Noriko Ogawa

The leading pianist, renowned for her wonderful recordings of French and Japanese music, is a passionate advocate for international competitions, discovers James Naughtie

“At every competition stage, after we vote and before the result comes out, the jury members are so nervous”

The common complaint among musicians are that competitions have a tendency to limit a young artist’s range. So it’s cheering to talk to a pianist who enthuses about them without any hint of embarrassment.

Noriko Ogawa was a prizewinner at the 1987 Leeds International Competition. ‘I have never forgotten the amazing feeling in Leeds,’ she says of her time in the city that propelled her to an international career.

Since then her performances and recordings – especially the complete Debussy solo piano works for the BIS label – have proved the insight of those judges who heard her playing Prokofiev’s Third Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra