Chopin Competition 2025 Discussion

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I know it's a bit early, but if you've seen them, Chopin Competition preliminaries have started! I wanted to see if any of you guys wanted to discuss it on here. 5 years ago I don't think I was into piano enough to watch this stuff so I'm excited it's back.

Here's the first video:

I only watched the first 3 so far. I'll probably be taking this thing slow because it looks like they're releasing pretty quickly. Most of the interpretations seem, unsurprisingly, quite standard and not very interesting, but there are still small differences that you can pay attention to.

Masaharu Kambara's playing was static in terms of the tone, but the rubato in the mazurka was pretty spot on. His other interpretations felt pretty textbook.

The next guy, Masaya Kamei, had a more varied technical range I would say. The etudes were super clean and spot on, and the mazurka went to many different places and was in general energetic and matched the flow of the piece. But again, a kind of textbook scherzo.

Uladzislau Khandohi: powerful and dynamic. The nocturne started a little uncertain but it became powerful in the fast section. His scherzo was bouncy and playful and I think a step up from Kamei's.

All of these pianists were really enjoyable to watch and they all have something going for them, so I'm excited to see how this progresses!

[gasplamey]

Sorry, I'm new to piano competition stuff. It's never interested me in the past.
How does this tournament work? Is it Chopin-only or are other composers allowed? Where can I find past iterations of the tournament?

[essence]

It is Chopin only. It is very prestigous.

[dizzyfingers]

Where can I find past iterations of the tournament?

Google is your friend.

https://konkursy.nifc.pl/en/miedzynarodowy/regulamin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Chopin_Piano_Competition

also do searches on youtube for coverage and historical summaries

[lelle]

Any interesting players one should look out for so far?

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Any interesting players one should look out for so far?

Pretty lackluster so far in my opinion, but I haven't listened much. I'm really liking Ariya Laothitipong, she has pretty original ideas but her tone is kind of annoying. One problem of Chopin's music that comes from people playing his music so much, as well as having a somewhat limited selection of repertoire, is that you hear the same pieces played by many different people, and many interpretations sound very similar.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Honestly, I don't get the "one composer only"-style tournaments. Unless you're working with someone like Liszt, Schubert, or Bach (who wrote thousands of works that you could use), then you run into the problem transitional described above. And even then most people would still play the same set of pieces (S. 139, Spanish Rhapsody, HRs, B Minor Sonata, and Rondeau Fantastique, using Liszt as an example)
If you really want a tournament with a lot of Chopin, then I propose a "Polish composers tournament," where the composer has to be Polish but there aren't any other restrictions. You'd still get a lot of Chopin, but you'd have a lot more variety from pieces by Szymanowski, etc.
Maybe this comment should go in "unpopular opinions," lol.

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Totally agree. This also includes Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Paderewski and many other composers. I think it would also make sense to include Scriabin, since his progression is greatly influenced by Chopin's works, especially early on.

[lyly19]

I think Uladzislau Khandohi is the likely winner — his playing style is considered to be stronger, more energetic, and has a more distinct personality than the other contestants.

[essence]

As far as I can see he didn;t get to round 1 ?

[dizzyfingers]

As far as I can see he didn;t get to round 1 ?

Correct - he's not on the 1st round roster:
https://storage.nifc.pl/web_files/_plik/file_manager/files/671861_lista_A4_popr2.pdf

I didn't listen to his playing - has anyone?

Our friendly AI Internet had this answer to the question of why he didn't make round 1:

"There is no official statement from the Chopin Competition organizers explaining why Uladzislau Khandohi did not advance to Round 1. However, audience commentary from the first day of the preliminary round notes that he seemed nervous-understandably so, as he was the first performer in the preliminaries-and missed a few notes during his performance. This suggests that performance anxiety and minor mistakes may have contributed to the jury's decision not to advance him. No controversy or broader explanation has been cited in available sources."

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I only listened to like 6 people so far lol. None that I heard so far have been particularly remarkable. But the jury normally picks pretty orthodox interpretations, so that's part of it. And it's all subjective when everyone's playing at a pretty similar level. I honestly didn't find Bruce Liu much better than the other 2020 competitors. Last competition I liked Kyohei Sorita, even though he's pretty hit or miss with different composers.

