The III International Chopin Piano Competition () was held from 21 February to 13 March 1937 in Warsaw. It was the last competition before the outbreak of World War II, and the competition would not be held again until 1949.
80 pianists from 22 countries took part in the competition, including two participants from Japan. Contestants could choose between pianos manufactured by Bechstein, Bösendorfer, Pleyel and Steinway. Soviet pianist Yakov Zak was awarded the first prize.
Awards
Out of 80 pianists in the elimination stage, 21 were admitted to the final, where they performed two consecutive movements of one of Chopin's two piano concertos with the Warsaw Philharmonic.
The two female Japanese pianists Miwa Kai and Chieko Hara received great acclaim among critics and the public. When news broke that Hara, who reached the final, was not among the prize-winners and was merely awarded an honorable mention, a commotion broke out. Fearing that the frenzied crowd would cause damage to the Philharmonic, industrialist Stanisław Meyer sponsored a special "audience award" for Hara.
The following prizes were awarded: PrizeWinner1stYakov Zak2ndRosa Tamarkina3rdWitold Małcużyński4thLance Dossor5thAgi Jambor6thEdith Axenfeld7thMonique de La Bruchollerie8thJan Ekier9th10th11thPierre Maillard-Verger12thLélia Gousseau13thJan BereżyńskiMárta BlahaColette GaveauZbigniew GrzybowskiChieko HaraNatalia Hornowska-PęzińskaNina JemelianowaHelena LandauFryderyk PortnojPaulina SzmuklerJozsef Weingarten
Two special prizes were awarded: Special prizeWinnerBest Performance of MazurkasYakov ZakBest Performances of a SonataLance Dossor
Jury The jury consisted of: Guido Agosti Wilhelm Backhaus (vice-chairman)
Zofia Buckiewiczowa Marian Dąbrowski Zbigniew Drzewiecki Emil Frey Alfred Hoehn
Lazare Lévy
Heinrich Neuhaus Marie Panthès Isidor Philipp (vice-chairman) Zofia Rabcewicz Lucyna Robowska Richard Rössler Emil von Sauer (vice-chairman)
Magda Tagliaferro Józef Turczyński (chairman) Bolesław Woytowicz (secretary) Jerzy Żurawlew
References
Further reading
External links