Classical Music in Poland and the Europe of Chopin - From the Reviewer's Notebook

Grigory Sokolov This afternoon I was busy writing as usual researching the life of my  great-uncle the brilliant pianist Edward Cahill. I was exploring his friendship in Switzerland after WWII with the great German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler. They met whilst having cell regeneration therapy in October 1945 at Dr. Niehans'  Clinque La Prairie at Clarens on the shores of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva). I was reading a written apologia given personally to Cahill wherein Furtwängler justifies and explains his notorious decision to remain in Germany conducting concerts under the Nazis. I was listening to his  April 1953 Berlin recording of Beethoven's Symphony No.7 in A major with the Vienna Philharmonic. A green glow and I noticed the radio tuner was on as I had been listening to the wonderful Radio Dwojka  earlier in the morning. I decided to switch it off by remote control   and pushed the 'Tuner' button which unexpectedly switched off the Beethoven and reconnected m

Ignacy Jan Paderewski (18 November 1860 - 29 June 1941) If you have strayed onto this page in error details for the 2013 competition are at:  http://www.michael-moran.com/2013/10/ix-international-paderewski-piano.html Click on photographs to enlarge - a far superior image results Kazimiersz 'The Great' University Bydgoszcz, Poland  The Aula (Assembly Hall) of the Kazimiersz 'The Great' University Bydoszcz, Poland I have neglected this blog recently simply because of the pressure of finishing the biography of my great-uncle the Australian pianist Edward Cahill which is still ongoing after two and a half years of solid work. The reason it is taking so long and is such an arduous task is because it is being written entirely from primary source material - unsorted letters, clippings, photographs, private recordings, journals and  essays inherited by me in a huge cabin trunk. I have reached the year 1947. He died at Monaco in 1975 so I have yet to cov