beethoven chopinomania - Stowarzyszenie im. Ludwiga van

Warsaw
Summer 2010
BEETHOVEN
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No. 9
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CHOPINOMANIA
© Bartek Materka
> p. 3
Art in the concrete jungle
> p. 10
in this issue:
From the Publisher
So what about that Chopin?
In the atmosphere of the all-encompassing festivity that
accompanies the celebration of the year of Fryderyk Chopin,
among the multitude of events, when the name of the great
Polish composer is repeated thousands of times, there is a
question ever more often returning to the lips: yes, but what
next? The history of our country, even the most recent, has
mercilessly proved how easily we can squander good will, lose
enthusiasm, and drown in the quagmire of forgetfulness of what
has just been considered the most important… What can we do
then, so that the national brand, created and kept up with such
commitment – Fryderyk Chopin in the capacity of the symbol
of Poland – maintains its significance after 2010? Cold logic
makes us answer this question in textbook fashion: it is the
product and the image that count. Though commonplace,
the claim is still hard to understand for the few on whom so
much depends… And yet there are tasks that cannot wait: the
leading role of the Chopin Competition among similar events
held worldwide; showing to the world (and why not also to
Poles?) Warsaw as the city of Chopin, elevating the museum
of the composer to the role of a major European museum
centre… Does the number of perfect educational and tourist
products not include the composer’s home at Żelazowa Wola
and also the unique collection of works by Professor Jerzy Duda
Gracz: a testimony to the unfailing influence of Chopin’s work
on Polish contemporary art? Yet all this requires persistence and
stability, also in the financial dimension. Most important in the
coming years will be the well thought-through decisions and
coordinated actions: at the level of edutainment actions aimed at
the young in Poland, but also while organising events promoting
Poland abroad. Let us be proud of Chopin, and let us not allow
)
him to be devalued.*
Future that we demand today: how is it to play in your own
independent orchestra that you established while still a student,
and which has held its position in the market? Interview with Marcin
Klejdysz, concertmaster and manager of Beethoven Academy
Orchestra, which will play during Chopinomania – p. 6
Pianists prefer to play the breakneck Liszt than mysterious Chopin,
which for us has turned into “early” music, as who can dance the
waltz or the mazur today? Do we still love Mr C.? Interview with
Kacper Miklaszewski, pianist and musical critic – p. 7
Despite research conducted by several generations of scholars,
and careful analyses of every note and bar, we still cannot wrench
any secret from Chopin. Essay on Fryderyk’s secrets – p. 9
Art in the concrete jungle. Polish contemporary art broke into the
public space back in the 1990s. Events in streets, squares, and
housing settlements were meant to do away with the divide between
art and society, and acquired a civic dimension. Anna Theiss on the
heritage of the Polish avant-garde, who themselves lived in blocks
of flats – p. 10
The Passenger, the Polish opera about the Holocaust – p. 11
THE CHOPIN COMPETITION:
Will a new Blechacz arise? Polish participants of the 16th Chopin
Competition answer questions from Agata Kwiecińska (Polskie
Radio) – p. 12
Andrzej Giza
Director of Ludwig van
Beethoven Association
*) In the 1980s, the PLZ 5000 (i.e. “old” Polish zlotys) banknote with the
countenance of Fryderyk Chopin for a long time remained the highest
denomination in circulation in contemporary Communist Poland. Its value today,
following the redenomination which took place in 1995, is all of PLN 0.50.
From the first to the last note: 1965 – the Argentinean Martha
Argerich competes for gold against the Brazilian Arthur MoreiraLima. She begins her first performance by running away from stage
entrance, only to be stopped by the backstage personnel – p. 14
Beethoven Magazine wins the Stevie Award
Beethoven Magazine, published by the Ludwig van
Beethoven Association, recently won the GrandFront 2009
– the Main Prize of the Polish Chamber of Press Publishers
for the best press cover, and is now recognised with the
prestigious Stevie Award in the American International
Business Awards in the Best House Organ – For General
Audience category. The award is a 24-carat gold statue
awarded to the magazine by an international jury
composed of managers of highly prestigious brands,
including Japan Management Consultants Association,
Korea Business Communicators Association, Ernst
& Young, Bank of Montreal, and Western Union.
This year’s Stevie Award presentation ceremony
will be held at the Ritz-Carlton in Istanbul (Turkey)
on 27th September.
From the editor
F.C. in a housing settlement
About seven years ago, I witnessed a concert of Fryderyk
Chopin’s music on the apron of Okęcie Airport, shortly after it
had been named after the great composer. I was quite convinced
that the airport would remain the most special space to have
been selected for a presentation of his works. This is no longer
the case, as we have the Chopinomania cycle ahead, whose
programme encompasses such unorthodox sites as the
Astronomical Observatory, a Baltic Sea pier, and the middle of a
concrete jungle. I find the last especially intriguing. Not as much
through the contrast between the music of the intimate
confessions and the reinforced concrete surrounding, but rather
through the capturing of what has for some time taken place in
contemporary visual arts. Artists have entered the city space,
changed its appearance, and bestowed it with new meanings, as
did Joanna Rajkowska when giving Aleje Jerozolimskie avenue
her palm tree. The artists perform from the position of the public
interest. Solipsism in art is over. Classical music, obviously, has
its rights. It is hard to compare this project with the social and
political actions of “the visualists”, yet a concert amidst blocks
of flats is an interesting dialogue with an important current in
another of the arts.
Anna S. Dębowska
Editor-in-Chief
of Beethoven Magazine
2
BEETHOVEN M A G A Z I N E
Publisher: Ludwig van Beethoven
Association
Elżbieta Penderecka:
President of the Board,
General Director
ul. Długa 19/4, 31–147 Kraków
www.beethoven.org.pl
Publishing Director
and Founder: Andrzej Giza
Editor-in-Chief:
Anna S. Dębowska
Artistic Director:
Witold Siemaszkiewicz
Cover Art by:
Bartek Materka
Columnists: Stanisław Dybowski,
Agata Kwiecińska (Polskie Radio),
Dorota Szwarcman, Anna Theiss
Photographs: Agencja Gazeta,
Collection of the Ludwig van
Beethoven Association, Collection
of the TiFC and NIFC, Bregenzer
Festspiele / Karl Forster,
Bruno Fidrych, Piotr Kucia,
Napo Images / NIFC, PAP
Translation by: HOBBiT
Piotr Krasnowolski
Proofreading: Ben Koschalka
ISSN: 2080-1076
Copyright: Stowarzyszenie
im. Ludwiga van Beethovena
Supported in part
by the Polish
Ministry of Culture
and National
Heritage.
Jerzy Bartkowski / Orange Kino Letnie
Sopot, The Pier
Thursday
2nd September
Chopinomania
K R A K Ó W,
W A R S A W,
S O P O T
Extraordinary symphonic concerts in the public space
Chopin at the Astronomical Observatory, on the famous pier,
and amid Warsaw’s concrete jungle. The programme of three
concerts from the Chopinomania series, initiated by the
Ludwig van Beethoven Association, encompass three early
works by Fryderyk Chopin for piano and orchestra: piano
concertos in E minor Op. 11 and in F minor Op. 21.
