XIV International Chopin Piano Competition
2000 piano competition in Warsaw, Poland
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The XIV International Chopin Piano Competition (Polish: XIV MiÄdzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 4 to 22 October 2000 in Warsaw. Li Yundi of China won the First Prize, becoming the first Chinese pianist and youngest first-prize winner. He was the first competitor to be awarded the First Prize (the gold medal) in 15 years since Stanislav Bunin won it in 1985.
Li Yundi| The Fourteenth International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition | |
|---|---|
Official poster | |
| Date | 4â22 October 2000 |
| Venue | National Philharmonic, Warsaw |
| Hosted by | Fryderyk Chopin Society |
| Winner | Li Yundi |
| Website | http://www.konkurs.chopin.pl |
Background
The director of the competition was Albert GrudziÅski.[1] According to the rules of the 14th edition of the competition, individuals aged 17â28 were eligible to participate. By March 1, 2000, among other requirements, applicants had to submit a video tape containing specific works by Frédéric Chopin, as listed in the regulations and recorded by the candidate. Subsequently, a qualifying committee appointed by the competition organizers selected the best performers, qualifying and inviting them to take part in the competition.[2] The qualifying committee chose 98 pianists from 25 countries.[3] Ultimately, after four pianists withdrew, 94 of them participated in the competition auditions.[4][5]
The competition auditions were divided into three stages, which took place on October 5â9 (Stage I), October 11â14 (Stage II), and October 15â16 (Stage III). The final concerts lasted from October 18 to 19.[4][6] On October 20-22, three final concerts of the laureates were held.[7] The competition was won by the Chinese pianist Li Yundi, who received a gold medal,[8] $25,000 and a laurel wreath.[9] This made him the youngest and first Chinese first-prize winner in the competition's history.[10] He was also the first pianist to be awarded the first prize in 15 years; the judges had refused to award it in both 1990 and 1995, and the last recipient was Stanislav Bunin in 1985.[11][12]
Calendar
_-_The_Noun_Project.svg){kind=small} Competition calendar[4][6] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4.10 | 5.10 | 6.10 | 7.10 | 8.10 | 9.10 | 10.10 | 11.10 | 12.10 | 13.10 | 14.10 | 15.10 | 16.10 | 17.10 | 18.10 | 19.10 | 20.10 | 21.10 | 22.10 |
| Inaugural concert | Stage I | Stage II | Stage III | Final | Winners' concerts | |||||||||||||
| 19:30 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 10:00 17:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | ||
Main Stage
Program
According to tradition, the competition featured only works by Frédéric Chopin. The regulations stipulated that participants had to choose specific pieces from available groups, which were to be played from memory.[2]
For Stage I, the pieces were to be performed in any order, with the exception of the études, which were to be played one after the other. For Stage II, pianists were allowed to perform the pieces in any order but were required to submit the exact performance time for each piece in their application, as the stage lasted between 35 and 40 minutes. The jury reserved the right to interrupt any performance that exceeded this time limit. For Stage III, the pieces could be performed in any order, with the stipulation that the repeat of the exposition in the first movement of sonatas was not to be included. The polonaise in Stage II, the mazurkas in Stage III, and the concerto in the final were each assessed separately.[2]
Rules
The qualification system differed fundamentally from the regulations of previous competitions. The assessment of the participants' playing was based on two systems.[13]
- System A â involved placing a declarative "yes" or "no" evaluation next to each participant's name on the list. After each of the three stages, this system either qualified the pianist to advance to the next stage or not. It was also the basis for awarding special prizes.[13]
- System B â involved scoring the pianist on a scale of 1 to 100 after Stages I, II, and III as a supplementary system, and on a scale of 1 to 12 points after the finale, as the system used for awarding the statutory prizes.[13]
After the auditions for a given stage concluded and calculations were made, the jurors received the results in the form of a list showing the number of "yes" votes, ranked from highest to lowest, but without arithmetic averages of the point scores. The jury decided through open voting at which position to close the list of "yes" votes qualifying participants to advance to the next stage. If it was impossible to select the full group of candidates for the next stages using System A, System B was utilized, admitting the next highest-scoring participants. The number of participants admitted to subsequent stages was determined by the competition regulations.[13]
Competition pianos
The pianists participating in the competition could choose the piano for their performances from among four instruments of the following brands: Kawai, Steinway (serial no. 25), Steinway (serial no. 30), and Yamaha. Fifty-eight of the ninety-four pianists chose Steinway pianos. Several times during the competition, pianists including Piotr Machnik and Feodor Amirow switched piano brands.[14]
Summary
Inaugural concert
The competition began on October 4th with an inaugural concert at the Warsaw National Philharmonic. The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by Kazimierz Kord, with violinist Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, performing Witold LutosÅawski's Concerto for Orchestra and MieczysÅaw KarÅowicz's Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 8, as well as soloist Elżbieta Szmytka, who performed Szymanowski's Symphony No. 3 Song of the Night.[15][16]
Stage I
On October 5, 2000, the first stage of the competition began. The pianists performed in an order determined by a draw of the letters of the alphabet (the letter "M" was drawn). The first to perform in Stage I was the Polish pianist Piotr Machnik.[17] For five consecutive days, participants performed successively in two sessions: a morning session (starting at 10:00 a.m.) and an afternoon session (starting at 5:00 p.m.).[6]
Stage II
