Musical extravaganza: pianists Daniil Trifonov and Rafał Blachacz each to perform Chopin in Hong Kong

It is unusual in Hong Kong to have the chance to hear exactly the same piece of music, played by two of the world’s greatest performers, within two weeks of each other.

But at the end of September and the beginning of October, two winners of top prizes at recent Frédéric Chopin international piano competitions will perform the 25-minute Chopin Sonata No.2 in B-flat minor Opus 35. And those members of the audience who are lucky enough to hear them both will be able to be their own “competition judges” of which moves them the most.

And even if you think you might not know the piece, when you listen to the third movement, you will find you know it very well.

The sonata is the second of three piano sonatas by Chopin. It is sometimes called the funeral march sonata and its third movement is often played in films and cartoons to dramatise – often to tragi-comical effect – a character’s death, so much so that today it would be considered a pastiche if played at a real funeral.

However, half a century ago it was required playing on the most serious state occasions.