Each performer’s first-round segment is now available in separate uploads on the Chopin Institute’s YouTube channel; a handy convenience for those who want to catch any pianist they’ve previously missed, or to revisit a particular performance.

Today I heard most of the candidates on what used to be called ‘delayed tape’, rather than in real time, for the simple reason that I woke up late. You have to remember that 10.00am in Warsaw is 4.00am in New York, and my circadian rhythm is hopelessly out of sync. So I ended up sleeping through my alarm.

However, I did witness a real time mini-drama that was not uploaded. When Aimi Kobayashi, one of the 2015 Competition finalists, sat down to play, she discovered something afoot with piano bench. I couldn’t exactly figure out the issue. The wrong bench? A broken bench? Obviously she wasn’t going to play until the problem was solved.  Eventually the stagehand brought out a bench to the pianist’s liking, or at least a bench that she could tolerate.

One readily recognises the 26-year-old pianist’s long experience: she was a phenomenal prodigy, and there’s an extraordinary video on YouTube of Kobayashi at the age of seven playing Schubert’s E flat major Impromptu. Her immense control and concentration inform nearly every bar, every note, every gesture. The pianist seems to process, indeed micro-manage each tenuto, each pocket of rubato, and each dynamic hairpin long before she sets hands to keys.

Her E major Scherzo was a model of flawless prepackaging, served up with maximum efficiency yet minimum warmth. To coin a phrase from my late colleague Harris Goldsmith, the performance displayed all the perfection of waxed fruit. You get a dependable product, not a red-blooded, living, breathing artistic experience. For the latter, I refer readers to Leonora Armellini’s Fourth Scherzo from October 5: what a world of difference!

Likewise, Nikolay Khozyainov’s segment featured a volcanic Op 25 No 11 ‘Winter Wind’ Étude that upstaged Kobayashi’s earnest mastery. Even at a precipitous tempo, pockets of poetry and unexpected inner voices simply oozed from his fingers, together with fire, fury and real daring. The performance signified that Khozyainov, the 2010 Chopin Competition’s youngest finalist, was back with a vengeance.

That said, Xiaoxuan Li’s comparably quick yet markedly lighter, more transparent ‘Winter Wind’ may wear better on repeated viewing. Ditto his lithe, dead-on accurate and infinitely playful C sharp minor Scherzo. He didn’t evoke the demonic aura of Martha Argerich’s famous interpretation (no one does, honestly!), but his discreet distentions of phrase and strategically placed accents were captivating, drawing attention more to the score than to the pianist.

We now have a rest day, with no performances, before the second round begins on Saturday. So for the next blog I’ll reflect on the jury’s second-stage choices, with a digression to discuss the repertoire requirements.

Gramophone is a Media Partner of the 18th Chopin Piano Competition - you can follow the competition by watching the live stream at the chopin2020.pl - and visit us every day for more analysis from Jed Dister.