38 pianists with the highest arithmetic average of all jurors' scores were admitted to the second stage, taking into account the percentage indicators of their subjective declaration of admission to the second stage.[14]
Participants of Stage II
|
Stage III
The competition jury admitted 12 pianists to the third stage.[14]
Participants of Stage III
|
Final
By the jury's decision, 6 pianists were qualified for the final. Only Ingrid Fliter chose the Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 21; the other five finalists decided to perform the Piano Concerto in E minor, Op. 11.[14]
Finalists
|
Winners' concerts
The awards ceremony and winners' concerts for the competition were held at the Warsaw National Philharmonic. It was attended by Queen SofÃa of Spain, then-Polish President Aleksander KwaÅniewski and his wife, alongside other senior Polish political and diplomatic figures. Following official speeches and the presentation of statutory awards to the winners, the winners' concerts featured a diverse program of Chopin's works, including preludes, études, mazurkas, and scherzos. The concert culminated with a performance by the first-prize winner, Li Yundi, who played the Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillanter, Op. 22, for which he also received a special polonaise prize during the competition. The event concluded with a gala reception for guests, jurors, and participants.[7]
Awards
The top three finalists were awarded medals. All finalists received a cash prize based on their ranking.[14] Special and non-statutory awards were also presented, as well as invitations to concert series and other events. According to the regulations, the winners were required to participate in the winners' concerts.[18] In addition, all participants in the second and third stages who did not qualify as finalists received commemorative diplomas.[2] The following prizes were awarded:[14][19]
| Prize | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
US$25,000 | Li Yundi | China |
 |
US$20,000 | Ingrid Fliter |  Argentina |
 |
US$15,000 | Alexander Kobrin |  Russia |
| 4th | US$11,000 | Sa Chen | China |
| 5th | US$8,000 | Alberto Nosè |  Italy |
| 6th | US$6,000 | Mika Sato |  Japan |
| HM | US$2,000 | Ning An |  United States |
| US$2,000 | Etsuko Hirose |  France | |
| US$2,000 | Valentina Igoshina | Russia | |
| US$2,000 | RadosÅaw Sobczak |  Poland | |
| US$2,000 | Nicolas Stavy | France | |
| US$2,000 | Mihaela Ursuleasa |  Romania | |
In addition, three special prizes were awarded independently:
After the previous two competitions had failed to produce a clear winner, it is said that the jury was once again inclined to withhold the first prize at one point.[19][20] However, according to Los Angeles Times's report, at the final, the entire auditorium in Warsaw erupted in a standing ovation following Li Yundi's rendition of the Concerto No. 1. The panel of 23 judges, which included Martha Argerich, praised his approach to Chopinâs music.[12] In a radio interview with RMF, the chairman of the jury, Andrzej JasiÅski, was asked why Li Yundi won the competition and if there had been any other contenders. JasiÅski stated that he won because he was the best and that, in his opinion, there was no other rival candidate. When questioned if his success was due to an innate talent or rigorous training, JasiÅski affirmed it was both, describing innate talent as a vessel that must be filled with thousands of hours of practice, which when done with love and intelligence, yields such results.[21] A report from Wirtualna Polska stated that, while the journalists were confused about placing Alexander Kobrin ahead of Sa Chen and only awarding sixth to Mika Sato, Li Yundi's victory was received as "undoubtedly justified".[22] Gazeta Wyborcza commented that the selection of Li Yundi as the first-prize winner ultimately preserved the jury's credibility, despite the overall level of the competition.[23]
Jury
The jury consisted of:[19]
Martha Argerich (joined during Stage II) (
VII)
Edward Auer
Paul Badura-Skoda
Arnaldo Cohen
Sequeira Costa
Halina Czerny-StefaÅska ( IV)
Ikuko Endo- Kazimierz Gierzod
- Lidia GrychtoÅówna
- Adam Harasiewicz ( V)
- Eugen Indjic
- Andrzej JasiÅski (chairman)
Ivan Klánský
Victor Merzhanov
Germaine Mounier- Hiroko Nakamura
- Piotr Paleczny (vice-chairman)
Sergio Perticaroli- Bernard Ringeissen (vice-chairman)
Annerose Schmidt- Regina Smendzianka
- Józef Stompel
Arie Vardi
After the competition, the chairman of the jury, Andrzej JasiÅski, summed up the competition in a statement to journalists, stating, among others:[24]
I would also like to emphasize that Yundi Li is very mature for his age, and most importantly - he feels Chopin's music. His interpretations are never controversial; he plays beautifully and has imagination, charm and pearly technique. This is all the more important because we didn't hear many outstanding, truly Chopin-esque interpretations during this year's competition, as evidenced primarily by the fact that the award for the best performance of the mazurkas was not granted. I say this with a certain sadness. There were â and this is the opinion of the jurors â many pianists who play with finesse, imagination, and technical excellence, but this technical ornamentation lacked heart. Perhaps this is a sign of our times, when the pursuit of modernity at all costs drowns out the romantic in us. And without this, playing mazurkas, or indeed Chopin in general, is very difficult.
Further reading
- NHK produced a documentary featuring the XIV International Chopin Piano Competition, titled ã·ã§ãã³ã»ã³ã³ã¯ã¼ã«â21ä¸ç´ã®å·¨å ããããè¥è ãã¡â.[25]
- Ekiert, Janusz (2010). The Endless Search for Chopin: The History of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1st ed.). Warsaw: Muza. ISBN 978-83-7495-812-7. OCLC 670048637.
- Arendt, Ada; Bogucki, Marcin; Majewski, PaweÅ; Sobczak, Kornelia (2020). Chopinowskie igrzysko. Historia MiÄdzynarodowego Konkursu Pianistycznego im. Fryderyka Chopina 1927â2015 [The Chopin Games. The History of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition 1927â2015] (in Polish) (1st ed.). Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. ISBN 978-83-235-4127-1. OCLC 1153285192.
- Ossowski, Jerzy; Brodska, Halina (2010). The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in photographs. Warsaw: Fryderyk Chopin Institute. ISBN 978-83-61142-36-2. OCLC 802743657.