From Tokyo to Dublin, Chopin devotees flock to Warsaw for piano’s grandest stage

Warsaw, Oct 6 (PTI) Every five years in the autumnal month of October, people here have a jauntier spring in their step. It’s when the strains of the piano are little louder, a little more evocative and carry that extra whiff of romance - left here to exist in melodic perpetuity by Warsaw’s favourite son, Romantic pianist Frederic Chopin.

The 19th edition of the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition, often considered the Olympics of piano music, began on October 2. Divided by nationality and united by Chopin, piano lovers from all over the world are queuing up to imbibe the music and breathe the same air that must have evoked the many moods and tunes in the 19th century legend.

The competition this year is hosting young pianists from China, Japan, Korea, Canada, the US, and Poland among 17 countries. To support them are visitors from as many countries and more for the same reason - to listen to the best of the best Chopin players.

The next three weeks will decide the next master pianist on the global stage. The competition comprises three rounds of five days each - running till October 20. The winners will perform their solo concerts from October 21-23.

The ticket counters for the competition opened on October 1 last year for on ground sale.

Australia-based Shoji Matsuura’s quest to attend the competition began exactly then when he came all the way to Warsaw and lined up outside the ticket counter at 2 am. He had missed out on the previous edition in 2021 due to Covid-19 and the 62-year-old Japanese teacher of languages was taking no more chances.

“It is almost impossible to get tickets on the internet, so I came to Warsaw in 2019 to buy tickets for the 2020 concert, but I had to cancel it. So I did it again last year. I came to Warsaw on the first day of ticket sales,” Matsuura, also a piano student, told PTI.

“I have been learning and playing piano and Chopin has always been my favourite composer,” he said.

There were others, too, whose journey to Warsaw remained unfulfilled the last time.

The pandemic also played spoilsport for Alex Xue, a 31-year-old financial consultant from Hong Kong, who bought a ticket five years ago but could not attend the event in 2021. However, Lady Luck favoured Xue, who moved to Dublin, Ireland, in the last five years.

“That time I was in Hong Kong. I bought a ticket for the last round but because of the pandemic I couldn’t come. In the last five years I brought myself to Europe, but not for the competition. Being in Ireland just brings the competition nearer to me so I thought I must come for this,” he said.

The Polish national capital gets “crazy” during the competition, according to competition spokesperson Aleksander Laskowski.

“Everyone is interested in Chopin. You talk to a taxi driver - he’ll know the participants. You go to a bar-you can order a Chopin drink. You go to a café - there’s a Chopin cake. Everywhere you go, you see something connected to Chopin and the Chopin Competition,” he told PTI.

The event, which was first held in 1927, hosted its first international participant in 1937 with Japanese pianists Chieko Hara and Kai Miwa. Two kimono-clad women created quite a commotion on the streets of Warsaw, according to Laskowski.

“The first edition was a very local affair, with not even 30 participants-from different countries, but not really coming from very far. The first Asian participants came for the third edition in 1937, from Japan. And they were quite a sensation, especially since at the time they were wearing traditional Japanese kimonos, which was not something very usual in the streets of Warsaw,” he said.

The times have changed, so has the vibe.

The pianists may be dressed in formal tuxedos and ball gowns but carry rockstar status. A glimpse and a smile from Bruce Liu, last edition’s winner, is enough to send a group of young women in sheer frenzy.

Similar fandom brought 20-something Yeari Song and Hana Lee from Seoul, South Korea, to Warsaw.

“We have always wanted to come here since Seong-Jin Cho won in 2015. It was on my wish list to attend the Chopin competition,” Song said, stifling her excited giggles.

“This is our first time here. She is very happy and excited,” her friend Lee added for emphasis.

The competition this year features 84 pianists, from a record number of 642 applications, from 17 countries, mostly from China, Japan, and Poland.

While most enter with pre-booked tickets, there are some who hope to receive a last-minute pass at the venue.

As the competition gets underway, the excitement seems to increase by the day.

Each day of the competition round is divided into four sessions, separated by a two-hour intermission. This small window is enough for fans to queue up at the ticket counter, some are lucky, most are not.

Ichiro Kato from Tokyo waited to get a pass for the inaugural concert. The 68-year-old pianist and researcher at Kunitachi College of Music has been a regular at the competition since 1995. The author of “Chopin’s Pianism”, a book by Ichiro Kato on Chopin's techniques, was not lucky enough for the gala concert but managed the tickets for the competition rounds.

Frenchman Romain Su and Polish woman Kinga Su also waited in the line to “get lucky”.

“When I was young I thought I would be a musician one day, but it didn’t work out. I still cherish his music because when we live abroad it gives me this feeling of home. I think this competition is very special, because when we wait in line we meet new people, we discuss how we like the musicians who are playing and it’s a bit like the Olympics of music,” said Kinga, a 31-year-old visual artist.

The couple managed to get front middle seats.

After the Chopin Competition concludes, a months-long concert tour will begin, during which the laureates will perform in prestigious concert halls across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The tour will be organized by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in collaboration with the Liu Kotow agency.

(Manish Sain is in Warsaw at the invitation of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, in collaboration with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute and the Polish Institute in New Delhi). PTI MAH MIN MIN