The Chopin Competition, one of the world’s major international piano competitions, is set to begin. The competition has launched the careers of pianists such as Maurizio Pollini and Krystian Zimerman and standards are so rigorous that no winners were declared in the last two competitions (in 1990 and 1995). “This year’s competition has already proved tough. Only 98 pianists qualified, based on videotapes of their performances, compared with 140 in 1995.” – Ottawa Citizen (AP)