A battle is about to begin here in Warsaw, and it’s one that’s heavy with significance: I’m talking about the 16th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. It won’t have escaped anyone’s notice that 2010 is the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth, and so this famous event that bears a national hero’s name is under greater scrutiny than ever. Already whittled down to 78 after preliminary rounds earlier this year, the young pianists who have converged on the Polish capital must be feeling extra pressure to prove themselves in the gladiatorial arena. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, this year of all years, a winner emerges with a talent equal to a Pollini, Zimerman or Argerich? And think of the weight of expectation on the seven Polish competitors (six male, one female) who must be wondering if they can possibly follow in the footsteps of their countryman Rafał Blechacz, the last winner in 2005. Whether a clear favourite will come into focus over the next 23 days remains to be seen, and I await the first round of auditions on Sunday, October 3 with interest.

But, before the hopefuls go head to head, events opened formally on October 1 at the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall with a real treat: a recital by Mitsuko Uchida, herself an alumna of the competition. Surprisingly, this was the first time she had performed in Warsaw since she won second prize in 1970. Of course, she played Chopin – a powerful interpretation of the Sonata No. 3 and the Prelude in C sharp minor, Op.45, as well as a very individual account of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata – part Classical, part hyper-Romantic. But it was her astonishing vision of Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze that really took the breath away: fiery, poetic, wild, tender, capricious, finely controlled – everything you could want it to be. Let’s hope we hear something approaching Uchida’s calibre of artistry over the next 23 days: if we do, we will be lucky listeners indeed.