Rebecca Penneys competed against Martha Argerich in the 1965 Chopin Competition

Watch Rebecca Penneys teach the music of Chopin, exclusively on tonebase!

"I don't remember being on earth without playing the piano." Esteemed pianist and longtime Eastman professor Rebecca Penneys speaks about Chopin and her pivotal choice between piano and dance.

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[JohnSmith-oekx]

Penneys suggests that she lost to Argerich at the 1965 Chopin Competition because Argerich was older (yes) and better prepared (probably). But the six finalists that year were:

Martha Argerich (1st prize and Best Performance of a Mazurka)
Arthur Moreira Lima (2nd prize)
Marta Sosinska (3rd prize and Best Performance of a Polonaise)
Hiroko Nakamura (4th prize)
Edward Auer (5th prize)
Elzbieta Glabowna (6th prize)

The only two special prizes were those won by Argerich and Sosinska. Honourable mentions (and prize money) were also awarded to six other pianists:

Marek Jablonski
Tamara Koloss
Lois Carole Pachucki
Viktoria Postnikova
Bianka Uribe
Ewa Maria Zuk

Penneys wants us to believe that the audience "fell in love with" a pianist who was not among the twelve who won prize money, which is at least possible, but there is no "Special Critics Prize" at the Chopin Competition, and never has been. This has not stopped Penneys from repeatedly making that claim in her biography. The claim also appears in her Wikipedia page, which cites only... her biography at the Eastman School of Music (which apparently took her word for it).

She makes a similar claim about a "Most Outstanding Musician Prize" that she supposedly won at the Vianna da Motta International Music Competition (there is no record of any such prize).

Penneys did win third prize at the 1975 Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition, which is described on her Wikipedia page as being "a top prizewinner" (arguably correct, although somewhat misleading because there is no reason not to say "third prize" except to avoid mentioning that she placed third), but on her own website as being "Top Prizewinner", which is a lie.

Prizes are obviously not everything in music. They are merely an indication of the opinions of certain people--although supposedly knowledgeable ones. But they do carry certain weight, which is why people make false claims and exaggerations about them, as Penneys seems to do.

[sacrilegiousboi]

“She was more prepared, she was older” “but the audience loved me”Jeez lady, have some humility. Martha was a piano genius, that’s why she won.

[SuperTicklemonsters]

No shame in losing to Martha Argerich! Love your videos!

[MyrnaIrwin]

Rebecca never ceases to amaze us...and now to learn about her love of dance...we are blessedd to have her in our lives.

[saratoon.s]

Argerich won AND the audience loved Argerich.

[mahnighorashi]

"She was more prepared"? It's like saying Michelangelo bested you because he had a better chisel.

[csaihabla]

I love how the marriage of these two art forms works. It gives you a wider perspective.

[msroman]

No hay comparación con Martha Argerich…. La reina absoluta del piano. Abrazos 💖💖💖🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷

[Mulovita]

Rebecca, Martha is still older than you today (over 80yo now) and is still "better prepared" 😂😂😂

[tonicopm]

The way she says she lost to Martha Argerich because she was older and more prepared sounds like she got second or at least third prize and almost was in direct competition with Argerich. Not at all! Rebecca Penneys, whom I had never heard of, didn't even get any honorific mention.

[Sammy-gc]

I thought that Argerich didn’t prepare at all until the last minute for the competitions she won. I think she won because of being ‘correct’ in a sense with the textures and colour and moods which requires real in-depth understanding of classical music. Of course Penney plays superb but Chopin can also be dramatic, not always dancing and bel canto.

[zebeauv]

Argerich won because she is a Genius. That’s all…

[Jack-hyzq]

I switched off when she started talking as if she was in the same league as Martha. Give me a break!

[vova]

I pity any pianist competing against Martha Argerich. She is the reigning Queen of piano.

[bobase]

Fact: Argerich only prepared for the competition at the last minute. Additionally, she was reluctant to participate into the Chopin competition initially.

[brunoparisnation]

Most child prodigy become regular folks as this lady. There are few Martha Argerich by definition.

[brunoparisnation]

She doesn’t realize how bad she looks by saying that she was just younger and less prepared than Argerich but the public preferred her.

I don’t know whether it’s true but given the differences in their career it sounds really horrible like envy and misplaced narcissism.

[JayZX]

I took a masterclass with her on the G minor Ballade when I was 15. She was rather cold to me, but mostly because the piece was new to me and I played it in an inexperienced kind of way. I’m not sure if I got much from her, but I’m sure she meant well.

[jamesrobert]

Show us this Critics prize created solely for her.

[milagrosrsconservatorio]

Realmente Martha es una genia. Una intérprete sobresaliente y arrolladora... Y es Argentina, es nuestro gran orgullo. 🇦🇷❤️🎶