The main competition from 3 to 20 October consisted of three stages and a final. An inaugural concert was held on 2 October, and the prize-winners' concerts took place from 21 to 23 October. Stage I was held from 3–7 October 2021 and was contested by 87 participants. Stage III was held from 14 to 16 October 2021 and was contested by 23 participants. The final was held from 18 to 20 October 2021 and was contested by twelve participants.
Summary Stage I The first pianist to perform in Stage I was Xuanyi Mao of China. The letter "M" was drawn with a
lottery machine by
Piotr Gliński, the Polish
Minister of Culture, at a press conference a week earlier.
Polish Radio commentators described
Szymon Nehring's playing as "extremely mature", completely different than the
previous competition, where he had been a finalist. Jed Distler from
Gramophone noted that Georgijs Osokins' performance was "strikingly individual", with an "epic sense of time scale" akin to
Emil Gilels. Japanese pianist Sohgo Sawada was called the best performer of the first day's evening session, possessing "disarmingly sincerity" in his performance of the
Ballade in G minor. On the second day, the performance of Talon Smith of the United States was unanimously praised by the Polish Radio, and he was described as a "very musical pianist with a great imagination". Distler called Smith one of those youngsters who sound "wise beyond their years", approaching Chopin as "a master pianist with an old soul". On Day 3, commentators highlighted the "Italian dominance" of the day, with
Leonora Armellini, who made the greatest impression, particularly in her performance of the
Etude in C-sharp minor, and Michelle Candotti. Distler praised Armellini's "liquid sonority" and "flexible phrasing", in complete command of her chosen
Fazioli piano. Italian-Slovenian pianist
Alexander Gadjiev drew attention on the fourth day. Róża Światczyńska of the Polish Radio remarked: "He is coming here because he has something to say from himself, a very coherent vision of music, and he wants to pass it on to us regardless of how he is judged." Gadjiev's performance of the études was particularly praised. Distler described 17-year-old Yifan Hou as having "power, personality, style, technique, communicative immediacy and natural musicality", noting the "shocking" impact of his "compact, dramatic and kinetically fervent" performance of the first Ballade. From the first stage, 45 pianists were admitted to the second stage, five more than originally prescribed in the competition format. Commentators remarked that some score differences were likely minimal and that it might have been too harsh to eliminate some participants.
Stage II Compared to the first stage, where the program was largely fixed, participants were allowed a greater deal of freedom in the second stage, which has been described as more of a recital that tests the ability to arrange a program, and thereby the maturity of the pianist. The most praised participants of Day 6 were
Kyohei Sorita of Japan, with a "well-structured program", and 17-year-old Hao Rao from China, who possessed "genuinely sincere emotionality". Yuchong Wu of China, who performed
all waltzes of Op. 34, was described by Polish Radio commentators as the best performer of the first session of Day 7, and was particularly praised for his performance of the Waltz in A minor. For Distler,
Tomoharu Ushida provided the day's "most pleasant surprise", giving a "masterclass in horizontal clarity and the spacing of notes in time". On Day 8, 17-year-old Russian-Armenian pianist
Eva Gevorgyan roused interest, Andrzej Sułek from the Polish Radio remarking: "She is growing into a very important figure in this competition. I wonder if this is a pianist who is going for the first prize. A great success of the Chopin Competition is the arrival of an artist of such caliber." On Day 9, Polish Radio commentators highlighted
Nikolay Khozyainov's "unusually well-thought-out and intricately constructed repertoire" that he managed to "realize on stage one hundred percent". The last pianist to perform that day was
Bruce Liu of Canada, described to be among those "in the starting positions to attack the first place". Marcin Majchrowski of the Polish Radio remarked that he could not hide his emotions after Liu's performance, and that one could feel the "unimaginable tension and silence of listening to something special in the concert hall of the
National Philharmonic". After the second stage, 23 pianists qualified to the third stage, including six from Poland, five from Japan, three from Italy, two each from Canada, Russia, South Korea, and one each from the United States, China, and Spain.