Also I wouldn't trust (Google?) AI with these kinds of inquiries. They haven't listened to it, and are pretty much pulling this off Reddit.

[anacrusis]

Do I understand it correctly that the prelimiary rounds are completed now, and that the actual competition will be in October?!? Why the long wait lol?

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Do I understand it correctly that the prelimiary rounds are completed now, and that the actual competition will be in October?!? Why the long wait lol?

Well, it looks like this thread will be dead until around October 1st.
I'll keep this thread bookmarked and revive it around then so no one will make a second thread...

[dizzyfingers]

Well, it looks like this thread will be dead until around October 1st.

... not necessarily:

this review of the lead contestants from the preliminary round popped on my YT - I think it's a pretty good video:

[essence]

Got a bit confusing when the video was showing the left/right mirror image!

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Well, it's back.

Sorry I'm a bit late, I forgot about this thread for a minute lol.

[pianointegrity]

Excited for final day of round 3, even though at this point hearing a lot of the same pieces is a bit fatiguing, and I am also not a Chopin fan lol.

Round 3 performances I like the most so far are 1) Hyuk Lee 2) Tianyao Lyu 3) Piotr Pawlak 4) Hyo Lee but it's still anyone's game.

[dizzyfingers]

I haven't listened to a single performance and don't plan to - - -

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I like Tianyao Lyu's 3rd round performance. It's quite spontaneous and I haven't enjoyed Chopin this much in a while. Her B-flat Minor sonata is very optimistic and strays away from the typical notion of raw anger throughout the entire piece.

Kevin Chen has flawless technique, but he brings nothing out of the page, so it's basically like LDF S. 140 4b vs MIDI of that.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

so it's basically like LDF S. 140 4b vs MIDI of that.

On the note of S. 140 no. 4b, I've recently been gravitating towards Elisa Tomellini's recording of it; it's slower than Yi-Chung's, but a lot more musical.

[essence]

On the note of S. 140 no. 4b, I've recently been gravitating towards Elisa Tomellini's recording of it; it's slower than Yi-Chung's, but a lot more musical.

I don;t normally go for blonds, but imagine waking up next to her....

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Results:

1st - Eric Lu
2nd - Kevin Chen
3rd - Zitong Wang (best sonata)
4th - Shiori Kuwahara and Tianyao Lyu (best concerto)
5th - Piotr Alexewicz and Vincent Ong
6th - William Yang
F - David Khrikuli, Tianyou Li (best polonaise), Miyu Shindo
Best Mazurkas - Yehuda Prokopowicz
Best Ballade - Adam Kaldunski

A bit disappointing, but not unexpected. Happy for Tianyao Lyu with the Concerto, that changed how I view that specific concerto! She was the most interesting finalist for me, but the judges pretty much just went for technique as they always do.

[b90401073]

Just a brief thought after following the livestream closely:

While I deeply respect all finalists, one aspect of this year’s competition deserves clarification — the protocol regarding illness-related postponements. From the broadcast, it seemed clear that some competitors, such as Kevin Chen and others, performed while evidently unwell, yet another finalist was granted a delay to recover.

Such inconsistency, however well-intentioned, inevitably raises questions of fairness. Every pianist faces enormous physical and mental strain, and those who chose to perform despite illness deserve recognition equal to those given additional time.

My suggestion is simple: the Chopin Competition, being the world’s most respected event of its kind, could benefit from a transparent and uniformly applied rule regarding postponements. This would protect both the dignity of the artists and the integrity of the competition itself.

I raise this point not as a protest, but out of genuine respect for all who sacrificed so much to perform under such demanding circumstances.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

but the judges pretty much just went for technique as they always do.

They went for their students and whoever sounds like them lol

[lelle]

I'm hearing a lot of grumbling from the audience regarding the results this year... more than usual.

[dizzyfingers]

Here's a review of the Chopin competition winners (and non-winners), which I feel is worthy enough to recommend and promote.

I've watched a view videos by this "cultural analyst".  His presentation is blunt and to the point, his ideas are sometimes radical, but always seem thought-through and honest/sincere.