Robert Salisz of the Ludwig van
Beethoven Association:
Each of the Chopinomania concerts
is held in a venue exuding a different
ambience and aura. The Astronomic
Observatory of the Jagiellonian
University is situated on the
outskirts of the city, on a hill
commanding a beautiful view of
Kraków, the Camaldolese Monastery,
and the Vistula River Valley.
The audience are encouraged to take
a look at the sky and the stars
through telescopes after the concert.
We want the event to take place in
the atmosphere of a family picnic.
There have been plenty of events
of much lighter gravity on the Pier
in Sopot, and summer at the Polish
seashore is an incessant festival
of itinerant concerts and cabaret
shows. We wanted to be rebellious,
and close the summer season with
a show of a different type of music.
The Warsaw concrete jungle is a
space that intrigues and encourages
the imagination most. Present in the
vicinity is a shop and a playground;
we shall set the stage and the “hall”
on a basketball court, among the
high-rise blocks surrounding it.
Chopin and his music will enter into
the very centre of everyday life.
Musicians in black ties and evening
gowns, the grand piano and other
instruments – here the aesthetic
contrast will certainly be the most
visible and evident. We hope that
something timeless, successfully
penetrating the everyday reality, will
lead at least some of our audience
to reflect.
For more about art in the concrete jungle
turn to p. 10
www.beethoven.org.pl
Astronomical Observatory in Kraków
Sunday, 29th August
Warsaw, os. Ostrobramska, ul. Łukowska 8
Tuesday, 31st August
B E E T H O V E N MAGAZINE
3
Fryderyk Chopin’s
Beethoven Academy Orchestra
(BAO)
BAO started as an initiative of
students of the Academy of Music
in Kraków. They played their first
concerts at the 53rd Junger Künstler
Festival in Bayreuth in 2003, and in
2005 made their début under their
current name at the 9th Ludwig van
Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw.
The BAO work with leading Polish
conductors, and have released eight
records. The artistic and
organisational director of the
ensemble is its concertmaster,
Marcin Klejdysz.
piano concertos
performed by eminent
Polish artists will
resound in three
different locations in
the public space.
Interview – p. 6
Krzysztof Jabłoński (piano)
One of the most eminent Polish
pianists of the middle generation,
winner of Third Prize at the
11th Fryderyk Chopin International
Piano Competition in Warsaw
(1985), many competitions in the
USA, Ireland, Israel, and Italy.
He conducts an active concert life
as a soloist and chamber musician,
member of the Warsaw
Quintet.
4
Michał Dworzyński (conductor)
A graduate of the Berlin Hanns Eisler
Hochschule für Musik. Having won
the Donatella Flick Conducting
Competition he was given the
position of assistant conductor with
the London Symphony Orchestra,
with whom he cooperates on
a permanent basis. Last autumn,
he recorded his first CD on the
Hyperion label with the BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra.
Talented
and determined
In 2005, as the President of the
Ludwig van Beethoven Association
I invited the orchestra, whose first
concertmaster was Marcin Klejdysz,
to the 9th Ludwig van Beethoven
Easter Festival in Warsaw. At the
time, the young musicians from
Kraków played their first concert
under their present name. I also
provided the encouragement
to release the ensemble’s first CD,
and offered the patronage of the
artistic management run by my
Association.
Elżbieta Penderecka
Beethoven Academy Orchestra is living proof that
with such vast determination, activity, and talent
you can survive in the musical market, despite
the unfavourable conditions that operate within it.
When I heard the ensemble for the first time six
years ago, I was surprised at its high musical level.
They were all students or already graduates of the
Academy of Music in Kraków, which attests to the
very high level of education there. As the idea of
promotion and supporting the young musicians is
very close to my heart, I decided to support their
activities. For many years, I have canvassed on
behalf of the orchestra for support from the
Municipality of Kraków, Małopolska Voivodeship,
and private sponsors.
A certain opportunity for the future is the
launching of the European Centre of Krzysztof
Penderecki’s Music in Lusławice, an initiative
of the composer, planned to open in 2013. This
national institution will have an artistic and
educational role, therefore Beethoven Academy
Orchestra – with the support of the Marshal of the
Malopolska Voivodeship – will have the
opportunity to play the function of orchestra in
residence. Though a certain prospect has
appeared, it is nevertheless still far away. May
Beethoven Academy Orchestra encounter on its
path some sponsors conscious of their role so that
they may develop their artistic potential thanks
to such support.
I am convinced that it is an ensemble worth
supporting, and living proof of the high level of
musical education in our country.
The orchestra’s greatest success is an individual concert at Musikverein in
Vienna in September 2009, conducted by Paweł Przytocki with Łukasz Długosz
as the soloist. In mid-August this year, the BAO performed at the Young Euro
Classic Festival in Berlin performing works by Penderecki, Bujarski,
and Szymanowski.
“Beethoven Academy Orchestra performed at the Viennese Musikverein. This is prestige and proof of
recognition for the young musicians, as it is Europe’s most famous concert hall. The conquest was a
success, as virtuoso quality, musical diligence, and the inimitable youthful expression count among
the ensemble’s fortes. A strong suit that many of our experienced and aged orchestras find in short
supply.”
Tomasz Handzlik, Gazeta Wyborcza national daily, 29th September 2009
“Beethoven Academy Orchestra from Kraków consists beyond doubt of Poland’s most talented
musicians.”
Annika Senger, Online Musik Magazine, 2008
“Ushered into the great world by Elżbieta Penderecka, they are recognised as one of the most
interesting young ensembles.”
Anna Woźniakowska, Dziennik Polski local daily, 2005
“An ensemble of enormous potential, composed solely of ambitious enthusiasts. This is a genuine
orchestra who have mastered a very difficult repertoire in no time at all.”
Tadeusz Płatek, Gazeta Krakowska local daily, 2005
B E E T H O V E N MAGAZINE
5
necessary, as we need stabilisation in our
lives. If we had it – and I mean a base,
wages, regular subsistence – our artistic
development could be more dynamic.
The Passion of
the Orchestra
“There is something that holds
us together, a belief that it
makes sense to play together,
to create, to conquer the world.
That must also be that lasting
hope for a breakthrough,” says
Marcin Klejdysz, concertmaster
and manager of Beethoven
Academy Orchestra.
Anna S. Dębowska: How is it to play in
your own, independent orchestra that was
established while you were still students,
and has survived in the market?
Marcin Klejdysz: It is a great passion, the
faith in the impossible, fulfilment of artistic
dreams, the mission of sharing musical
beauty with others. It is the discovery and
embellishment of a better world through
musical inspirations, at the same time an
exquisite group integrity and uncommon
fellowship.
Members of the orchestra are graduates of
the Academy of Music in Kraków. Can the
Municipality of Kraków not finance an
ensemble that has already made a name
for itself?
We have canvassed for that for quite a time.
Unfortunately, to no avail. The Municipality
of Kraków maintains a number of orchestras
in belief that it is absolutely sufficient, and
considers the sense and cost of maintaining
a new 50-person-strong band – one like ours
– absolutely pointless. Neither the quality
we have worked out nor the support of
luminaries is any measurable yardstick for
the authorities of Kraków. That’s why we are
conducting talks with Nowy Sącz, Tarnów,
Bochnia, Wieliczka, Puławy, and Gorzów
Wielkopolski, where a new concert hall will
presently be completed, and the city
authorities are considering the
establishment of their own orchestra.
You have no permanent co-financing. This
can’t possibly favour the development of
your orchestra.
