Notes from behind the scenes. 3rd day

The third day of auditions on a rather quiet Sunday was filled with eight performances in the morning session and nine in the evening session, meaning that Stage 1 has crossed its mid-point. Performing pianists came from China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Italy, Poland, Canada, Bulgaria, Georgia and the U.S.A. Many of them, visibly still under huge stress, said they were trying to think of their performances as recitals or festival appearances, just sharing the music, rather than competing.

The corridors and general spaces outside the auditions hall were filled with TV cameras and radio reporters doing interviews with the young competitors and commenting on the progress in the auditions. During longer coffee breaks, the multi-language crowd of listeners spilled out into the corridors, pursuing the pianists for autographs or browsing through books about Chopin, recordings of Chopin music, Chopin coffee cups, Chopin scarves (silk,) and Chopin sweets, and other items bearing the likeness or the signature pattern of Poland’s best loved composer, at an arranged official souvenir stand.

There is also space for reflection on the passage of time, a small room arranged and dedicated to the late Polish pianist Janusz Olejniczak, Competition laureate in 1970 and many-time Jury member, who passed away a year ago, in October 2024. In the room you will find a Grotrian-Steinweg piano, on which Olejniczak practiced for his 1970 Competition appearance, family photos from his youth, diplomas, letters and personal belongings. Your attention will be drawn to a huge TV screen, showing Formula 1 racing, a motor sport that Olejniczak enjoyed watching.

Stage 1 continues through Tuesday, when, in the evening, we expect to see the list of pianists admitted to the next round which is to begin on Thursday morning. 

Monika Ścisłowska-Sakowicz