International Tchaikovsky Competition

One of the premier violinists of the 20th century, Jascha Heifetz, had immigrated to the United States. Due to this, he was seen as a traitor to the Soviet Union. During the Carl Flesch Competition in London, Oistrakh tried to persuade Erick Friedman, Heifetz's star student, to enter the Tchaikovsky Competition, of which he was the principal juror.[8] Heifetz had previously condemned the Tchaikovsky Competition for being biased against Western Competitors. In spite of Heifetz's objections, Friedman chose to enter the competition.[9]

Consequently, the competition received international outrage after Friedman, already a seasoned performer and RCA Victor recording artist, who had performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, among many others, was placed sixth behind players who had yet to establish themselves.[10]

On 25 June 2019, at the final round of the piano category, Chinese competitor Tianxu An was supposed to play Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 followed by Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. However, the scores on the orchestra's and conductor's stands were placed in reversed order and the Rachmaninoff piece was announced first, different from what the pianist requested. Since An didn't understand Russian, he was unaware of the situation. With the piano entry in the Rachmaninoff almost immediate, the performance "began with a failure". Following the incident, jury chair Denis Matsuev invited him to perform the program again, but An declined. The competition made an official apology and the orchestra administration suspended the responsible staff after the event. An was eventually awarded a "special prize" for his confidence and courage.[11][12][13][14]