We begin every year with a zero budget. We
have sponsors and partners, and give a few
dozen concerts every year, yet we need
institutional support increasingly badly. It is
6
You managed to launch cooperation with
one of Poland’s largest companies.
I believe that you are highly successful
despite all the odds.
Comarch Young Europe Experience 2010,
our autumn tour, is the result and an
example of magnificent dialogue with
Professor Janusz Filipiak, whose ideas are
exceptionally inspiring and innovative.
Thanks to his interest in the orchestra,
we shall play three concerts in Germany’s
largest concert halls this autumn.
As the manager of the orchestra, you must
have plenty of ideas?
First of all, together with Ms Elżbieta
Penderecka and the Ludwig van Beethoven
Association, since 2005 we have incessantly
striven for public funds from the operating
programmes of the Ministry of Culture and
National Heritage and Małopolska Region.
This year, we are involved in Fidelio.
Pamięci Holocaustu. It will be a PolishNorwegian production, coorganised by
Ludwig van Beethoven Association and Oslo
Musikakademie ANS. Plans include five
concerts in Wrocław, Łódź, Lublin, Warsaw,
and Kraków from 22nd to 29th November
2010. The soloists invited come from Riga,
Moscow, and New York, the production will
be directed by Julia Pevzner from Israel,
and conducted by Alexander Tsalyuk.
I look for partners who commission projects
with us. I involve them in the creation of
ideas that galvanise our cooperation. An
example is the magnificent cooperation with
the Janusz Bielecki Foundation, with over
15 concerts, and two discs including the
DVD from the “Lustra” (“Mirrors”) tour.
Another example is the cooperation with
the Stichting Montferland Cultuurfonds
foundation, which has allowed us to release
two CDs, and brings us every year to the
magnificent concert halls of the
Netherlands.
You also play plenty of Polish music, and
even make certain repertoire discoveries.
In collaboration with Małopolska Region,
we are now working on the cycle “Jeszcze
muzyka polska...” promoting music by
utterly forgotten Polish composers. Their
number includes Franciszek Lessel, Ignacy
Feliks Dobrzyński, Franciszek Mirecki, and
Wojciech Sowiński, whose Symphony
in E minor Professor Maciej Negrey recently
discovered in a Paris collection.
Do you believe that the best is still ahead
of you?
We have invested plenty of strength, work,
and hope in the orchestra. We garner very
good reviews in the Polish and foreign press,
both regular and music. For seven years we
have played in almost the same line-up.
We are young, we still believe in ourselves,
and have an enthusiastic approach to music.
Yet we no longer want to be just a highly
promising orchestra that has a future.
We want that future today! BM
We still love Chopin?
“We Poles believe Fryderyk to be the world’s most beloved composer. An understandable
enthusiasm, though strongly exaggerated. There have been plenty of geniuses in the 1000
years of the history of music,” Kacper Miklaszewski, pianist and musical critic believes
Do you really think so?!
Indeed! I believe that the knowledge
of the average Pole about the romantic
poet-prophets Mickiewicz and
Słowacki is smaller beyond compare.
Anna S. Dębowska: The magnitude of
the composer can be measured in the
influence that he made on posterity.
Kacper Miklaszewski: Without a
doubt, Chopin is among the most
significant composers in history. Still,
only in the realm of piano music.
Musicologists are fascinated also by
tracing the influences which he yielded
to. In Chopin’s works, we find
inspirations coming from Bach and
Mozart, and also from Haydn. You just
have to compare any of Haydn’s piano
sonata with the ballads, and even with
the mazurkas, to perceive that.
What are the reasons?
One of the theories suggests that it
is considered good behaviour in the
countries of the Far East to keep your
feelings to yourself. Music that makes
do without words, is abstract, and
emotional strongly at the same time,
allows those peoples to share their soul
without the fear that such a statement
will be interpreted verbatim, becoming
in this way, as they believe, naïve and
crude. Japanese literature expresses
feelings in highly convoluted, and at
times poetic, metaphors. It is similar
with Chopin, who in all his works
conceals powerful emotions behind
a masterly chiselled form.
What about knowledge of Chopin
in Poland?
I don’t think that’s so bad. Research
conducted a few years ago by Dr
Barbara Pabjan from the University of
Wrocław proved that more than every
other person asked in the street about
Chopin knows who we are talking
about. Most of them also know that he
composed romantic and piano music.
That’s a lot.
Has every great pianist undergone
a fascination with the Polish
composer?
Probably, yet not everyone managed to
find a key to this music. Musical critic
Józef Kański brought to my attention
the sentence uttered by Sviatoslav
Richter: “The worst case is with
Chopin: every time I want to capture
him, he eludes me.” If this was said by
a pianist of Richter’s scale…
Witold Siemaszkiewicz for Krakowskie Biuro Festiwalowe
The International Federation of
Chopin Societies (IFCS) today
numbers 38 Chopin societies active
in 25 states. To compare, there are
only 16 such organisations devoted
to Mozart. This is a crushing
advantage...
Quite probably, in every country in our
cultural realm, there is a numerous
group of Chopin lovers, who believe
that his music is closest to both their
aesthetic and their spiritual
expectations. Remarkable is his
current popularity among the nations
of Asia, with the interest in both the
compositions and person of Chopin –
much like those of Mozart – reaching
proportions that we cannot properly
imagine.
If we look at the programmes of
major concert halls and festivals held
in Europe, his name does not crop up
so often. It is Mozart, Bach,
Beethoven, and even Schubert and
Brahms, who prevail.
He left no more than 65 numbered
works. It is a compulsory item for
every pianist, yet in fact it is no more
than a drop in the sea of great piano
literature. For example in Germany his
works are not performed as often as in
Poland, and they never have been, as
Germans have plenty of their own
romantic music, and it is music created
by really prominent composers.
The International Federation of Chopin Societies (IFCS)
today numbers 38 Chopin societies active in 25 states.
To compare, there are only 16 such organisations devoted to Mozart.
If the list of the world’s 10 greatest composers were to be
drafted, would it include Chopin?
It depends on the criteria assumed. He would make it onto
the list, yet he would not necessarily make it to the top.
One of the reasons being the limitation of his artistic
pursuits to – with few exceptions – a single instrument, the
piano. If his oeuvre were to be compared to what Bach,
Handel, the Viennese classics, Bartók, Stravinsky, and
Prokofiev left – in both the number of the opuses and the
variety of forms and genres, Chopin would find himself
practically on the margin.
I am under the impression that
young pianists find it increasingly
difficult to play Chopin.
An eminent Polish expert on Chopin,
Regina Smendzianka, suggests that
young people found Chopin’s works
historical, bygone music even 30 years
ago. Let us just understand that today’s
academy of music student has never
danced the waltz, never danced the
mazurka, and only once in his or her
lifetime, during the studniówka pregraduation school ball, walked in the
procession of the polonaise: that’s why
he or she has no key necessary to find
the natural quality of movement in
music. In European music, movement
is an absolutely basic quality, and its
richest source back in the days of
Fryderyk were the steps of dances.
This may be the reason why today
piano novices prefer learning the neckbreaking works of Liszt than those of
Chopin, whose music is more difficult
and very mysterious. This may be the
answer to your earlier question why
Chopin does not frequently feature in
the repertoires of musical institutions.
He cannot suffer exaggeration,
instability of the form, but also
B E E T H O V E N MAGAZINE
7
Who is the role model Chopinist
today?
