IN THE LONG WINTER NIGHTS, I dived into the BBC’s back channels and came up with Jakub Piatek’s extraordinary documentary on the 2021 Internatioal Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Although I had seen the contest unfold and remembered the results, I was glued to my sofa by the complete and utter insanity displayed in Piatek’s fly on the wall.
If you are going to enter a competition, start with Warsaw because it is among the least corruptible, its transparency attained by giving votes to past winners. Having Martha Argerich or Bella Davidovich on the jury is a
