Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
The2
ndCompetition.OpeningUptotheWorld
45
countries,andinclude7Austrians,7Belgians,2Bulgarians,1Brazilian,2Czech-
oslovaks,1Spaniard,8Italians,4Germans,1Portuguese,10citizensoftheSoviet
Union,2Romanians,1UScitizen,2Swiss,and5Hungarianartists.Apartfrom
these,personsofArmenian,Ukrainian,andRussian(émigré)origin(oneofeach).
Themajorityofthoselistedareaged22–26(theagelimitforthiscompetitionis
28),butthereareseveralpianistsaged16–175.
Sincethedeadlineforsubmittingdocumentswas30thDecember19316,the
datacompiledbyBinentalcanbeconsideredascomplete.Byastrangetwist
offate,thelastofthoselistedinhisarticle,“apersonofRussian(émigré)
origin”,AlexanderUninsky,wastowinthe1stprize.
The2ndChCwasannouncedunequivocallyasaninternationalevent.
“ExpressPoranny”informedinanoteentitledNajwiększyturniejpia-
nistyczny[TheGreatestPianoCompetition]:“Eminentforeigneducators
arealsomeetinginWarsawinordertodrawinstructiveconclusionsfromthe
overalllevelofvirtuosopianismworldwide.”7“PolskaZbrojna”reported:
“Foreignpressannouncesinextensivearticlesthatthe2ndinternational
ChopincompetitionheldinWarsaw[ś]is,intermsofnumbers,thelarg-
estpianocompetitionofalltime.”8InJanuary“GazetaPolska”reported
inasemi-sensationaltone:
ThenumberofcandidatesforWarsaw’sChopincompetitionhasalreadyexceeded
ninety[somelaterwithdrew],includingpianistsnotonlyfromEurope,butfrom
otherpartsoftheworldaswell.RecentlytherehasbeenaqueryfromJapancon-
cerningaJapanesepianistwhofortechnicalreasonsfailedtoregisterbeforethe
establisheddeadline.[ś][Theartisticlevelofthecandidates]issplendidoverall.
ApartfromtheBolshevikteam,which,asweknow,hasbeenselectedthrough
preliminarycompetitionsfromamongallthepianistsrepresentingalltheSoviet
republics,amongtheEuropeanentries,thereareexcellentcandidatesalready
widelyknownintheworld’syoungpianisticscene9.
5L.Binental,WielkiturniejfortepianowywWarszawie[TheGreatPianoTournament
inWarsaw],“KurierWarszawski”,20thJanuary1932,eveningissue,p.7.
6[N.N.],Konkursyinagrody[CompetitionsandAwards],“Muzyka”1931,Nos4–6,
p.267.
7[N.N.],“ExpressPoranny”,4thMarch1932,No.64,p.3.
8[N.N.],Największyturniejpianistyczny[TheGreatestPianoCompetition],“Polska
Zbrojna”,5thMarch1932,No.55,p.7.Wecannotdeterminewithanycertaintywhat
“extensivearticles”theauthorhadinmind,buttheymustmostlyhavebeenpublishedinthe
Europeanpress.The“NewYorkTimes”onlinearchiveonlycomprisestwotextsaboutthe
Competitionfromtheyears1927–1937,oneofwhichinformsabouttheprizedrawfor
UninskyandUngárinthe2ndChCedition(25thMarch1932,p.22),theother–aboutthe
enrolmentofcandidatesforthe3rdChC(27thDecember1936).
9ALFA,NajwiększykonkursfortepianowyEuropy[Europe’sGreatestPianoCompeti-
tion],“GazetaPolska”,30thJanuary1932,p.3.Wehavebeenunabletodeterminetheidentity
oftheauthorusingthepennameALFA,whichwefindundernumerousreportsfromthe2nd