That is the most difficult question:
I still can’t find the ideal interpretation.
In the romantic aspect, I find the
recordings by Martha Argerich closest
to my heart, I enjoy the style of
Ohlsson and Zimerman, and – among
the younger pianists – Kissin, even
though I find his Chopin too heroic
at times.
imitation, soulless quality, mechanical
playing, and boredom on the other
hand. Once the achievements of
teaching practice and theory allowed
for mass education of pianists, we
began to deal with average talents
copying earlier interpretations without
understanding and with no pursuit of
their own vision; there is something
akin to devaluation of music
progressing. There is a similar
falsehood in seeking heartrending
dramas in Chopin. It is most difficult
to keep the proportions. To understand
Chopin’s intentions, you need to play
in subtleties, have plenty of ideas, and
performing means, far from the banal.
Moreover, these days, so matter-offact that it hurts, it must be hard
to empathise with emotionality.
Pragmatism kills imagination?
That is true about performers and
audiences. This music subtly fills up
space and time, so it requires focus.
In the era of information overload,
Chopin expects from us a celibacy:
losing yourself ultimately in listening
to music.
How often is Chopin recorded today?
Chopin Year is going on, there will
probably still be many more
recordings, yet we know that the
Chopin anniversary has not resulted in
such an avalanche of new releases as
Bach’s and Mozart’s anniversaries did.
There are decidedly fewer recordings,
Kacper Miklaszewski: A few years ago, I examined the musical sensitivity of
children from a normal primary school, that is those with a meagre musical
knowledge. I tested whether they could tell the difference between the music of Chopin
and other composers. Far more than half of them distinguished him correctly, by pure
intuition. Chopin is absolutely unique: which is why he is so easy to tell apart.
yet all labels, even the ones that have
shunned Chopin, are publishing
something for the anniversary,
recording new interpretations or what
they have in archives.
Which of these recordings can you
recommend?
I enjoy returning to a Deutsche
Grammophon disc with the earlier
unpublished radio recordings by
Martha Argerich from the years
immediately preceding and following
KRAKÓW 29th August
WARSAW 31st August
SOPOT 2nd September
her participation in the competition.
I’d also like to recommend the Cello
sonata performed by Maria João Pires
and Pavel Gomziakov, and – for
comparison’s sake – an equally
pleasant interpretation by the cellist
Alban Gerhardt and Steven Osborne,
released on the Hyperion label.
Many interesting recordings on
historical instruments can be found
in the CD series published by the
Fryderyk Chopin National Institute
(NIFC).
And Rafał Blechacz?
He represents the subtle approach
to the piano, which falls into the
mainstream of Chopin tradition, but
he is possibly not looking for new
solutions. Possibly, one should seek
the most interesting performers among
pianists whose names are not really
known: Chopin is played beautifully by
Cecile Licad and Luis Fernando Pérez,
and also the Moscow-born Ekaterina
Derzhavina, quite unknown in Poland
too. I believe that the coming 20 years
will bring plenty of attempts at
performing Chopin works on pianos
from his period, a tendency that will
open new sources of interpretation and
new treasure troves of ideas. Chopin
will be associated with the notion of
early music, he will certainly never
cease to fascinate. BM
Kacper Miklaszewski, musician, pianist,
academic teacher, journalist working
for Ruch Muzyczny magazine and Polish
Radio 2.
Chopinomania
Extraordinary symphonic concerts in the public space
Sponsors:
Media Patrons:
8
www.beethoven.org.pl
I
What was he like?
One of the sources that allow us to
get to know Chopin are his letters
to family, friends, publishers. Yet even
those do not provide full answers
to the questions that trouble us.
Below are a handful of examples.
From a letter written in 1828 to Tytus
Woyciechowski: “for a week, I have
written nothing, be it for people, be
it for God.”; to Julian Fontana
10 years later: “in my life? I am close
to what is the most beautiful”. Two
years later, in his correspondence
to Fontana we find that “the sky is
beautiful, there is sadness in my
heart – but it is nothing [...]. If it
were otherwise, possibly my
existence would be of no use for
anyone.” A month later, to the same
addressee: “let us hide ourselves
away till after death.” A year before
his death, in a letter to Wojciech
Grzymała, Chopin wrote: “and in the
meantime what has become of my
art? And my heart, where have
I wasted it?”
Did Chopin explain anything in such
statements? With the ambiguity of
his thoughts, he rather introduced
successive question marks,
expanding the space for the variety
of interpretation. He does not
dissolve our doubts with his music,
either, as he did not manifest his
views in his works.
Love
We learn quite a lot about Chopin’s
attitude to love from Franz Liszt:
“Chopin did not exert a decisive
influence on anybody’s life.
Fryderyk’s
secrets
COLLECTION OF THE JAGIELLONIAN LIBRARY
f all the books on Chopin were
put side by side, the length of
the shelf would probably be
several thousand metres.
Such a great body of literature,
developed in nearly 200 years on the
Polish composer, includes plenty of
invented stories that cannot be
documented. No other musical
genius – say Bach, Mozart or
Beethoven – can have led
biographers to so many fabrications
as Chopin.
He left plenty of mysteries that
simply provoke us to follow a variety
of interpretations. What do we know,
for example, about his aesthetic
views on music? Do we know
Chopin’s attitude to love and sex:
what did he find them to be, and
what was their significance in his
life? Was he a believer, or lukewarm
in religious matters? How did he
make music and what initiated this
process: an image, an external
excitement, a spiritual experience,
or a maybe only a constellation of
sounds? These questions may be
multiplied endlessly!
He is enshrouded in the mist of mystery in all aspects
of his life. Despite the enquiries of several
generations of scientists, analysing nearly every note,
we have still managed to snatch none of his secrets
– Stanisław Dybowski writes.
Consciously, he never broke anyone
else’s strides, never imposed his
personality on anyone else. He did
not terrorise anybody’s heart, did not
lay a usurping hand on anybody’s
destiny”. And further: “much like
Tasso, he could say ‘he desires a lot,
expects hardly anything, and claims
nothing’.” But also: “he was ready to
give away everything, yet never
himself.”
This aspect of the Polish musician’s
life was of interest for those seeking
sensation. This is how the letters of
Chopin to Delfina Potocka surfaced
in 1945. The composer met the
beautiful and talented woman
probably in Dresden in 1830. As the
comely Polish lady enjoyed flirting,
Chopin was quickly counted among
her admirers. And when the
composer soon dedicated his
Concerto in F minor and the famous
Waltz in D-flat major “à Madame la
Comtesse Delphine Potocka”, their
affair became obvious for many.
And yet: they were indeed friends,
yet their relationship was of a purely
social and not erotic kind.
Discovered after the war,
correspondence drenched with
eroticism – e.g. “I do not think
myself to pose as a genius, having
a huge nose, you should understand
that a different nose is meant here.”
– proved apocryphal even though it
resembled the composer’s
handwriting, as after laborious
graphological, historical, and
linguistic studies, it was discovered
that they were the fruit of combining
letters, syllables, and words taken
from authentic letters. Thus the
sensational theme in the life of the
author of the mazurkas lay in ruins.
