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

The musical nation of Poland is in deep shock this morning at the unexpected death of the great Polish pianist Janusz Olejniczak. His death is a profound loss to Polish culture and a visionary interpretation of Chopin. A towering musician, idiomatic Chopinist and deep human being. In 1970 he won the 6th prize in the International Chopin Competition. At 18 he was the youngest prize-winner in the competition. Garrick Ohlsson won that year, Mitsuko Uchida 2nd, Piotr Paleczny 3rd, Eugen Indjic 4th and Natalia Gavrilova 5th. An impressive line up to compete against as a teenager! An absolutely iconic Chopin interpreter with true humanity possessing all the character qualities and complex nuances of the Polish artistic personality. His name was really only really well-known among the Polish Chopin  cognoscenti who deeply understood Chopin's expressive intentions - this accessible yet mysteriously inaccessible composer. Not only the Chopin solo works for piano but also his chamber music,