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PawełMajewski
isthefollowingtwofacts:Firstly,thepresidentofthecommitteedemandsthat
musicpressrepresentativesdemonstrateacompletedesinteressementconcerning
the[participants’]productions,orinotherwords–thattheyrefrainfrompublicly
expressingtheiropinionsconcerningtheperformancesofoneoranothercandi-
date,onthepretextthatcritics’judgmentsmightinfluencethedecisionsofthe
jury.Apoorjuryitisindeed,ifitsdecisionsmaydependsomuchontheinstiga-
tionofthepress!Atthesametime,thecommitteecountsonourpresenceand
assistancefrom1to5[p.m.]forsevenfulldays,duringthe[candidates’]displays
ofskill,whichwecanreporttoourreadersintheformofamereGchronicle’.
Anaïvedemand,indeed,andoneunheardofatanyotherplace!29
Niewiadomskinotonlycriticisedtheorganisers’recommendations,but
inanotherreporthecommented:
Theaudiencelisteningtothosenumerousperformancesdidnotrefrainfrom
greetingthemwithapplauseatall,despitethecommittee’srequestnottoapplaud
them.Theaudienceconstructeditsownmakeshiftbuttellingassessmentscale,
fromsilencetomostardentacclamation.Thecommitteehadtoaccept,there-
fore,thatapartfromtheunwelcome,prematurejudgmentsinthepress,there
existsyetanotherformofassessment,whichexertsamoredirectimpactonthe
jury–namely,theverdictoftheaudience,whichcannotbeforbiddenfreelyto
reactintheauditoriumtotheperformancesofthecandidates.Oneshouldstress,
moreover,thatthisaudienceproveditsgreatexpertiseandapplaudedonlythe
performanceswhichdidindeeddeservetheirapplause30.
29A.Wieniawski,Zzakulismiędzynarodowegokonkursuim.Chopina[TheInternational
ChopinCompetitionInsideStory],“Rzeczpospolita”1927,No.20,p.5.Thesameauthor
notedanotherfauxpasonthepartofthecommittee:“Thesecondthing,whichmaysound
likeafarce,isthecommittee’sdecisiontoinvitetothecompetitionthediplomaticresidents
ofonlythosecountrieswhosepianistsenteredthecontest!Inthisway,theFrenchembassy
aswellasthediplomaticmissionsofGreatBritain,Italy,theUnitedStates,Japan,andmany
others,havebeenGpunished’bytherefusalofadmissiontoafestiveeventthatisinterna-
tionalafterallandenjoysthepatronageofthehigheststatedignitary,thePresidentofthe
Republic!...Nocommentsneeded!”InthenexttwoChCeditions(1932and1937),Adam
Wieniawskiwaschairmanofthejury.
30S.Niewiadomski,Zżyciamuzycznego.KonkursSzopenowski[FromtheMusicLife:
TheChopinCompetition],“Warszawianka”1927,No.24,p.4.AlsoKarolStromengerinhis
reportfor“TygodnikIlustrowany”stressedtheaudience’sactiveresponse:“Thevoiceofthe
publicwasmeasuredbytheamountofapplausereceivedfromthewholeauditorium,which
demonstratedtheaudience’sno-nonsenseapproachtotheperformancesandthecrowd’s
well-developedcriticalsense.ThisisWarsaw’sgeniusloci,whoseexistencewehavenotbeen
awareofbefore[ś]”(Przeglądmuzyczny[MusicalSurvey],“TygodnikIlustrowany”1927,
No.7,p.138).Stromenger(1885–1975)wasanotherinfluentialmusiccriticwhocommented
ontheearlyChopinCompetitions.ForKaden,ontheotherhand,itwasobviousthat“atcom-
petitionsofthiskindapplausemustnotbegiven,forathousanddifferentreasons.[ś][A]nd
reviewsmustnotbewrittenfordailieswhilethecompetitionisstillinprogress.”(Pierwszy
wielkiTurniej…,op.cit.)