Music
What was music for Chopin? We can
find the answer to this only from the
essays in Method of Playing the
Piano, which the composer was
planning to write as a book teaching
to play the instrument. We read
there: “the art that manifests itself in
sounds is called music”, “this is the
art of expressing thoughts through
sounds”, “the art of arranging
sounds”, “the manifestation of our
emotion in sounds”. George Sand
acknowledged his views on music in
a single sentence: “Music for Chopin
is prayer, faith, friendship, the
wonderful covenant.” In her
Impressions et souvenirs, she wrote:
“Chopin speaks a little, and hardly
ever about his art [...]. Nevertheless,
he chooses intimacy, and expresses
himself truly only through the
mediation of his piano”.
Religion
There are a few sources on Chopin’s
religiousness, yet he himself remains
silent on the subject. Unless we treat
verbatim religioso: the note on the
score of the Nocturne in G minor
Op. 15 No. 3, as well as the names
of holidays used in letters in the
place of dates, e.g. “Today is the Eve
of Christ’s Nativity, our Lady Star”,
“Easter”, “today Wednesday, Ash
Wednesday”, “Good Friday”. More
specific explanations in the subject
were provided by Chopin’s
matchless observer, Liszt: “Chopin
never touched the subject, keeping
the question of his faith to himself
and not manifesting it externally.
You could know him long and not
know precisely what his views were
in this field”.
On the other hand, the morality of
the composer may be deduced from
the letter of George Sand to the
famous singer, Paulina Viardot:
“I entrust my daughter for the time
of the journey to Chopin, as if I
entrusted her to God, as speaking
seriously and without exaggeration,
he is something of the best on this
earth and most pure”...
Possibly, Napoleon Henryk Reber
was right in saying that Chopin
learnt music from God himself.
BM
B E E T H O V E N MAGAZINE
9
Concrete jungles cannot be shoved into a pigeonhole reading “ugly, dirty, and bad”.
Anna Theiss on the heritage of the Polish avant-garde, who themselves lived in blocks of flats
Art in the concrete jungle
organised meetings, debates, and talks
that went long into the night.
The end of the myth of a local artist
working in a manor house. The postwar generation of avant-garde artists
experimenting with means of artistic
expression worked where they could,
and where ideas lived the most intense
lives: in the block. The flagship
assumption of avant-garde art was
shaping lives and changing them.
In this sense, the block, being
the environment in which the Polish
avant-garde was born, cannot be
overestimated.
Joanna Rajkowska, Dotleniacz. It seems that no artistic project has recently provoked such a lively reaction among those to
whom it is addressed. In Grzybowski Square, in the centre of Warsaw, on the premises of the former Jewish Ghetto and today’s
Za Żelazną Bramą estate, Joanna Rajkowska created a public space. A small lake, benches, and cushions for locals and passersby to sit on. The action integrated the local community and provided an impulse to consider a change.
he residential architecture of
the 1970s and 1980s is no
longer frowned upon as urban
blight. Art involving local communities
is beginning to show up in these
housing areas.
Concrete genealogy
Poland’s first block of flats built of
prefabricated slabs was put up in
Warsaw’s Jelonki in 1957. Before the
second world war, Jelonki was to be
a garden city: a balanced organism –
friendly for people, and operating on
a human scale. One where the
habitation, labour, and relaxation areas
operate in harmony, ensuring ideal
conditions for life and development.
And yet it became the place where
the technology that was to change
the Polish landscape took root.
T
Just five years before the block of flats
was built in Warsaw’s Jelonki, the
famous Unité d’Habitation – a social
project of modernism – was built in
Marseilles. It was to be a multi-family
home – built of the sun, air, and water
– with screens for solar baths on the
roof, day rooms, shops: in a word –
with everything that is needed in
productive life. From its outset, the
Polish prefabricated slab construction
was no more than a poor cousin of the
French projects. It started in the days
of technological and material
shortages, yet it overpowered by force
the demolished centres of Polish cities,
together with suburbs and villages.
What in the countries of Western
Europe was just a shard – the ugly
architecture of the outskirts – turned
into the joint experience of both centre
and periphery in Poland and other
countries of the Eastern bloc. It was
so omnipresent that it was within
the bloc’s blocks that Polish art (both
post-war and newest) was born.
Avant-garde in the Bloc
The 11th floor in a concrete block
at al. Solidarności 64 in Warsaw today
houses the Avant-Garde Institute
managed by the Foksal Gallery
Foundation: a kind of museum and
a living space of art. Beginning with
1962, it was the flat where the pioneer
of Polish avant-garde, interior and set
designer Henryk Stażewski lived and
worked. In later years, he shared it
with Edward Krasiński, an artist and
eminent neo-avant-gardist. They
Paweł Althamer, Sculpture Park in Bródno
The artist living in a multi-storey house at ul. Krasnobrodzka 13 is eager to involve the local
community in his works. In 2000, he organised the night event Bródno 2000. With the joint
forces of over 200 neighbours, the lights in the artist’s block were lit so as to display the
number “2000” when seen from the street. Nine years later, Althamer took interest in Park
Bródnowski. In the spacious green area inside the concrete jungle, he made a sculpture
referring to the portrayals of paradise, and invited stars of the world’s art including Olafur
Eliasson and Monika Sosnowska for individual projects. Althamer’s actions are sculpture
in a social context, held in a specific space, with the involvement of local communities. >
Jan Dziaczkowski, Keine Grenze
What if the concrete block architectural deluge did not stop at the Iron Curtain? In his perfect
series of collage works, Jan Dziaczkowski built simulations of European cities with block
architecture. High-rise anthills surrounding Rome’s Piazza di Spagna, concrete in the Trocadero –
all these were conjured up by Dziaczkowski. In his analogue, handmade juxtapositions, the artist
showed how concrete architecture has become an imminent part of Polish reality.
10
Concrete inspires
Today Polish artists return to the concrete
jungles fully aware that they are learning
the lesson of the avant-garde. In 30 years,
new contexts mushroomed around the
residential settlements built over the
prefabricated slabs: marginalisation and
pauperisation of the residents,
degradation of the space, depopulation of
the settlements. They are the ever
important frameworks for actions
by Paweł Althamer and Joanna
Rajkowska. What they do stands against
anonymity, emptying and destitution, at
the same time activating and integrating
locally. Developing side by side with such
socially involved art, there is the other
current of the artistic tales from the block:
Maciej Kurak reconstructs a block in
a diminished scale, Nicholas Grospierre
photographs the fantastic façades
of blocks, where every balcony has
a different colour.
It is not only an expression of nostalgia
after the People’s Republic of Poland, but
also a tale of the magic of common
experience, whose name is wielka płyta –
literally “the great slab”. All the artists
gathered at the opening of the exhibition
“Concrete Heritage“ at the Zamek
Ujazdowski Centre for Contemporary Art
in Warsaw in 2007 declared that “we all
come from Ursynów”. The exhibition
gathered over 100 works connected to the
theme of settlements from the 1970s and
1980s. BM
The Passenger, the Polish
opera about the Holocaust
Dorota Szwarcman
Europe is discovering Mieczysław Weinberg, a Polish
composer of Jewish origin. His works were the leading
theme of this year’s summer festival in Bregenz.
Mieczysław Weinberg (1919–1996)
spent most of his long life in the Soviet
Union, yet he was born in Warsaw,
where he lived till the outbreak of the
second world war. To the end of his life,
Weinberg considered himself a Pole,
or, more precisely, a Polish Jew.
