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The New Coffee Room

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  3. 18th International Chopin Competition

18th International Chopin Competition

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  • AxtremusA Offline
    AxtremusA Offline
    Axtremus
    wrote on last edited by
    #13

    Listening to Miki Yamagata now, technically impassive for sure, and I liked her Nocturnes and Mazurkas, keep hoping for stronger left-hand melodic elements in her Etudes, and keep hoping for more swagger, more robust rubato with her Ballade #4. My prediction is that she will advance past the preliminaries but probably will not advance as far as YuChong Wu whom I heard yesterday. :man-shrugging:

    1 Reply Last reply
    • KlausK Klaus

      The level in this competition is insanely high. I'd gladly attend a full concert of basically every contestant I heard so far. Everyone of them would have made headlines and been given the biggest concert halls 150 years ago.

      HoraceH Offline
      HoraceH Offline
      Horace
      wrote on last edited by
      #14

      @klaus said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

      The level in this competition is insanely high. I'd gladly attend a full concert of basically every contestant I heard so far. Everyone of them would have made headlines and been given the biggest concert halls 150 years ago.

      So piano playing is a solved problem, you say?

      Education is extremely important.

      jon-nycJ 1 Reply Last reply
      • HoraceH Horace

        @klaus said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

        The level in this competition is insanely high. I'd gladly attend a full concert of basically every contestant I heard so far. Everyone of them would have made headlines and been given the biggest concert halls 150 years ago.

        So piano playing is a solved problem, you say?

        jon-nycJ Offline
        jon-nycJ Offline
        jon-nyc
        wrote on last edited by jon-nyc
        #15

        @horace said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

        So piano playing is a solved problem, you say?

        It’s only a problem when Klaus is playing. The solution is well known - get him to stop.

        Only non-witches get due process.

        • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
        KlausK 1 Reply Last reply
        • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

          @horace said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

          So piano playing is a solved problem, you say?

          It’s only a problem when Klaus is playing. The solution is well known - get him to stop.

          KlausK Offline
          KlausK Offline
          Klaus
          wrote on last edited by
          #16

          @jon-nyc said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

          @horace said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

          So piano playing is a solved problem, you say?

          It’s only a problem when Klaus is playing. The solution is well known - get him to stop.

          But getting me to stop isn't easy. Only if you pry the piano from my dead cold hands.

          1 Reply Last reply
          • KlausK Offline
            KlausK Offline
            Klaus
            wrote on last edited by
            #17

            One thing this competition reminds me of: I don't really like most of the Mazurkas. Does anyone? I like almost everything else from Chopin, but the Mazurkas don't work for me.

            AxtremusA 1 Reply Last reply
            • KlausK Klaus

              One thing this competition reminds me of: I don't really like most of the Mazurkas. Does anyone? I like almost everything else from Chopin, but the Mazurkas don't work for me.

              AxtremusA Offline
              AxtremusA Offline
              Axtremus
              wrote on last edited by
              #18

              @klaus said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

              One thing this competition reminds me of: I don't really like most of the Mazurkas. Does anyone? I like almost everything else from Chopin, but the Mazurkas don't work for me.

              The Mazurkas are where Chopin went full Polish, they are more "ethnic music" than "classical music", so I supposed from that standpoint it does not surprise me that the Mazurkas do not appeal to the non-Poles the same way the other Chopin pieces do. :man-shrugging:

              1 Reply Last reply
              • S Offline
                S Offline
                SD Tav
                wrote on last edited by
                #19

                From today's competitors....here's Boao Zhang (18 years old!) playing what most pianists consider to be the hardest etude, Op. 10 No. 2. Knocks it off with ease.

                Link to video
                I think he's a candidate to advance to the finals.

                KlausK AxtremusA 2 Replies Last reply
                • S SD Tav

                  From today's competitors....here's Boao Zhang (18 years old!) playing what most pianists consider to be the hardest etude, Op. 10 No. 2. Knocks it off with ease.

                  Link to video
                  I think he's a candidate to advance to the finals.

                  KlausK Offline
                  KlausK Offline
                  Klaus
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #20

                  @sd-tav said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

                  the hardest etude, Op. 10 No. 2.

                  There are more rankings of Chopin Etude difficulty than Etudes, but I've never seen anyone propose 10/2 for the top spot.

                  S 1 Reply Last reply
                  • KlausK Klaus

                    @sd-tav said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

                    the hardest etude, Op. 10 No. 2.

                    There are more rankings of Chopin Etude difficulty than Etudes, but I've never seen anyone propose 10/2 for the top spot.

