Classical Music in Poland and the Europe of Chopin - From the Reviewer's Notebook

Covering the competition was a difficult task that grew uncontrollably like a Triffid but it was worth ordering my ideas on what I was hearing day after day. Writing all this material forced me to think after each day's miracles rather than collapse with a scotch on the sofa at home in an envious blue funk. Please read my concluding remarks at the end of the competition posting (to do with the results and especially Trifonov) and also my reservations about the competition itself which appear at the very beginning of the post.  I tried to be fair to everyone – no pianist in this competition could possibly be 100% bad – I tried to give a balanced and just view of as many artists as I could - positive and negative characteristics. It was not intended as a technical musicological commentary or analysis of a 'faithful' or 'unfaithful' performance according to Chopin's score and the National Edition. These were simply general personal impressions of pianists no

Please Click on Photographs to Enlarge - a far superior result  Chopin in the Drawing Room of Prince Antoni Radziwill, Henryk Siemieradzki 1887 And so the 16th International Fryderyk Chopin Competition begins in Warsaw, arguably the most important event in the Chopin Year 2010. It runs from 30 September - 23 October 2010 I can hardly believe that five years have passed since I attended every single performance by every pianist in 2005. I shall not be doing that again this year. I have heard rather too much Chopin already in this bicentenary year. In 2005 I found the decision of the jury and the politicking as the pianists moved from stage to stage absolutely inexplicable to the point of questioning my own musical judgement. I now know a great deal more of what transpires ‘behind the scenes’ at this competition and I am afraid it is not as straightforward a contest as it appears. I have a suspicion that many young pianists of outstanding talent are n