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It is my honor to be a student of the Conservatory of Music in Bydgoszcz to hear such an international piano competition live. I like Adam Kałduński's performance very much, I once heard his live performance in Beijing, China. He won the first prize in that Chopin Competition, which is why I chose to come to Poland to study piano. That time he played Chopin’s second Ballade, and this time he still played this piece, which I think is still as perfect as before. I like the way he touches the keys and the way he handles emotions.

I like Wu Junlin's performance of the Haydn Sonata, which is very sophisticated in tone and phrasing, with just the right dynamics sound to impress. The Liszt Sonata in b minor, which he performed with perfect technique, was well performed, but I personally found the tonal treatment in the climactic passages of the impetus and the middle passages of the transposition a little lacking. But the final dazzling fragment also demonstrated his strong technical ability and also the good tonal transition with the final lyrical fragment of the articulation. It is undeniably an excellent performance.

I like the performance of Pawlak Piotr. I liked his control of tone (all the pieces) and the Liszt Sonata in B minor showed his own understanding of the piece with an impressive variety of tones, especially in the Fugue passage where he used very different tones for the same motive and under a weak voice, with great control. The mood of this mournful song is brought out in the most tender and powerful way.

In the semifinal, of a few excellent participants interpretations of Mozart, I prefer Okui Shio rendition of Mozart's concerto K.467. I was deeply impressed by her excellent cooperation with the orchestra and the vivid sentences and dynamics of Mozart. About the cadenza of the first movement, perfect technique and beautiful timbre. It's worth to talk about that she used a lot of her wrist area to generate power while her fingers run a lot. Although some sentences were not very clear, she also showed her understanding of Mozart, in a style that is both restrained and lyrical under simple melodies, each note must contain details and ideas. The tone was very clean and crisp, but not lack of fluctuations and details. She performed well in some parts that echoed the orchestra, cooperated well with the conductor and naturally connected the sentences through different timbre processing for the same motive. Although the orchestra's wind section was a little slow in a few sentences. I think the style is a bit like that of a Japanese pianist, Mitsuko Uchida, who is also one of the best Mozart performers in the world. I also liked her performance of the solo parts in the third movement. Clear running of the right hand at weak intensity, and natural dynamics with pitch. The left hand is very singing playing melody, accompanied by colorful timbre. It reminded me of her performance of Chopin's Sonata No. 3 in the second round, which was also impressive with perfect technique and timbre. I think she is an excellent pianist, and she is so young. I’m looking forward to her performance in the final.

I listened to Takubo Moka's semi-final performance. She is from Japan. I liked her performance of Chopin Sonata No. 3 in B minor. She built good phrasing. She showed the melodic line clearly and very smoothly. Her body movements and expressions were also just right and not exaggerated. She was very powerful in the strong parts but also very emotional in the weak parts. She even memorized the obligatory piece for the competition, something that many participants did not do because their preparation time was short. This allowed her to concentrate more on the performance. But I personally think she lacked a sense of story in this piece. I will look forward to her performance in the next competition.

I liked Okui Shio's performance, she is a very young Japanese player and I was attracted by her performance. She was using a FAZIOLI piano and I liked the Mozart concerto she played. Mozart's works are very difficult to handle because you have to play strictly according to the composer's ideas, but Okui Shio did it very well. She has a great sense of musicianship and handles emotion very well. She has superb technique and finger control. What surprised me the most was that she was very young, but didn't seem nervous during the competition. It was a great performance and there is no denying that she is a very good pianist!

I liked Pawlak Piotr's performance, he is a good Polish pianist and I liked his Beethoven Concerto in the final. This piece is very difficult to play, first of all the player needs to have a very high level of technique, and obviously Pawlak Piotr did that. Secondly, I like his control of the music, which is very precise. Especially in the second movement, I thought he played it with great delicacy and feeling. And also he works very well with the orchestra, very well together. Overall, he is a very good player.

Yonghuan Zhong is really young, only 17, but brave and competent. Overall the touch of the keys is very soft, and the pedal is clean. I like his Chopin Nocturne, I feel calm and he has good understanding for this piece, and deep, artistic, breathing and phrases are handled properly. Chopin Etude is clean and clear. Liszt and Rachmaninov have good articulation and good control. Every sound is light but clear. It's great to have such an understanding of music at his age. The overall playing style is soft, which makes people very comfortable. A gifted boy still young, will be a good pianist

I was deeply impressed by Okui Shio's performances. Generally as one of the youngest participants, she has an exquisite skill of controlling, building long and breathtaking phrases, accompanied by her solid mind to perform on stage. Her Nocturne (Paderewski) firstly amazed me because she treated every note in a meaningful way while keeping the melodic line as a whole. This is the balance between small fragments and the‘ bigger picture’. Second thing is her transparent sound, light but no lack of depth in touching. She gave listeners stable and predictable feelings in a good way, we were sitting there without heart beating loud knowing that no note would be lost control. Her interpretation of Chopin Sonata was quite unique by shortening the phrase and made more up and down. But the climax were sometimes not shocking and touching enough. We were expecting something more passionate and desperate. But generally, her whole second stage performance was stunning. She was extremely concentrated in her music which made it so pleasant to watch and listen. We’re looking forward to see the future star shining all over the world.

Pedro López Salas is my favourite pianist in this competition. He has that natural musicality and passion. His semi-final recital was marvellous both in repertoire choosing and stage performance. His repertoire is interesting and unique. As a Spanish pianist, he choose El pelele from Goyescas composed by Spanish composer Granados, it’s associated to one of Goya's tapestry cartoonn. His playing was full of passion and joy, you can easily feel his Spanish soul floating with the music. Apart from that, he has tempo all under control, no rush or over rubato which made his interpretation natural and easy to follow. His Schumann was fantanstic as well, plenty of dynamic contrasts, lots of struggles with a sudden appearing of momentary happiness, the change of characters were accurate and fast. His enthusiasm was very catching, from his interpretation you can easily tell that he’s a confident, full-of-idea pianist. For sure, I won’t miss his next concert when he will perform in Bydgoszcz again.

Pedro López Salas (final stage) Personally, Pedro’s final stage was the most impressive one. His Liszt First Concerto is one of the best I’ve ever heard. As we know, Marta Argerich had a spectacular version of this piece. Pedro has his own independent style of interpretation, no mannerism trying to imitate Argerich. Few notes in the beginning of first movement were a bit unclear, but he involved deeply into his role in the coming movements. The richness of the sound , the passion, the perfect timing, the virtuosity Liszt want to show, were perfectly brought to the audience. An additional thing was the piano, Fazioli suits him very well. In high pitch area, it sound like sparkling pearls, and in the lower pitch, it sounds heavy and dark. The contrast Fazioli made in their piano give pianists with good techniques more possibilities to create different sounds and atmosphere. Pedro has that solid and stable hands structure while playing, the sound fulfilled the whole philharmonic with brightness and strengths. After his final stage performance, I could easily say that he’s a very unique pianist, his music characters definitely stands out. Off stage he’s a quite chill and very nice person, no doubt there’s bright future ahead of him.