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

Eddie Cahill and his Ridgeback bitch 'Noni' in Somerset West, South Africa 1952.   When she felt she had heard enough of his practicing, she would place her paws on the keys as above to indicate 'Enough!" Photography by the distinguished English travel writer H.V.Morton, a friend of Edward Cahill. Just to say briefly to the 'happy few' who may be following this blog that the first draft of my biography of my great-uncle the brilliant Australian concert pianist Edward Cahill (1885-1975) announced in June this year has now been fully edited and completely revised. The work has been recast from being a straight biography to the far more entertaining form of a 'family quest', the subject of the search being my great-uncle.  The story is so similar  to that of Billy Elliot. An artist emerges from a humble working class background full of prejudice but with extraordinary artistic perseverance and courage triumphs.  The difference is that the experi

Strangely I go to few concerts in Warsaw these days. The reason became perfectly clear last night. As Thomas Mann said in Dr. Faustus 'Music is a cabbalistic craft.' The problem is that few musicians touch the soul with arcane magic, the spiritual source of all music as in the manner of this evening. I felt the entire programme was perhaps overshadowed, possibly even inspired, by reflections and elegiac thoughts on the recent death of the pianist's wife. Fanciful? Possibly. Certainly there was nothing 'interpretatively standard', no obeisance made towards the conventional in this recital. The utterance was of a creative artist. Sokolov is what Russians call 'a soul' and this became evident from the opening note of his recital. The tempo he adopted throughout was rather moderate for those accustomed to a sparkling, energetic Bach. For me this was all to the good in the Bach Partita in B major BMV 825 (1726). I play the harpsichord and many feel such

Yes, I have been neglecting concerts in Warsaw lately but then I do have a life outside music! This applied to the recent Krystian Zimerman concert for which I found it impossible to buy a ticket and received mixed reports - not the musicianship which was as ever at the highest level but on his diffident attitude to his loving Polish audience.  The frankly rather strange personality traits of famous concert pianists deserves psychological study...a unique bunch to say the least. Perhaps it is the necessarily obsessive time spent alone compulsively attempting to dominate the 'great machine' known as the pianoforte . Arthur Rubinstein is a great exception to my mind being a wonderfully broad, intelligent, discriminating, amusing and sophisticated human being as well as being a great artist. His playing always reflected these rich character qualities. The behavior of the majority of concert artists and the ossified format of the conventional classical concert in

If you have been wondering what I have been up to recently click on to discover the details of the indulgence of my private passion: http://casualcars.blogspot.com/2014/09/wings-of-glory-historical-air-picnic.html

Click on photos to enlarge - far better rendition Freedom being enjoyed in the Mazurian Lake District (Note the date '1989' carved into the concrete) On Saturday morning August 23rd I contributed to an Australian national radio programme celebrating the 25th Anniversary of free elections in Poland.  You may wonder why Australia celebrates this anniversary with a programme on national radio.  The history of Polish immigration to Australia is a distinguished one with a history of many outstanding Polish individuals or those of Polish descent.  There are some 50,000 Polish-born people living in Australia according to the 2011 census. The number continues to fall slowly. If you are interested in this subject the Australian Commonwealth Government website is of present statistical interest: http://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/02_2014/poland.pdf And the Embassy of the Polish Republic in Canberra, Australia is also informative: http://w

The Palace Gardens at fabulous Lancut in high summer My good friend Simon Target, the brilliant English film maker who lives in Australia, recently sent me a really uplifting and joyful short film (5 minutes) he made in a highly picturesque town on the Vistula River called Kazimierz Dolny, about  150 kms from Warsaw. Do have a look as it quickly overturns the ridiculous received idea of Poland only being dull, grey and depressing. https://vimeo.com/101515664   He and his wife, a Polish medical doctor Beata Zatorska, have also  produced  two (from a projected four) prize-winning superb cook books set around the seasons in Poland. There are recipes and moving personal reminiscences illustrated with some of the most artistic and finest photographs of the country I have yet seen. Rose Petal Jam: Recipes and Stories from Summer in Poland: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rose-Petal-Jam-Recipes-Stories/dp/0956699200/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408529988&sr=1-1

Click on photographs to enlarge - far superior rendition The spectre of Fyrderyk Chopin always haunts the feast of music and pianism on offer at Duszniki Zdroj                                                                    *  *  *  *  *  * I shall be covering this year's festival in my customary fashion.  The Artistic Director Piotr Paleczny has assembled an  outstanding group of pianists   for our refined pleasure and spiritual enhancement in this increasingly heartless  world where children are murdered wholesale in various pits and slaughterhouses in wars beyond my understanding. The veneer of our achieved  'civilization' is wafer thin. A platitude perhaps but true nevertheless... This was written before the horrors now unfolding hourly in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq.  The barbarians are well within the castle walls but we still feel safe in our distant 'civilized' rooms listening to disturbances beyond. For how much longer? Western F