Twenty pianists have qualified to the third stage of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw – six from Russia, three from the  United States, two from Poland (Marcin Koziak and Paweł Wakarecy), China, France and Italy, as well as from Bulgaria, Austria and Australia. Observers note that all of the six Japanese contestants have been eliminated.

Forty pianists performed in the second stage, and seventy eight in the first stage of the event. The programme of the third-stage auditions, starting today, includes, for the first time, a sonata.

Apart from ‘old favourites’, the B flat major and B minor Sonatas, the participants can also choose the C minor Sonata Op. 4, whose concept, according to many critics, resembles that of Beethoven’s A flat major Sonata, the only one by Beethoven which Chopin ever played.

The list of ten finalists of the competition will be announced on Saturday night and the final results of the event – next Wednesday. The winner will receive a gold medal, a cash prize of 30,000 euros and several major engagements, including one with the New York Philharmonic.
Interviewed by today’s edition of the Chopin Competition’s daily gazette Chopin Express, Polish music critic Józef Kański says: ‘When they ask me today – Who is your favourite? – I am at a loss to answer’. (mk/jb)