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Is it possible that the composition of the final dozen in the 15th Chopin Competition expresses the trend that there is a swift current of piano talents flowing from the countries of the Far East, while only three "locals": two Poles and a Russian born in Kiev, who actually has Polish ancestors and a Polish-sounding name, will try to stand up to them? Where's the rest of Europe? Where are the famous piano schools: French, Italian, Scandinavian?
Where's Vienna, where are the Balkan piano centers which have scored substantial successes on the international scene after the spectacular emergence on it of Ivo Pogorelic?
There's the "Polish school," in the sense that we have two very young and very talented Poles in the final: 17-year-old JACEK KORTUS from Poznań and 20-year-old RAFAŁ BLECHACZ from Nakło on the Noteć River, currently a student in Bydgoszcz.
ANDREY YAROSHINSKIY is 19 and represents the Moscow Conservatory.
Among the nine artists from the Far East, we have four Japanese pianists (RIEKO NEZU, YUMA OSAKI, SHOHEI SEKIMOTO, TAKASHI YAMAMOTO), or five if you count RACHEL NAOMI KUDO who represents the United States but is of Japanese origin. The final also includes three Koreans (the brothers DONG HYEK LIM and DONG MIN LIM, and YOEL EUM SON) and one Chinese artist from Hong Kong (KA LING COLLEN LEE). There are no Chinese pianists from Beijing and Shanghai, which could suggest that Yundi Lee's victory, which led to an explosion of interest in Chopin and the piano, counted in millions of people, has brought no actual results as yet.
Judging by the emotional temperature in which the results of Stage 2 were commented, the problem of evaluating the candidates remains open. Before the final verdict is not the time to start the polemics, though polemics does seem necessary. At this point, our concern is a good competition, choosing the best player in a fair manner, the person who will become the "mark of quality" of the Warsaw Competition. The Competition already has some marvelous envoys. It needs more, so that there is no weak point in the relay of generations taking place in its five-year rhythm.
It is truly fantastic news that this year will see the presentation of the Award for the Best Performance of a Sonata, sponsored by Krystian Zimerman. It would be great if the winner of the Grand Prix from 1975 could be in Warsaw personally and choose the winner himself.
Jan Popis
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