The culmination of the segment
devoted to Weinberg – held parallel
to the mass performances of Aida put
on in the Empire Theatre by Lake
Constance (Bodensee) – was the
world’s premiere of a stage
performance of The Passenger: the most
significant and important opera in the
composer’s oeuvre, directed by David
Pountney. Its libretto by Alexander
Medvedev is based on a book by Zofia
Posmysz, and the last, unfinished film
by Andrzej Munk of the same title.
The first opera on Auschwitz in history
had the opportunity to become a great
event soon after it originated in 1968.
After all, the radio drama by Zofia
Posmysz, later her book, and Munk’s
film, were all in this category. It was the
first attempt at looking at the
concentration camp through the eyes
of the other side – an SS-woman:
a supervisor. Yet the Soviet authorities –
in fear of Auschwitz being associated
with Soviet camps – did not give
permission for its premiere. The first
concert performance was not held until
2006 in Moscow. Zofia Posmysz (87)
lived to see the world premiere, which
she supported by consulting the
director David Pountney and the set
designer Johan Engels.
The director’s vision follows almost
in the footsteps of the opera’s stage
directions. The opera takes place on
two planes: the higher level of the
scenic construction is the board of the
ship, where the main protagonist –
Liza, a former SS-woman – travels with
her husband. There she meets the
mysterious Passenger. The level of the
stage is Auschwitz. Its main element is
a railway carriage. When, moving along
the tracks, it approaches the front of the
stage, the railway car turns out to be
a camp barrack. Standing on its roof is
the choir, which provides
commentaries to the events.
Four performances were held in the
Festspielhaus, with all 1500 seats
occupied. Both the exceptionally
evocative music and the direction
received ovations. There are Poles
among the performers: the baritone
Artur Ruciński as Tadeusz, and Elżbieta
Wróblewska and Agnieszka Rehlis as
female inmates. Another Polish accent
was the exhibition on The Passenger
presented by the Adam Mickiewicz
Institute. Both the production and
exhibition will be taken to the Warsaw
Opera in October. Later, the spectacle
will be performed in Madrid, London,
and possibly in Berlin, New York,
and Tel Aviv.
Shown in Bregenz was another
Weinberg opera, namely Portrait, based
on Nikolai Gogol. It was put on on the
smaller stage of the Theater am
Kornmarkt in a coproduction with
a theatre from the German city of
Kaiserslautern. This opera is entirely
different, a melancholic satire, telling
the tale of a young artist who, having
become rich, betrayed his talent.
Besides the operas, the Weinberg
programme included a number of
symphony and chamber concerts.
An impressive cross-section of the
composer’s oeuvre was presented,
notably the heartrending Requiem
and a number of symphonies
(including chamber ones). Around
140 people participated in the scientific
symposium. Guests were welcome to
purchase a large selection of CDs with
the artist’s music, a special issue of the
German Osteuropa magazine devoted
entirely to the composer, and the first
monographic work on Weinberg, by the
British author David Fanning.
The Passenger will be shown at Warsaw Opera in the autumn.
Zofia Posmysz
Mieczysław Weinberg
Agnieszka Rehlis (centre), represented by Ludwig van Beethoven Association,
was a guest performer in The Passenger in Bregenz.
Kaddish in Warsaw
Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3, Kaddish, Krzysztof Penderecki’s
Kaddish, and Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei will resound in All Saints’ Church at
Grzybowski Square on the 61st anniversary of the outbreak of the second
world war on 1st September. The concert is organised by the Shalom
Foundation in collaboration with the Ludwig van Beethoven Association as
a part of the 7th edition of the Festival “Warsaw of Singer”. The great vocal
and instrumental works will be conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki. The
narrator in Symphony No. 3 will be Samuel Pisar, a Polish-American writer,
lawyer, politician, civil activist, and supporter of human rights, the author
of the text to Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3. The concert is dedicated to the
victims of the Holocaust and the Righteous Among the Nations.
More information: www.festiwalsingera.pl
B E E T H O V E N MAGAZINE
11
The 16th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition
will be held in Warsaw ( 2nd–23rd October 2010)
The Polish seven
S
tarting in the 16th Chopin
competition are seven Poles.
They are among the 81
participants who succeeded in the
qualifier at the Warsaw Philharmonic
Hall in April. Who of them will make
it to the finals? Will one seize the
Gold Medal? We present the profiles
of our participants.
Joanna Różewska
Born in 1988, comes from Siedlce,
and is a student of the Fryderyk
Chopin University of Music in
Warsaw in the class of Professor
Elżbieta Tarnawska; she has
successfully participated in piano
competitions for 10 years.
The first Chopin Competition for me to
participate in consciously, as a member
of the audience, was the one held five
years ago. Then, my favourite was Rafał
Blechacz, but I also liked Takashi
Yamamoto and Ingolf Wunder. Since
that time, I’ve thought about
participating in the competition as a
pianist, even though I did not fully
believe that it was possible. I practised
for over two years, in a rational and
methodical way, so that every piece has
“matured” and been played in before the
public. The prospect of participating in
the competition boosts me to the level of
feeling no more stage fright. I’m trying
to approach my participation in the
competition like a concert, and not think
that I will be listened to by the jurors.
Besides Chopin, I enjoy playing Mozart,
Schumann, Debussy, Scriabin, and
Szymanowski.
Fares Marek Bamadji
(Poland/Syria)
24 years’ old, hails from Aleppo.
Studies at the Academy of Music in
Gdańsk, with Grażyna FiedorukSienkiewicz, and at the Royal Irish
Academy of Music under the
guidance of John O’Connor. Winner
of numerous competitions, including
Fifth Prize at the Polish Fryderyk
Chopin Piano Competition in
Warsaw (2006).
Marek Bracha
Born in 1986, a student of the
Fryderyk Chopin University of Music
in the class of Alicja Paleta-Bugaj.
Studied at London’s Royal College of
Music. Performed at Warsaw
Philharmonic Hall and at Polish and
foreign festivals. “It is his nobility
and intelligence that are
characteristic for his interpretations.
I hope to hear much about him,” the
winner of the 1990 Chopin
Competition, Kevin Kenner, said
about the young pianist.
Jacek Kortus
Born in 1988, comes from Poznań,
where he studies at the Academy of
Music in the class of Professor
Waldemar Andrzejewski. In 2005, he
reached the finals of the 15th Chopin
competition and was granted an
honourable mention. He is also a
winner of the First Prize and the
Grand Prix of the 9th International
Fryderyk Chopin Competition
“Chopin for the Youngest” in
Antonin (2005), and Fifth Prize at
the 4th International Fryderyk
Chopin Competition in Darmstadt in
2009. Has concerted in Europe, Asia,
and both the Americas.
I remember perfectly well the powerful
stress that accompanied me during
the competition. It was an experience
that I shall remember to the end of
my life. I would wake up at night scared
by the prospect of the morning rehearsal
with the orchestra, and the final
performance in the evening. I also
remember that the only efficient way
of overcoming fear was entering deep
into the music.
At the age of 17, I did not realise what
the Chopin Competition was, a fact that
I am now more aware of. In those five
years, I’ve gathered experience that, will,
I hope, help me in the auditions.
I decided to enter again, as preparation
for the competition greatly helps to
develop the pianist. And you need
to set your thresholds high in your life,
to give yourself the maximum potential
for artistic and also spiritual
development.
