International Chopin Piano Competition

XIX International Chopin Piano Competition (2025)

Preliminary stage

I managed to watch all the performances in the preliminaries while trying to predict who would pass or fail. Overall, I was quite impressed by the high quality of the performances (except for a few, of course). According to the announcer in the press conference presenting the qualified candidates, 20-something pianists achieved a score above 20, which is very high. While many pianists were excellent, several caught my eye for being extra exceptional.

I was particularly impressed by David Khrikuli’s performance on the first day of the preliminaries. His Octaves and Winter Wind etudes were pretty much flawless, and his Scherzo No. 4 was magnificent. He was oozing confidence in his powerful and energetic presentation. I would be surprised if he does not become a finalist. It seems like he is going to play in this year’s edition of the Van Cliburn competition as well.

Another powerhouse is the Canadian Athena Deng. She did make some technical mistakes, but her interpretation, while steadfastly adhering to the established historical tradition, deviated cleverly from “nature” in a coherent way. She is a student of Dang Thai Son, who taught the previous edition’s winner, Bruce Liu.

One of the Bulgarian Ignatov twins, Hasan Ignatov, also delivered an unforgettable performance. However, his other twin, who I felt was equally convincing, was disqualified from performing in the main stage – which I did not expect. The two’s echoing of the legendary run of the Lim twins, who received the third prize (ex aequo) in the 2005 competition, may have clouded my judgment.

The final performer, Zihan Jin, was, in my view, the highlight of the preliminary stage. His rendition of Chopin, with a program similar to Khrikuli’s, was simply divine. He will go far.

Other great performers not mentioned here include Andrey Zenin, Jacky Xiaoyu Zhang, Yang (Jack) Gao, Hao Rao, and We-Ting Hsieh.

In the said press conference, applicants directly accepted to the main stage without the need to perform in the preliminary stage were also announced. Some names surely stirred me up in excitement. Eric Lu, the 4th prize winner in the 2015 edition, is back for vengeance, now with a 1st place Leeds finish and the world-class reputation he developed over the last ten years. Lee Hyuk, the finalist in the 2021 Chopin competition, is also back for more. Tomoharu Ushida, who was disqualified after Stage II in his previous run, also entered the fray.

May 8, 2025