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 (the gold medal) 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 (Stage I), October 11–14 (Stage II), and October 15–16 (Stage III). 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.
Calendar Competition calendar Date 4.10 5.10 6.10 7.10 8.10 9.10 10.10 11.10 12.10 13.10 14.10 15.10 16.10 17.10 18.10 19.10 20.10 21.10 22.10 Inaugural concert Stage I Stage II Stage III Final Winners' concerts 19:30 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 10:0017:00 18:00 18:00 19:00 19:00 19:00
Main Stage Program According to tradition, the competition featured only 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.
Competition program Stage IOne of the following nocturnes:Nocturne in B major, Op. 9, No. 3 ;Nocturne in G major, Op. 37, No. 2;Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1;Nocturne in F-sharp minor, Op. 48, No. 2;Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 55, No. 2;Nocturne in B major, Op. 62 No. 1;Nocturne in E major, Op. 62 No. 2. One of the following études:Étude in C major, Op. 10, No. 1;Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4 ;Étude in G-flat major, Op. 10, No. 5 ;Étude in F major, Op. 10, No. 8;Étude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12;Étude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 11.One of the following études:Étude in A minor, Op. 10, No. 2 ;Étude in C major, Op. 10, No. 7;Étude in A-flat major, Op. 10, No. 10;Étude in E-flat major, Op. 10, No. 11;Étude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 4;Étude in E minor, Op. 25, No. 5;Étude in G-sharp minor, Op. 25, No. 6;Étude in B minor, Op. 25, No. 10. One of the following pieces: Ballade in G minor, Op. 23Ballade in F major, Op. 38Ballade in A-flat major, Op. 47Ballade in F minor, Op. 52Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49. Stage II One of the following polonaises:Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise in E-flat major, Op. 22;Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44;Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53;Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat major, Op. 61. One of the following scherzos: Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20;Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31;Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39 ;Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54.One of the following waltzes:Waltz in E-flat major, Op. 18;Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 34, No. 1;Waltz in F major, Op. 34, No. 3;Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 42;Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 64, No. 3.One of the following pieces:Impromptu in F-sharp major, Op. 36;Impromptu in G-flat major, Op. 51;Rondo à la Mazur in F major, Op. 5;Rondo in E-flat major;at least four subsequent preludes from Op. 28, starting with No. 8;Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 45;Berceuse in D-flat major, Op. 57;Tarantella in A-flat major, Op. 43;Étude in E-flat minor, Op. 10, No. 6;Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 25, No. 7. Stage IIIA complete cycle of mazurkas from the following opuses:17;24;30;33;41;50;56;59.One of the following sonatas:Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35lubSonata in B minor, Op. 58. FinalOne of the concertos:Piano Concerto in E minor, Op. 11orPiano Concerto in F minor, Op. 21.
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.
After the auditions for a given stage concluded and calculations were made, the jurors received the results in the form of a list showing the number of "yes" votes, ranked from highest to lowest, but without arithmetic averages of the point scores. The jury decided through open voting at which position to close the list of "yes" votes qualifying participants to advance to the next stage. If it was impossible to select the full group of candidates for the next stages using System A, System B was utilized, admitting the next highest-scoring participants. The number of participants admitted to subsequent stages was determined by the competition regulations. 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 (serial no. 25), Steinway (serial no. 30), 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 letter "M" was drawn). 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 (starting at 10:00 a.m.) and an afternoon session (starting at 5:00 p.m.). 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 No. Participant Country 1. Ingrid Fliter 2. Juri Blinow 3. Chen Cheng 4. Ju Jin 5. Chen Sa 6. Tan Xiaotang 7. Li Yundi 8. Yen Chun-chien 9. Martin Kasík 10. Etsuko Hirose 11. Maxence Pilchen 12. Nicolas Stavy 13. Marianna Prjevalskaya No. Participant Country 14. Ka-Ling Colleen Lee 15. Nami Ejiri 16. Takeshi Kakehashi 17. Yurie Miura 18. Rieko Nezu 19. Mika Satō 20. Hiroaki Yamaguchi 21. Vladimir Milošević 22. Kim Jeong-won 23. Yoo Yung-wook 24. Andrej Jusow 25. Yorck Hardy Rittner 26. Piotr Machnik No. Participant Country 27. Natalia Sawościanik (now Rehling) 28. Radosław Sobczak 29. Daniel Wnukowski 30. Feodor Amirow 31. Valentina Igoshina 32. Alexander Kobrin 33. Aleksej Komarow 34. Mihaela Ursuleasa 35. Ning An 36. Giuseppe Albanese 37. Alberto Nosè 38. Roberto Prosseda
Stage III The competition jury admitted 12 pianists to the third stage. Participants of Stage III No. Participant Country 1. Ingrid Fliter 2. Chen Sa 3. Li Yundi 4. Etsuko Hirose 5. Nicolas Stavy 6. Mika Satō 7. Radosław Sobczak 8. Valentina Igoshina 9. Alexander Kobrin 10. Mihaela Ursuleasa 11. Ning An 12. Alberto Nosè Final By the jury's decision, 6 pianists were qualified for the final. Only Ingrid Fliter chose the Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 21; the other five finalists decided to perform the Piano Concerto in E minor, Op. 11. Finalists No. Finalist Country 1. Ingrid Fliter 2. Chen Sa 3. Li Yundi 4. Mika Satō 5. Alexander Kobrin 6. Alberto Nosè Winners' concerts The awards ceremony and winners' concerts for the competition were held at the Warsaw National Philharmonic. It was attended by Queen Sofía of Spain, then-Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and his wife, alongside other senior Polish political and diplomatic figures. Following official speeches and the presentation of statutory awards to the winners, the winners' concerts featured a diverse program of Chopin's works, including preludes, études, mazurkas, and scherzos. The concert culminated with a performance by the first-prize winner, Li Yundi, who played the Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillanter, Op. 22, for which he also received a special polonaise prize during the competition. The event concluded with a gala reception for guests, jurors, and participants. Awards The top three finalists were awarded medals. All finalists received a cash prize based on their ranking. Special and non-statutory awards were also presented, as well as invitations to concert series and other events. According to the regulations, the winners were required to participate in the winners' concerts. In addition, all participants in the second and third stages who did not qualify as finalists received commemorative diplomas. The following prizes were awarded: PrizeWinnerLi YundiIngrid FliterAlexander Kobrin4thSa Chen5thAlberto Nosè6thMika SatoNing Etsuko HiroseValentina IgoshinaNicolas StavyMihaela Ursuleasa In addition, three special prizes were awarded independently: Special prizeWinnerBest Performance of a Concertonot awardedBest Performance of Mazurkasnot awardedBest Performance of a PolonaiseLi YundiSa Chen