Being the Chapter devoted to Chopin extracted from my book A Country in the Moon: Travels in Search of the Heart of Poland



Click on to enlarge


The author busking at the Steinway with the great pianist Artur Rubinstein in the main street of Lodz, Poland  2010
I thought you might  like to read my personal view of Fryderyk Chopin, my feelings concerning the challenging interpretation of his music and an account of the period he spent in Warsaw as a young man before left Poland forever. In this chapter there is also just a hint of my burgeoning romance with a beautiful Polish lady that took a very serious turn one romantic spring evening at Zelazowa Wola, the birthplace of the composer not far from Warsaw.

The chapter is offered in both the English and Polish versions.

Chapter 12   Frycek and the Prism of Reminiscence extracted from A Country in the Moon: Travels in Search of the Heart of Poland by Michael Moran (Granta, London 2009)

Download the chapter free at:

http://www.box.net/shared/9o42lh53b4                                                                  

 Kraj z Księżyca: Podróże do serca Polski  (Wydawnictwo Czarne, Warszawa 2010)

 Rozdzial 12  Frycek i pryzmat wspomnień

 http://www.box.net/shared/dq31syrzet

 More on the book itself at:
http://www.michael-moran.net/


A sketch of the young Chopin by Eliza Radziwill 1826, probably drawn at the hunting lodge of Prince Antoni Radziwill at Antonin, Poland



                                                                  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elisey Mysin recital - XVII International Piano Forum - Bieszczady Without Borders - Sanok, Poland

Image
Astounding musical experiences a lways happen i n Poland! Has been happening to me for as I long as I began visiting the country to work in 1992. The astonishing recital by the child prodigy  Elisey Mysin   I watched online last night prompted me to write this review immediately. It was broadcast from the International Piano Forum, a Polish musical event now in its seventeenth year. The Forum (lectures and concerts) is held in the town of Sanok (the 'capital' of the remote Bieszczady Region). I knew or know nothing about this remarkable Forum until last night.  The concert was  'In Memoriam Tatiana Shebanova',  that magnificent Russian pianist who died so tragically of leukemia in 2011 whilst at her pianistic peak. The concert was organized by her husband, the Chairman of the Piano Forum Council, Prof.  Jaros ław  Drzewiecki.    Tatiana Shebanova was one of the first pianists I heard play works by Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) in concert in Poland in 1992. It was an over
Read more

73rd. International Chopin Piano Festival 3-11 August 2018, Duszniki Zdroj, Poland

Image
The Chopin Bench in Havana, Cuba The  Dworek Chopina  where the piano recitals take place Full English details of the programmes, biographies of Artists and Professors as well as Masterclasses are available using this link: http://festival.pl/wp-content/uploads/73-MFCh_2018_EN.pdf From the Reviewer's Notebook  SATURDAY, AUGUST 11 CHOPIN'S MANOR 8.00 PM Piano Recital SERGEI BABAYAN This distinguished musician and pianist requires little introduction. He has appeared at the most famous international music festivals with all the great orchestras of the world under the most renowned conductors, at the finest music venues as well as having been awarded most of the glittering prizes. For me his most outstanding claim to fame is his close relationship with the composer and pianist Daniil Trifonov as teacher, guide, philosopher and friend. I was unfortunately unable to attend this recital and recordings of it are unavailable. SATURD
Read more

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995) and his Ferraris - not only an immortal Chopinist

Image
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995)   There is little need for me to introduce Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, one of the greatest pianists and musicians of all time.  I have been listening to a remarkable live recording of a concert he gave in Warsaw in 1955. His Bach/Busoni Chaconne from the Partita in D minor No.2 BWV 1004 is surely one of the greatest ever recorded.   Michelangeli's    knowledge and command of the piano as an instrument was unequaled, permitting his soul and ours to take unhindered flight. His total identification with the music, his majestic 'Olympian' and 'Apollonian' playing has often been described as 'unearthly' even to the point of bordering on the cold classicism of a perfect Athenian statue. I once heard him play Debussy and Beethoven many years ago  in the Royal Festival Hall in London, performing  on two distinct Steinway concert grand pianos, one for each composer, individually tuned and prepared by himself. His hearing w
Read more