Marcin Koziak
21-year-old from Kraków, a student
of the local Academy of Music in the
class of Stefan Wojtas. Winner
of Chopin competitions in Narva
(Estonia, 2004) and Budapest
(Hungary, 2006), and of the Second
Prize at the International
Competition for Young Pianists
Artur Rubinstein in Memoriam in
Bydgoszcz in 2007. Has performed
concerts in Europe and Asia;
a nominee for the “Passports”
Award of Polityka weekly.
Gracjan Szymczak
Born in 1986, a graduate of the
Academy of Music in Wrocław,
where he is pursuing his doctoral
studies. Winner of competitions
in Warsaw, Paris, and Oslo.
Paweł Wakarecy
Born in 1987, comes from Toruń,
studies at the Academy of Music in
Bydgoszcz with Professor Katarzyna
Popowa-Zydroń; has performed in
many European countries, but also
in China and Guadeloupe. Winner
of many competitions, finalist of the
International Chopin Competition in
Darmstadt in 2009.
My family have always been considered
musical, even though it never had a
professional musician. There was an old
piano standing at home, which I would
tap away at as soon as I’d learned to
walk.
When, less than two years ago, Professor
Popowa-Zydroń asked me if I wanted to
have a go, I agreed. To test myself,
I participated in the Chopin Competition
in Darmstadt.
I’m not at all keen on competing, but
it is hard to make a name for yourself
without contests. For me at the moment,
Chopin is a certain stage, and I am
penetrating his world. As far as
repertoire is concerned, I keep on
looking for my place.
Interviewed by Agata Kwiecińska
(Polish Radio)
New York Philharmonic in Warsaw
For the first time in Chopin Competition’s history the winner of the first prize will perform with the New York Philharmonic
conducted by Alan Gilbert – an opportunity organised thanks to the cooperation of the Chopin Institute with the Ludwig
van Beethoven Association.
On 28th October, the New York Philharmonic will perform a symphonic concert at the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall. In the
programme: Richard Strauss’s Don Juan, Richard Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod (Tristan und Isolde), and Johannes Brahms’s
Symphony No. 4.
On 29th October, they will accompany the winner of the first prize in a selected Chopin’s Piano concerto, also performing Claude
Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Egmont” Overture, and Paul Hindemith’s Symphonic
Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber.
On 4th January, the winner of the 16th Chopin Competition will perform in the same programme at the Avery Fisher Hall.
12
Alan Gilbert
the vision of the Competition with
members of the jury.
The objective is to select the best
Chopinists and not piano players.
That’s why candidates whose
performance does not deviate far
from the letter of the text and the
performing tradition mentioned
above are preferred.
Rafał Blechacz is the model winner
of the Chopin Competition. He is
exceptionally musical, he has perfect
skill and technique, and – which is
his main gift – he plays in an
extremely stylish manner. Yet there
is also another way of thinking about
Chopin, for example, the one
represented by Piotr Anderszewski:
highly individual. There would be no
place for it in Warsaw.
I believe it to be a drawback of this
competition, just because you
cannot say that there is only one
standard for interpreting Chopin.
Martha Argerich, Warsaw 1980
“A question is whether we want
a winner who plays the way that
the tradition of the bygone
centuries dictates, or an individual,”
says Robert Kamyk, the Head
of the Music Section at TVP Kultura.
Anna S. Dębowska: Why does the
Chopin Competition in Warsaw
raise so much emotion?
Robert Kamyk: All over the world,
people have the need to participate
in rivalry and getting behind their
favourites.
That’s the reason for the popularity
of World Cups and Olympic Games.
Idea of Professor Jerzy Żurawlew
who invented the Chopin
Competition to raise similar
emotions in the realm of music was
marvellous, and it passed the test
perfectly.
When did you catch the bug?
I grew up in the atmosphere of the
legend of the Competition. I had
piano lessons. The winners of the
Competition – Maurizio Pollini,
Martha Argerich, Krystian Zimerman
– were my idols. I was keen on its
history and scandals,
I followed the later paths of its
participants, and read much about
it. In 1990, I began going to
auditions. Influenced by Jan Weber’s
programme on Polish Radio,
I dreamt about witnessing the event
from a close distance in future.
And so it happened. In 1995 and
2000 I covered it as a reporter for
Polish Television Channel 2, and in
2005 I was responsible for the entire
coverage of the Competition by TVP
Kultura.
Where have all those
competitions gone?
Have you experienced revelations?
Yes, I remember Rafał Blechacz play
the Polonaise in A-flat major. I had
the feeling that a great Chopin
performer was born. It is the
rendition that has earned over
a million visits at YouTube.
Have you witnessed dramas?
In 1995 and 2000, I was there,
savouring the atmosphere. I spent
much time with other journalists
backstage, and by the entrance to
the stage.
I saw the participants under huge
stress. I remember a pianist fainting
on stage in 1990. They said that the
reason was that his bow tie was too
tight. There were also artists
withdrawing from the Competition,
when they could not stand the
tension.
Wojciech Świtała in 1990?
Yes, this eminent interpreter
of Chopin could not stand the
expectations that he would become
another Zimerman, or at least
Krzysztof Jabłoński, who succeeded
five years earlier, winning Third
Prize.
Are Poles disadvantaged in this
Competition?
When you’re Polish, the fact that you
should participate in it is inscribed
into your career as a pianist.
There is an expectation that Poles
have Chopin in their blood. They
are not allowed any deviation from
a specific performing standard. The
worst thing is that a defeat in this
Competition may damage a career.
Don’t you think that young Poles
manage their stage fright better
now?
Pianists approach the Competition in
a rational manner now. For some of
them, participation is a considerable
source of income.
What was the evolution of the
Competition?
In the 1960s and 1970s, it enjoyed
enormous prestige. Until 1980,
when Ivo Pogorelić was rejected
together with the modern approach
at Chopin. The fact that the majority
of the jury decided not to admit such
a talent to the final round resulted
to a certain extent in the plunge that
interest in the Competition took.
The 1990s were a very bad time:
few great talents turned up, and
twice no winner of the first prize
was nominated. It was only in 2000
and 2005 that we had two powerful
winners, which broke the bad streak.
To what extent may the decision
of the jury be authoritative? From
practically the first days of the
Competition, critics have disputed
What is your view of the attempts
to increase the prestige of the
Competition undertaken recently?
Much depends on who is going to be
in the jury. Luckily, the organiser –
the Fryderyk Chopin National
Institute – minimises the risk of
members of the jury preferring their
students at the cost of more talented
people. Whether we have more
jurors to the like of Martha Argerich,
who is first and foremost an artist, or
whether we guarantee the winners
an easier start into a true career, the
Competition will receive a fantastic
promotional push. The truly eminent
pianists from all over the world
should apply to the Competition:
only then does it stand a chance
of becoming more interesting.
BM
TVP Kultura plans to broadcast
all of the auditions of the 16th
International Fryderyk Chopin
Competition in Warsaw.
Robert
Kamyk
B E E T H O V E N MAGAZINE
13
1927 – A brainchild of Professor Jerzy
Żurawlew, the first ever monographic
competition devoted to the
interpretation of Chopin’s works is
held in mid-January at the Warsaw
Philharmonic Hall. From the
beginning, it is broadcast by Polish
radio. The competition lasts only
eight days, with the participation
of 34 pianists from seven European
countries, including no fewer than
16 Poles and six Russians. Their
mastery is judged by the 12-personstrong, fully Polish jury. The winner
is Lev Oborin from the Soviet Union,
and Henryk Sztompka is recognised
for the best performance of mazurkas
with an award funded by Polish
Radio.
