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X International Chopin Piano Competition

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The Tenth International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition
Date1–20 October 1980 (1980-10-01 – 1980-10-20)
VenueNational Philharmonic, Warsaw
Hosted byFryderyk Chopin Society [pl]
WinnerVietnam Đặng Thái Sơn
← 9th · Chopin Competition · 11th →

The X International Chopin Piano Competition (Polish: X Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 1 to 20 October 1980 in Warsaw. Đặng Thái Sơn, who in the final played with an orchestra for the first time in his life, won first prize, becoming the first pianist from Asia to do so. The elimination of Ivo Pogorelić after the third stage was a great source of controversy.

Awards

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The competition consisted of three elimination stages and a final with seven pianists.

The following prizes were awarded:[1]

Prize Winner
1st place, gold medalist(s) Đặng Thái Sơn  Vietnam
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Tatiana Shebanova  Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Arutyun Papazyan  Soviet Union
4th not awarded
5th Akiko Ebi  Japan
Ewa Pobłocka [pl]  Poland
6th Erik Berchot  France
Irina Pietrova [ru]  Soviet Union
HM Dan Atanasiu  Romania
Bernard d'Ascoli  France
Angela Hewitt  Canada
Hung-Kuan Chen [zh]  Taiwan
Kevin Kenner  United States
Alexander Lonquich  West Germany
Ivo Pogorelić  Yugoslavia
William Wolfram [ru]  United States

Three special prizes were awarded:

Special prize Winner
Best Performance of a Concerto Đặng Thái Sơn  Vietnam
Tatiana Shebanova  Soviet Union
Best Performance of Mazurkas Đặng Thái Sơn  Vietnam
Ewa Pobłocka [pl]  Poland
Best Performance of a Polonaise Đặng Thái Sơn  Vietnam
Tatiana Shebanova  Soviet Union

Jury

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The jury consisted of:[1]

Pogorelić Scandal

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There was a sensation at the 1980 Chopin Competition in Warsaw when, in a decision going against audience opinion, Ivo Pogorelić was not admitted to the final round because of his unconventional interpretations. This came about because of a wide discrepancy in the jury’s marking; half the panel of judges gave him the highest number of points and half the lowest. He was awarded only a special prize for his “exceptionally original pianistic talent”. Others were less fond of his less traditional style of play.

Jury member Eugene List explained: "I'm the first to say that the boy is very talented [...] but I voted very low for him. This is a special kind of competition. It's only Chopin. He doesn't respect the music. He uses extremes to the point of distortion. And he puts on too much of an act." Louis Kentner resigned after the first stage after all of his students had been eliminated from the competition,[1] saying that "if people like Pogorelić make it to the second stage, I cannot participate in the work of the jury. We have different aesthetic criteria."[2]

In the third stage, Pogorelić once again caused controversy, performing his program in the wrong order, leaving the stage part way through, and wearing an extravagant concert attire that made him look like "a prince dropped in the middle of the desert". In the end, Pogorelić was not admitted into the final. Martha Argerich resigned in protest, proclaiming him a "genius" who "her colleagues could not appreciate because of an entrenched conservatism", which is "why she was ashamed to be associated with them". Nikita Magaloff and Paul Badura-Skoda announced their solidarity with Argerich, though coming short of resigning themselves, declaring that it was "unthinkable that such an artist should not make it to the finals".[2] According to Đặng Thái Sơn, the eventual winner, Argerich still sent a public telegram to Warsaw to congratulate him, after learning the final results.[3]

Pogorelić later accused in a one-sided interview in 1993, claiming that "The Soviet Bloc authorities had decided months before the competition that it was politically necessary to have a North Vietnamese winner. My decision to participate was not at all welcome. I was told I should wait a year, for the Tchaikovsky competition, when I would have the first prize guaranteed."[4] In 2008, he demanded an official inquiry into the jury decisions of the 1980 competition, however, the Chopin Institute refused to reopen the case.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "The 10th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition". Fryderyk Chopin Institute. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c McCormick, Lisa (2018). "Pogorelich at the Chopin: Towards a sociology of competition scandals". The Chopin Review (1). Fryderyk Chopin Institute. ISSN 2544-9249. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  3. ^ Ho, Elijah (22 September 2011). "Interview with Dang Thai Son". The Counterpoints.
  4. ^ Henken, John (13 January 1993). "Pogorelich Founds Piano Competition". Los Angeles Times.

Further reading

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