In case you're not familiar, the International Chopin Piano Competition is considered the granddaddy of piano competitions, the most prestigious of them all. First initiated in 1927, it has been held every five years and has launched notable names such as Ashkenazy, Uchida, Argerich, Pollini, etc. Due to Covid-19, last year's competition (2020) has been rescheduled to October 2021. Here is a report on instrument selection from the 2015 events (Google translated). I thought the most interesting part was that Bösendorfer withdrew from the 'competition'.
Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai or Fazioli?
September 28, 2015
Four pianos to choose from and only 15 minutes to decide. Starting today, at the National Philharmonic, participants of the Chopin Competition choose the instruments they will play for the next three weeks.
Just like five years ago, pianists choose from among the instruments of the brand: Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai and Fazioli. They only have 15 minutes to choose the right one, counting from entering the Concert Hall of the National Philharmonic.
How the selection takes place depends only on the participant. Some spend a few minutes on each instrument, others, for example, only test two of them. Sometimes it happens that the candidate knows immediately which piano to choose and spends 15 minutes playing only the one and the right one.
We will inform the participants which instruments have been chosen by the participants on October 2, one day before the start of the Competition.
The pianos available to the participants of the Chopin Competition have changed over the years. The first editions of the Competition were dominated by pianos from Bechstein, Bösosendorfer, Pleyel and Steinway, and the choice of the instrument took place the day before the performance. The fewest instruments - only three - were available to pianists in 1965, interestingly all three were supplied by the Steinway company. In turn, the greatest number, as many as 7 instruments, was available in 1990. During the 11th edition of the Competition, only one pianist decided to buy a Bösosendorfer piano, and since then the company has ceased to supply instruments for the Competition. In 1985, Yamaha and Kawai pianos appeared for the first time, and since the last edition, young pianists also have a choice of an instrument from the Italian brand Fazioli.