Stage III In the third stage, pianists perform a complete set of mazurkas, a piano sonata (excluding the first) or the complete set of
Preludes Op. 28, and any other compositions of Chopin to fill the remaining time. On Day 10, Polish Radio commentators highlighted the performance of Miyu Shindo from Japan. Sułek proclaimed her "some kind of Japanese priestess of the god of time", with the "fantastic ability to stop a chord from sounding or a phrase from closing, sounds vibrating, floating in the air like
Debussy's, like a drop of watercolor in a glass of water". On Day 11, J J Jun Li Bui was praised for his performance of mazurkas and the
Sonata in B minor, Światczyńska calling him a candidate for the Special Prize for the Best Performance of Mazurkas, which is awarded by the Polish Radio. In the evening session, Alexander Gadjiev's individualism was once again highlighted, some wondering why he came to the Chopin competition at all. Światczyńska remarked that he "is of a completely non-competitive type, not falling within the bounds of objective assessment", the question being whether his performance went "beyond the limits of good taste". At the end of the day, Majchrowski praised Eva Gevorgyan, calling her performance "one that will go down in competition history". On Day 12, Nikolay Khozyainov was called "one of the absolute favorites to win the competition", being described as a "mature, conscious pianist, intellectual pianist " with an "interestingly structured, coherent program". The third stage concluded with the performance of Canadian Bruce Liu, noted by Sułek as a pianist with "inexhaustible imagination", performing an "excellent recital". From the third stage, twelve pianists from ten countries qualified for the final, two more than prescribed in the competition rules. Sułek commented that the finalists constituted an "unprecented" mosaic of pianists, a "rich gallery of characters, pianistic individualities, among whom there are amazing phenomena". Światczyńska highlighted the "extremely different artistic personalities", noting that the jury's "range of tastes and criteria" was quite wide this year.
Final The final was held over three days, four pianists presenting one of Chopin's two piano concertos on each day, accompanied by the
Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrzej Boreyko. ;Day 1 Kamil Pacholec of Poland was the first to perform. Sułek wondered about his experience with an orchestra, noting that Pacholec tended to follow the orchestra rather imposing certain musical thoughts on it. John Allison, writing for the competition daily
Chopin Courier, praised Pacholec's "elegantly poised playing", yet noted that his performance "got weighted down", particularly in the slow movement. Distler called Pacholec's performance "steady" but "smaller-scaled" than his competitors. Hao Rao of China was the second participant. Przemysław Psikuta of the Polish Radio noted that Rao, like Pacholec before him, seemed to play in a more classical, traditional way, "physical elements dominating over poetry". Krzysztof Stefański, writing for the
Chopin Courier, found praise for Bui's "warm, round tone" and "impressionist hues above the clarity of his arpeggio". Distler criticized Bui's playing as being too "uniform, machine-like", "ploughing through Chopin's bravura writing like the proverbial horse with blinders".
Alexander Gadjiev of Italy and Slovenia was the first to play the
Piano Concerto in F minor. Światczyńska liked his sound and his "ability to operate within wide planes", but criticized his "manneristic pathos and affectation" that "contradict Chopin's expression". Sułek noted that Gadjiev's "wild nature" worked better in solo works, whereas in the concerto it caused the "narrative to become too fragmented". Eva Gevorgyan of Russia and Armenia concluded the session. Sułek noted that she "delighted" him, but did not "seduce" him until the second part. Allison highlighted the delicacy and intimacy of her performance, though noting that her tempos might not endear her to critics. Distler highlighted Kobayashi's "micro-management and tense finger-orientated pianism". Two of five authors of
Ruch Muzyczny called Kobayashi the best performer of a concerto. Marcin Bogucki praised her "romantic vision", though noting a few slip-ups in the finale. Krzysztof Stefański remarked that "time stopped for a moment. Her fingers flew lightly over the keyboard, even when she was building the climaxes, she did not reach for a strong forte. The lunar fragment of Romanza sounded like a wonderful improvisation. It was hard not to fall in love."
Bruce Liu of Canada was the final performer. Allison praised Liu's performance for "holding poetry and virtuosity in wonderful balance", the "dreaminess of the Romance" sustaining "right to the dying last note". No participant at this stage chose the
Nocturne in G major, Op. 37 No. 2. In the second stage, the most played pieces were the
Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante (18 pianists), the
Waltz in F major, Op. 34 No. 3 (16 pianists), as well as the
Barcarolle in F-sharp major and the
Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 (15 pianists each).
Scherzo No. 4 was played by only one pianist (Hyounglok Choi), as were the
Polonaises, Op. 26 (Federico Gad Crema). From additional pieces supplementing the repertoire program of this stage, pianists most frequently chose the
Rondo à la mazur (5 pianists), the
Waltz in A minor, Op. 34 No. 2, and the
Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1 (3 pianists). In the third stage, most participants selected the
Piano Sonata No. 3 (12 pianists),
Piano Sonata No. 2 (8 pianists), and the
Mazurkas Op. 24 and
Mazurkas Op. 56 (5 pianists each). Out of 87 participants of the first round, 43 chose the Steinway ending with serial number 479, 21 the Steinway ending with number 300, nine the Yamaha, eight the Fazioli and six the Kawai. == Results ==