• Source: I International Chopin Piano Competition

The I International Chopin Piano Competition (Polish: I Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was the inaugural edition of the International Chopin Piano Competition, held from 23 to 30 March 1927 in Warsaw. Soviet pianist Lev Oborin was awarded the first prize.




History


The competition was initiated by Jerzy Żurawlew, who began seeking funds for a piano competition in 1925, influenced by Aleksander Michałowski. Żurawlew recalled later: "I met with utter incomprehension, indifference and even aversion. The opinion among musicians was unanimous: Chopin is so great that he can defend himself. At the Ministry, it was announced that there were no funds for it [...] and that the whole idea was unfeasible". In this difficult situation, help arrived from Henryk Rewkiewicz—a businessman, music lover and board member of The Warsaw Music Society, who offered his personal financial guarantees to cover the entire deficit expected to arise from the first Competition. Many years later Jerzy Żurawlew wrote, “[…] I was greatly helped by my friend Henryk Rewkiewicz, director of the Match Monopoly, who offered 15,000 złoty - a substantial sum at the time - for the Competition”. Ultimately, things picked up with the election of a new Polish president, Ignacy Mościcki, who became the patron of the Chopin Competition.
The competition was originally scheduled to start on 15 October 1926, the day of the unveiling of Wacław Szymanowski's Chopin Monument in the Łazienki Park, though it was delayed until 1927.




Awards



26 pianists took part in the competition, including 16 competitors from Poland. After an elimination round, 8 pianists were admitted to the final, where they performed two consecutive movements of one of Chopin's two piano concertos with the Warsaw Philharmonic.
As Żurawlew was convinced that only Polish musicians could truly understand Chopin's music, the jury was composed almost entirely of Poles, Alfred Hoehn of Germany, who judged the finals only, being the sole exception. Throughout the competition, the Polish press only presented Polish competitors as the real contenders for the prize, leading the public to expect a Polish victory. When Lev Oborin was awarded the first prize, it came as a shock and as a national humiliation, the Polish–Soviet War having ended just six years before.
A young Dmitri Shostakovich was among the participants, though he only received an honorable mention.
The following prizes were awarded:

One special prize was awarded:




Jury


The jury consisted of:




References






Further reading


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, Paweł; Sobczak, Kornelia (2020). Chopinowskie igrzysko. Historia Międzynarodowego Konkursu Pianistycznego im. Fryderyka Chopina 1927–2015 [The Chopin Games. The History of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition 1927–2015] (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.




External links


Chopin Institute's channel on YouTube
Media related to 1st International Chopin Piano Competition at Wikimedia Commons

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Iravati M. Sudiarso
• Mao Asada
• International Chopin Piano Competition
• I International Chopin Piano Competition
• XVII International Chopin Piano Competition
• XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition
• XIX International Chopin Piano Competition
• XVI International Chopin Piano Competition
• XV International Chopin Piano Competition
• X International Chopin Piano Competition
• V International Chopin Piano Competition
• IV International Chopin Piano Competition