They have been selected from among 31 first-stage participants by an international jury chaired by French violin virtuoso and conductor Augustin Dumay.
19-year-old Wojciech Niedziółka will be the only Pole to perform in the second stage. The remaining violinists are from the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, Kazakhstan, and the Netherlands.
Music critics covering the competition for Polish Radio 2, the public broadcaster’s arts-and-music channel, have described the jury verdict as a disappointment for Polish music fans because as many as six Poles performed in the first stage.
In the second stage, which opens on Wednesday and runs until Sunday, the participants will perform a two-part programme consisting of a recital with piano accompaniment and an orchestral performance with Polish Radio's Amadeus Chamber Orchestra conducted by Anna Duczmal-Mróz.
In the finals, the participants will be accompanied by the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra under Łukasz Borowicz.
The prizewinners’ names will be announced on October 21. The top prize winner will receive a cash prize of EUR 50,000.
Photo: PAP/Jakub Kaczmarczyk
Held for the first time in Warsaw in 1935, the Wieniawski Competition is the world’s oldest violin competition. It moved to Poznań after a lapse of 17 years and has been held in that city since 1952. This year it is being held for the 16th time.
Past prizewinners include Ginette Neveu, David Oistrakh, Ida Haendel, Grażyna Bacewicz, Bartłomiej Nizioł, Piotr Pławner and Agata Szymczewska.
Henry Wieniawski was a child prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of eight. He is regarded as one of the greatest violinists after Paganini.
He died in 1880, at the age of 45. His compositional output includes two violin concertos, mazurkas, polonaises, etudes and caprices.
Henryk Wieniawski. Image: FBC/Public Domain
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