Well, actually the winner was Yulianna Avdeeva but her piano was a Yamaha CFX.
The contestants were Fazioli, Shigeru Kawai, Steinway, and Yamaha CFX. Quite a marketing coup for Yamaha, especially since the winner of the other Chopin Competition earlier this year in the US (Claire Huangci) also played a Yamaha CFX, a model that was only launched this year.

Anybody knows what's so unique about this model? I haven't tried Yamahas for several years. The last ones I tried had excellent touch, but the tone wasn't to die for.

Congrats to Ms Avdeeva, and Yamaha, hahaha! Of the 10 finalists, 4 used yamaha, 4 used steinway, 2 used fazioli.

All the stages and competitors (and the four pianos of course) can be seen and listened to here:
Chopin Competition Video Archive
Very interesting. As for the pianos, the CFX sent to this competition sounds marvelous indeed. I reccomend listening to the bulgarian born Evgeni Bozhanov play it, and the big winner Yulianna Avdeeva play it at the second and third stage (she wasn't so good at the finals, but still won). By comparison the steinway and Faziolli sounded too "ordinary". The Kawai was chosen by few competitors in the early stages (the best of whom was the italian Leonora Armellini), and didn't project well the players. As usual the Kawai sounded too mellow and wasn't prepared well for the large hall, IMO.
And the winners, well, judge for yourselves.

The piano was also under the fingers of Cho Seung-jin - winner of the 2009 Hamamatsu Competition, in a similarly-competitive arena. The CFX is at the Pittsburgh Symphony beginning tonight, under the fingers of Olga Kern. This CF Series project (including a 7' and 6'3" model) has been a 19-year project, now happily being rewarded.

It's amazing how huge and accessible that video archive is. what a wonderful thing to wake up to.

the piano sounds marvelous.

Cat's out of the bag - Yamaha builds a very nice piano. That is why I bought one last year.

It's neat that a large selection of instruments was made available to the performers. Besides just the brand names, I feel like we should also recognize the efforts of the technicians who likely spent hours upon hours to get the very best out of the pianos.

Absolutely! Plus the practice pianos! I'd imagine every piano school, music store and lots of private homes besides were overrun during the competition with contestants trying to get in some practice time.

I think most/many of the contestants are probably Steinway or Yamaha artists before the competitions and must choose their pianos accordingly.

I only played the new CF6 model from the new yamaha CF series. I found the sound fabulous but the action a little rough (I heard some people who say that's was probably a defect in the one piano I checked). The "Ivorite" keys are very nice, but the ebony keys are a little "woody" and the dealer told me a lot of efforts are being made by him to make them smoother. Also, the ebony keys are wider than most other brands, if that bother you.
I played the Fazioli 278 model that the participants used in the competition and found it less good then the 308 or smaller models. The action is just too light, and the treble too thin, sorry. Also, in this Chopin Competition the Faziolli Was voiced Poorly in my opinion, and It cost the French participant, François Dumont, a lot of points in the 3rd stage. He actually was the only one who changed the piano for the finale, and played the Steinway instead.

Since Richter's death, there hasn't been many big-name pianists using Yamahas exclusively - maybe that'll now change. (Freddy Kempf is the only current one I know of). I always had the impression that Yamaha's sound (i.e. the CF111 model) is very 'neutral' - maybe too much so for most concert pianists, but the CFX is a bit different.

I didn't realize that Steinway or Yamaha signed artists who weren't "established" i.e., who hadn't already won or placed highly in one or more competitions but freely admit I don't know much about the Steinway or Yamaha artist programs. I've been idly speculating about the factors that go into choosing which piano to use for a competition and suspect it goes well beyond "how does it play/sound".

I think that depends on how big "big name" is. Richter was one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.

There are a lot of Yamaha artists:Cyprien Katasaris, Olga Kern, Frederic Chiu, Jerome Rose, Abbey Simon, Mei Ting Sun, and many of the participants in the Mannes IKIF festival whose names I can't recall. Even some PW members are Yamaha artists. I bet if you go to Yamaha's website you will see other familiar names.

I wonder how 'exclusive' being an exclusive Yamaha artist is. I've got CDs by Chiu, all played on Yamaha, but I heard Kern recently in concert on a Steinway. And I'm sure my Abbey Simon CD was Steinway too.

Recently I watched a performance broadcast on PBS in which Kern and Renee Fleming performed in St. Petersburg. Kern played a Bechstein.

Dan

The winner's concert is on right now (4:40 pm EST):
Concert

Coordinator,

Is this the Rach 1 with Slatkin conducting?

Lets not forget the great Maria Joao Pires, also an exclusive Yamaha artist.

Indeed it is!

The Yamaha relationship isn't based on exclusivity but a mutually-beneficial relationship wherein the two sides work together as often as possible. In some cases, there is virtual exclusivity, but no maker can truly demand this in most situations. Abbey Simon, in fact, joined the Yamaha roster sometime around 2001. Prior to that, he was a Baldwin Artist (and a heavily-recorded one), and prior to that, he played the Steinway.

Anyone played a CFX? If so, Impressions? Do any Yamaha dealers have them available now or are they being released later?

Does the CFX replace the CF111?

The CFX replaces the CFIIIS. The model is released, but a waiting list is forming for purchases. It's a brand-new product, after all, and hand-made.

James,

I examined and auditioned this piano at NAMM this past January. I can tell you that it is like no other Yamaha I have ever seen in material, design, or performance.

That is a good thing.

These must really be a series of incredible concerts. I had the pleasure of performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony in 2009 and was astonished with their sense of cohesion and their stand-out players in the wind sections. I would place their current ensemble at the very top of the current American orchestral scene.

Also, their music director, Manfred Honeck, is truly brilliant and a great person. Can you tell I love Pittsburgh?

Can someone explain the differences between the older Yamaha CFIII and the new CFX?

I am not concerned with the cosmetic differences because I am already aware of those. I am interested in the differences in tone/touch and design changes(I realize some of the design differences are proprietory) that cause the differences.

Thanks!

Check out the Yamaha web site; they have an extensive list of "improvements"

Been searching the Yamaha site for 15 minutes with no luck. Can someone give me the link for the CFX improvements?

pianoloverus,

This should be the link you are looking for?:

Yamaha Premium Pianos

schwammerl.