Competition:
Artur Rubinstein, juror, 1960
Stanisław Bunin, Marc Laforêt, Krzysztof Jabłoński, 1985
1932 – The second Competition
is held in March. It receives
applications from 200 candidates,
and features 55 pianists from 17
countries (including the United
States and Brazil) competing for
prizes. This time, the jury is already
an international one, with celebrities
including Margueritte Long and
Magda Tagliaferro. The jurors
interrupt poorer productions,
and the winner is a Frenchman of
Russian origin, Alexandre Uninski.
The event is reported by a famous
Polish man of letters, Jarosław
Iwaszkiewicz, who comments for
Wiadomości Literackie: “the vastness
of pianist skill that young pianists
achieve these days brings the
following reflection: what is going
to come? Technically, the young
beat the best pianists of the old
generation, yet what is going to
happen with this artistic
hyperproduction?”
1937 – The Japanese turn up at the
Competition, and the competitors
are judged by the great pianist
14
Wilhelm Backhaus himself, together
with Harry Neuhaus and Emil von
Sauer, a student of Franz Liszt. It is
the year of the first scandal in the
history of Chopin Competitions:
Chieco Hara, a Japanese artist
playing in a kimono, does not
receive a trophy. Outraged, the
audience fund a special prize for her.
The winner again is Russian: Yakov
Zak.
1949 – The building of the Warsaw
Philharmonic Hall lies in ruin, so the
Fourth Competition is held in the
building of the pre-war Roma
Cinema in Nowogrodzka Street. The
jury listens to the competitors from
behind blinds, and does not know
the names of the artists, only their
numbers, which are communicated
to them by Jerzy Lefeld, the special
officer appointed especially for the
purpose. A draw decides on the
order of appearance. The first prize
is shared between two women:
Halina Czerny-Stefańska from
Poland and Bella Davidovich from
Russia.
Ivo Pogorelić, 1980
Rafał Blechacz and the President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski, 2005
1955 – The rebuilt Philharmonic
Hall, now in Polish known as “the
national”, opens on 21st February.
It is at the same time the
inauguration of the Fifth Chopin
Competition. The jury includes the
eminent Italian pianist Arturo
Benedetti Michelangeli. The points
are added by a calculating machine.
The indisputable winner is Adam
Harasiewicz, and the award for the
best performance of mazurkas goes
to the Chinese Fou Ts’ong. Second
place is taken by a future celebrity,
Vladimir Ashkenazy.
1960 – The Sixth Competition falls
on the 150th anniversary of the birth
of Fryderyk Chopin.
It is commemorated by the
publication of Chopin’s complete
works: records and scores edited
by Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
The honorary Chairman of the
Competition Jury is Artur Rubinstein
himself.
The winner is Maurizio Pollini,
a delicate 18-year-old
from Italy.
1965 – Martha Argerich is the
Argentinean vying for gold with
Arthur Moreira-Lima from Brazil.
Argerich wins, even though she
begins her first performance by
escaping the stage right through
the entrance. Happily stopped by
stage personnel, she is soon to
become the favourite of critics and
audience alike. Janusz Ekiert dubs
her “the iron-fingered pianist”. For
the first time, a representative of
Japan, the pianist Hiroko Nakamura,
makes it to the very top.
1970 – Beginning with the 8th
edition, the Competition is held in
October. An exception occurs: there
are no Russians among the
champions. Moreover, the winner
is an American, Garrick Ohlsson,
and second place is taken by the
Japanese Mitsuko Uchida.
The number of winners also includes
Janusz Olejniczak. The audience
is appalled by the lack of
understanding for the pianist
personality of the American Jeffrey
Swann on the part of the jury. Swann
from the first note to the last
Jerzy Maksymiuk and Krystian Zimerman, 1975
wins the Award of Musical Critics,
who heatedly dispute the
imperfections of the Competition.
“I had the impression that the
Competition is becoming more
pianist than Chopinist. And it
should be otherwise! Was the
Chopin Competition not assumed
to promote the best, the most
original interpreters of Chopin’s
music?” Bohdan Pociej wonders.
1975 – A sensational victory for
Krystian Zimerman, a 19-year-old
from Zabrze, who wins all the main
statutory prizes. A most regrettable
incident takes place: irritated with
the failures of their American
favourites, the audience send poison
pen letters to a Polish participant,
Elżbieta Tarnawska, who – unable to
stand the situation – withdraws from
the finals. (Today, she is a
recognised professor in the piano
class at the Fryderyk Chopin
University of Music in Warsaw.)
1980 – The 10th Competition
attracts a record number of
participants. It is opened by Martha
Argerich with a sensational
performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s
Piano concerto in B-flat minor,
which has made it into legend.
She sits in the jury, but leaves it after
the third stage, outraged by the fact
that her juror colleagues fail to
assess the performance by the
original Yugoslav Ivo Pogorelić
properly: this pianist brings the
Warsaw audience to the verge of
simply hysterical expressions of
reverence. First prize, however,
goes to the Vietnamese Dang Thai
Son, Pogorelić’s colleague from the
Moscow Conservatory.
1985 – Poland has plunged into
crisis, but the 11th Chopin
Competition continues. The winner
is obvious already at the first stage:
it is the 19-year-old Stanislav Bunin,
a relative of the great Russian music
teacher, Harry Neuhaus. He plays
with a bravura and stirs up in Poles
mixed feelings of admiration and
reluctance: after all, he is a Russian.
Two likeable Frenchmen, Marc
Laforêt and Jean-Marc Luisada, find
themselves in the finals. Third place
goes to Krzysztof Jabłoński.
1990 – The first Competition in
liberated Poland. A dangerous
precedent takes place: there is no
winner to claim the first prize. There
is widespread discussion of the crisis
in the competition, its sinking level,
and the meagre interest among
talented youth who avoid Warsaw.
Second prize goes to the American
Kevin Kenner.
1995 – The 13th Competition again
does not select a pianist who
deserves gold. Second Prize is
awarded to two very ambitious
pianists, the Frenchman Philippe
Giusiano and the Russian Alexei
Sultanov.
2000 – Everybody is waiting
impatiently for the winner. Is there
an ill fate hanging over the
competition? There is an aggressive
rivalry in the finals between the
18-year-old Chinese Yundi Li
and the decade-older Argentinean
Ingrid Fliter. Youth wins, but time
shall tell that the decision was not
fully right.
2005 – The indisputable winner of
the 15th Competition is the 20-yearold Pole, Rafał Blechacz from Nakło,
who receives the most important
statutory prices, and soon signs a
recording contract with Deutsche
Grammophon. The era of
Blechaczmania has arrived. Internet
fora display entries to the like of
“Blechacz for President!”
2010 – The 16th Competition in the
Chopin Year. Who will win this time?
The famous piano tournament has
become a subject for
Jerzy Waldorff
(Wielka gra. Rzecz o Konkursach
Chopinowskich),
Stefan Wysocki
(Wokół Konkursów Chopinowskich),
Stanisław Dybowski
(Laureaci Konkursów Chopinowskich
w Warszawie). BM
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