Warsaw (AFP)

"When I was three, I had a little keyboard. It was my favorite toy that I never let go," recalls South Korean Su Yeon Kim, who has just qualified for the penultimate stage of the 18th International Competition. of Frederic Chopin piano in Warsaw.

"To be here was my dream because Chopin is my favorite composer. I never tire of it", admits the young woman of 27, who still remembers the first piece of the romantic Franco-Polish composer (1810-1849) who 'she played very small: Minute waltz.

This year is his second Chopin competition in Warsaw.

Six years ago, she reached the semifinals of this prestigious competition which has usually been held every five years since 1927.

Last year, the competition was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a first since World War II.

"The challenge was to bring all the participants to Poland," acknowledges Artur Szklener, director of the Frédéric Chopin National Institute.

The 18th edition brought together 87 pianists from all over the world, out of more than 500 who submitted their candidacy.

South Korean Su Yeon Kim, finalist of the International Chopin Competition, during a rehearsal on October 11, 2021 in Warsaw Wojtek RADWANSKI AFP

Reserved for pianists aged 16 to 30, the competition attracted 22 Chinese, 14 Japanese, and seven South Korean pianists, competing with 16 Poles, six Italians or even Armenians, Canadians, Americans, British or Thais.

With the Tchaikovsky competition and the Marguerite Long competition in Paris, the competition in Warsaw is considered the holy grail of young pianists.

For Eva Gevorgyan, a 17-year-old Russo-Armenian, it is "the most prestigious of competitions. It can open the doors of a great career".

- Broken violin -

Unlike Su Yeon, this blonde with long hair like a Rapunzel comes from a family of musicians.

Her mother, Ksenia Tcherenkova, studied viola at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.

"I took Eva to all my rehearsals and it made her want to play. When she was 3, she was offered a violin. She broke it because the sound was not loud enough for her. It is there we thought of the piano, "jokes the woman.

But she didn't want her daughter to become a musician: "I know how difficult it can be".

Russian-Armenian pianist Eva Gevorgyan, finalist of the Chopin competition, during a rehearsal, October 11, 2021 in Warsaw Wojtek RADWANSKI AFP

After childhood, the life of the two young pianists resembles that of their competitors: music school, training four to eight hours a day, sometimes a little sport, reading.

Today, Su Yeon Kim is studying at the University of Salzburg Mozarteum, Austria, and Eva Gevorgyan is finishing high school, then hopes to return to the Moscow Conservatory.

Their career gallops to the rhythm of the competitions.

The Korean won the first prize at the Montreal International Musical Competition this year.

The Russian virtuoso has been awarded in more than 40 international competitions for young pianists.

This week, the two women qualified for the 3rd stage of the Chopin competition with 21 other candidates.

The stage which began on October 14 will designate ten major finalists.

- "A desire to go further" -

This year, the level being particularly high, the jury admitted to the competition a greater number of pianists than foreseen by the regulations.

"I had been in the jury during the previous edition, but this one has a remarkable level", confirms the Argentinian Nelson Goerner, one of the 17 members of the jury.

The pandemic played a role in this.

"The pianists had more time to prepare themselves, and then I think that the pandemic awakened in all of us a desire to go further, towards a certain surpassing of oneself. I hear that in the playing of these young pianists ".

Russian-Armenian pianist Eva Gevorgyan, finalist of the Chopin competition, during a rehearsal, October 11, 2021 in Warsaw Wojtek RADWANSKI AFP

Broadcast live on YouTube and on a mobile application Chopin competition, the competition arouses, according to the organizers, a record interest of listeners who could not come to the National Philharmonic in Warsaw.

The second stage hearings were listened to live by more than 45,000 people.

The name of the winner will be announced on the evening of October 20.

Then, the finalists will appear on stage in front of the public until October 23 for gala concerts.

"When I'm on stage, I don't think about winning. I want to play and communicate with the audience. It's my greatest pleasure," said Su Yeon.

© 2021 AFP