                    S Offline
                    S Offline
                    SD Tav
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #21

                    @klaus Here's an interesting ranking of all of the etudes
                    [Chopin Etudes](

                    Link to video)!
                    He does mention Op. 10 Nos. 1 and 2 (I agree!) and Op. 25 No. 6. the double thirds one is a real b*tch! I can only play it at half tempo.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • jon-nycJ Offline
                      jon-nycJ Offline
                      jon-nyc
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #22

                      I would never have guessed he's only 18, I mean if I walked by him on the street.

                      I haven't studied the etudes enough to have a strong ranking viewpoint, but agree that 10/2 is a bear.

                      Only non-witches get due process.

                      • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • S SD Tav

                        From today's competitors....here's Boao Zhang (18 years old!) playing what most pianists consider to be the hardest etude, Op. 10 No. 2. Knocks it off with ease.

                        Link to video
                        I think he's a candidate to advance to the finals.

                        AxtremusA Offline
                        AxtremusA Offline
                        Axtremus
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #23

                        @sd-tav said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

                        Boao Zhang (18 years old!) playing […] etude, Op. 10 No. 2. Knocks it off with ease.

                        Went listen because you called out him out. Agree with you assessment that he knocked Op.10 #2 out of the park; that performance was divine. 👍

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        • AxtremusA Offline
                          AxtremusA Offline
                          Axtremus
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #24

                          The list of competitors who advanced to Stage 1 has been posted.

                          The preliminary round eliminated half of the competitors. A little over 2/3 of competitors from China advanced. Just a bit less than half of Japan’s competitors advanced. Amazingly, 15 out of 16 competitors from Poland advanced!

                          KlausK S 2 Replies Last reply
                          • AxtremusA Axtremus

                            The list of competitors who advanced to Stage 1 has been posted.

                            The preliminary round eliminated half of the competitors. A little over 2/3 of competitors from China advanced. Just a bit less than half of Japan’s competitors advanced. Amazingly, 15 out of 16 competitors from Poland advanced!

                            KlausK Offline
                            KlausK Offline
                            Klaus
                            wrote on last edited by Klaus
                            #25

                            @axtremus said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

                            Amazingly, 15 out of 16 competitors from Poland advanced!

                            Quick, let's turn this into a partisan issue such that we know whether to condemn or defend this.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            • AxtremusA Axtremus

                              The list of competitors who advanced to Stage 1 has been posted.

                              The preliminary round eliminated half of the competitors. A little over 2/3 of competitors from China advanced. Just a bit less than half of Japan’s competitors advanced. Amazingly, 15 out of 16 competitors from Poland advanced!

                              S Offline
                              S Offline
                              SD Tav
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #26

                              @axtremus Of course the Polish competitors advanced. They could understand the application! 😁

                              I'm looking forward to watching the finals in October. A piano friend told me she hopes to be able to attend the competition in Warsaw. I said, "you do realize that the competitors mostly play Chopin?" She slammed the piano lid on my fingers!😕

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              • AxtremusA Offline
                                AxtremusA Offline
                                Axtremus
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #27

                                Not sure if anyone is following this. The subsequent rounds of this competition is taking place now, Oct.3 to Oct.16, then the final from Oct.18-20.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                • S Offline
                                  S Offline
                                  SD Tav
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #28

                                  The 12 finalists have been announced. They will compete this week to determine the winner. Should be interesting! There are really fine players in this group.
                                  Chopin competition web site

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  • MikM Offline
                                    MikM Offline
                                    Mik
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #29

                                    @axtremus said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

                                    @klaus said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

                                    One thing this competition reminds me of: I don't really like most of the Mazurkas. Does anyone? I like almost everything else from Chopin, but the Mazurkas don't work for me.

                                    The Mazurkas are where Chopin went full Polish, they are more "ethnic music" than "classical music", so I supposed from that standpoint it does not surprise me that the Mazurkas do not appeal to the non-Poles the same way the other Chopin pieces do.

                                    What little I listened to, skipping around, was impressive technically and expressively.

                                    “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • AxtremusA Offline
                                      AxtremusA Offline
                                      Axtremus
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #30

                                      Final results:
                                      https://chopin2020.pl/en/news/article/437/the-winner-of-the-18th-chopin-competition!

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      • LuFins DadL Offline
                                        LuFins DadL Offline
                                        LuFins Dad
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #31

                                        I think Ms. Kobayashi deserved a bit higher of a placement…

                                        The Brad

                                        CopperC 1 Reply Last reply
                                        • LuFins DadL LuFins Dad

                                          I think Ms. Kobayashi deserved a bit higher of a placement…

                                          CopperC Offline
                                          CopperC Offline
                                          Copper
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #32

                                          @lufins-dad said in 18th International Chopin Competition:

                                          I think Ms. Kobayashi deserved a bit higher of a placement…

                                          Have Kirk reprogram it

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