Three pianists are billed in the second day of the finals of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Chopin’s other concerto – in F minor – has been chosen by only one of the ten finalists, Canada’s Charles Richard-Hamelin, who will appear before the Warsaw audience on Tuesday, the last day of the finals, alongside his compatriot Yike (Tony) Yang and Dmitry Shishkin of Russia.
Prizewinners’ names will be announced on Tuesday night. Both concertos belong to Chopin’s early works. Inspired by his first, truly romantic love for Konstancja Gładkowska, a young singer of noble beauty, they were written before Chopin’s departure from Poland in the autumn of 1830 and are among the finest examples of the so-called brillant style.
Even though marked as Op. 11, the E minor Concerto was composed a few months later than the other one, No. 21 in the catalogue of Chopin’s works. Chopin performed it at his farewell concert in Warsaw’s National Theatre on 11 October 1830. The Concerto in F minor Op. 21 was premiered several months earlier.
Music critics point out that only once in the history of the Chopin Competition did the winner perform the F minor Concerto. It was Dang Thai Son, the 1980 winner, who this year is a member of the competition’s international jury. The Chopin Competition has generated an unprecedented interest worldwide.
According to the National Fryderyk Chopin Institute, its main organizer, the event’s website has had about half a million visits daily, with an average visit lasting 24 minutes. The largest number of Chopin Competition website users come from Poland, followed by Japan, the United States, Germany and South Korea. (mk/nh/rk) – See more at: http://www.thenews.pl/1/11/Artykul/225391,Penultimate-day-of-Chopin-Competition-finals#sthash.KT3JT7CI.dpuf
