Walkout pianist’s competition prediction is fulfilled, with a twist

On Thursday night, the French pianist Pascal Rogé walked off the jury of the Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition saying the result was being rigged in favour of Italians.

Pascal wrote:

I am betting 2 magnums of Chianti that this is going to be the final result on Saturday: 1st Prize Fiorenzo Pascalucci 2nd Prize Federica Bortoluzzi 3rd Prize Atsuko Kinoshita.

The result was announced tonight.

It is: 1st prize Fiorenzo Pascalucci; 2nd prize Federica Bortoluzzi, 3rd prize Atsuko Kinoshita.

Just as Pascal predicted.

However, all is not as it seems. Apparently, several of M Rogé’s marks were disqualified under the competition’s rules because they were too extreme, in either direction. The individual judges markings will (unusually) be published tomorrow to show that there was no fixing.

The competition has posted a statement on its own site and on Slipped Disc, strongly repudiating M Rogé’s ‘opinion’ and threatening legal action.