: “if you have to play Chopin or not play Chopin, I choose to play Chopin.”  

Zenin took part in 2021 and is mostly dedicating his career to Chopin’s music.

After a few more interviews he spared his time to giving out autographs to a line of fans.

Coming from Austria, Jonas Aumiller, said he was “relieved” after his performance was over because he had been exceptionally nervous before it.

Aumiller stressed he enjoyed playing Chopin before the dedicated audience and considered it a very constructive experience to be taking part in the Chopin Competition, where he has been admitted without prior eliminations rounds, since he won the 2nd prize at the 2024 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition.

With tickets sold out months ago, there was a line waiting to the box office since the morning to get whatever one-time passes would be available.

In the line were Ruby and Steve, on a weekend break from London, who wanted to seize the occasion of attending an audition live.

“We thought that it might be really interesting. It would be great to see some of the performers,” said Ruby, as the sound of the live stream from the audition could be heard.   

“That’s part of the excitement about being here (in Warsaw) in person,” Ruby said.

Eventually, they got inside.

Among the lucky ones who secured tickets ahead of time, were the Bujnowski family, with sons aged 9 and 11, as they are taking steps to develop their appreciation of music and other arts.

“I think we, Poles, have Chopin in our blood,” said the mother, Agata Bujnowska.  

“It’s cool here, they are playing many cool pieces. The only down thing is that it’s taking quite long,” said Milosz Bujnowski, aged 11.

A very private jury, each family member has a points chart and marks his or hers assessment of the performers: the interpretation, the colour of the sound, confidence and connecting with the audience.

“We hope this will help the children to see the differences between individual pianists,” Agata Bujnowska said.

Stage 1 auditions of the 84 participants continue through Tuesday, Oct. 7 and stage 2 begins on Thursday, Oct. 9.

Monika Ścisłowska-Sakowicz