XIV International Chopin Piano Competition
The XIV International Chopin Piano Competition 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 in 15 years since Stanislav Bunin won it in 1985.
Background
The director of the competition was Albert Grudziński. According to the rules of the 14th edition of the competition, individuals aged 17–28 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. The qualifying committee chose 98 pianists from 25 countries. Ultimately, after four pianists withdrew, 94 of them participated in the competition auditions.The competition auditions were divided into three stages, which took place on October 5–9, October 11–14, and October 15–16. The final concerts lasted from October 18 to 19. On October 20-22, three final concerts of the laureates were held. The competition was won by the Chinese pianist Li Yundi, who received a gold medal, $25,000 and a laurel wreath. This made him the youngest and first Chinese first-prize winner in the competition's history. 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.
Main Stage
Program
According to tradition, the competition featured only List of compositions by [Frédéric Chopin by opus number|works by Frédéric Chopin]. The regulations stipulated that participants had to choose specific pieces from available groups, which were to be played from memory.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.
Rules
The qualification system differed fundamentally from the regulations of previous competitions. The assessment of the participants' playing was based on two systems.- System A – 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.
- System B – 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.
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, Steinway, 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.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 Lutosławski's Concerto for Orchestra and Mieczysław Karłowicz'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.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 first to perform in Stage I was the Polish pianist Piotr Machnik. For five consecutive days, participants performed successively in two sessions: a morning session and an afternoon session.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.| Participants of Stage II | ||||||||||
| 2. | Juri Blinow |  BelarusStage IIIThe competition jury admitted 12 pianists to the third stage.
|
China