Yulianna Avdeeva’s full-circle return to Chopin
When Yulianna Avdeeva won the Chopin Piano Competition in 2010, she became only the fourth woman ever to do so -- and the first in 45 years, since Martha Argerich’s legendary victory in 1965. In 2025, she returns to the competition in a new role, serving as one of 17 jury members for the 19th edition, scheduled Oct. 2 to 23.
At her Seoul Arts Center recital on Sunday, the pianist will again highlight Chopin, performing the composer’s complete 24 Preludes, Op. 28, alongside selections from Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87.
“Learning Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues was a great project for me,” she said in a recent email interview. “This year marks 50 years since his passing, with many festivals and inspirations, especially the Shostakovich Festival Leipzig at the Gewandhaus.”
While preparing the work, which Avdeeva has described as one of the greatest cycles in the piano literature, she revisited an intriguing historical detail: In 1927, the young Shostakovich competed in the very first Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. “He was very young and didn’t win, but his approach was very unorthodox and individualistic,” she said.
For her, this unlikely link helps bridge the two composers who might otherwise seem worlds apart.
“Pairing Shostakovich and Chopin may seem unusual — they are different worlds, times and musical languages — but if Shostakovich performed at the first Chopin competition, he must have worked on Chopin’s music and knew the language,” she said, adding that both cycles — Chopin's 24 preludes and Shostakovich's 24 preludes and fugues — trace back to Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier." “They have a common source, though the expression is very different. Knowing Shostakovich worked on Chopin’s music lets me see some pieces from this aspect; for instance, the A-sharp major prelude reminds me of Chopin’s A-sharp major prelude. It enriches how I see Shostakovich — not only constructivist or realistic, but also influenced by the Romantic era,” she noted.
The Russian pianist’s artistry has not been confined to concert halls. In fact, she created the #AvdeevaShostakovichProject, documenting her journey through Shostakovich’s complete cycle and sharing it with audiences online.
Her online engagement began during the pandemic, when Avdeeva launched #YuliannasMusicalDialogues, a weekly livestream series that explored composers’ lives and works in depth.
“Concerts had stopped, so I started weekly livestreams every Thursday, and I was amazed by the response,” she recalled.
It was in one of these livestreams that the idea to cover Bach’s "Well-Tempered Clavier" emerged, eventually leading to 60 episodes spanning both Book I and II of Bach’s "Well-Tempered Clavier," which together contain 48 preludes and fugues.
“The online interaction lets me learn about the audience -- many who didn’t know me before now come to my concerts. I’m happy to learn how they listen and what inspires them; that exchange is fantastic for me,” she remarked.
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