Taken from the 6th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in 1960 when Maurizio Pollini came to Warsaw to take part, few people could have anticipated that this 18-year-old pianist would launch what might be called a ‘new reality’ in the interpretation of Chopin.

Besides the ‘obvious’ sonata and concerto, the set programme for participants in the 6th Competition was characterised by a preponderance of small-scale works, with the accent on etudes, which for Pollini could have been a particularly favourable circumstance. For several years already, he had been playing all of Chopin’s etudes. On the album presented here, we have the full programme performed by Maurizio Pollini over the three rounds of the 6th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. We all know the result. The Italian pianist won that Competition. Outstanding figures from the musical world were invited to sit on the jury: Artur Rubinstein, Nadia Boulanger, Mieczysław Horszowski, Witold Małcuzyƒski, Harry Neuhaus and Stefan Askenase.