Portrait of Anna Maria Vasa, daughter of King Sigismund III of Poland (1596) by  The Polish Renaissance artist Martin Kober (1550-1598) 20th International Chopin and his Europe Music Festival   17th August – 8th September 2024 Introduction, Programme and Reviews http://www.michael-moran.com/2024/08/chopin-and-his-europe-and-rest-of-world.html The Polish Musical Renaissance  in  Modern Times In March 1946, Winston Churchill delivered an observation in musical, rotund tones: From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has desc ..read more

Portrait of Władysław Vasa 1595-1648, son of King Sigismund III of Poland, 1596 by The Polish Renaissance artist Martin Kober (1550-1598) The Polish Musical Renaissance  in  Modern Times (An essay by Michael Moran - The Chopin and his Europe Festival) http://www.michael-moran.com/2024/08/the-polish-musical-renaissance-in_13.html *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 20th International Chopin and his Europe Music Festival   17th August – 8th September 2024 Introduction, Programme and Reviews http://www.michael-mo ..read more

  CHOPIN AND HIS EUROPE  AND  THE REST OF THE WORLD The 20th International Festival ‘Chopin and His Europe’ will begin on 17 August and last until 8 September; concerts are planned in Warsaw at the National Philharmonic, the Grand Theatre - National Opera, the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio, the Holy Cross Basilica and the Royal Castle. As with all previous editions of the festival, this year's motto is ‘Chopin and his Europe and the Rest of the World’ - a concise yet slightly perverse way of putting it.  It defines both the extensive programme of ..read more

  Programme 2.08.2024 Friday  8 pm Inaugural Recital Martin GARCIA GARCIA 3.08.2024 Saturday  4 pm Hao RAO 8 pm Jan JIRACEK von ARNIM 4.08.2024 Sunday  4 pm Eryk PARCHAŃSKI Mateusz DUBIEL 8 pm Yeol Eum SON 5.08.2024 Monday   4 pm Jaeden IZIK-DZURKO 8 pm Alexander GADJIEV 6.08.2024 Tuesday  4 pm Sophia LIU 9 pm NOKTURN Host: Sławomira ŁOZIŃSKA 7.08.2024 Wednesday  4 pm Adi NEUHAUS 8 pm Szymon NEHRING 8.08.2024 Thursday  4 pm Piotr ALEXEWICZ 8 pm Eric GUO Concert on a historical piano 9.08.2024 Friday  4 ..read more

  Today (5.00 pm August 1st 2024) I will watch the extraordinarily moving and symbolic commemoration of the Warsaw Uprising on television simultaneously in the many ceremonial venues (including boats on the Vistula)  of the Warszawa Pamieta.  Someone once asked me to express the nature of Poland in one word. I replied 'Resistance' . Such was the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.    The conflagration of Warsaw 17.00 August 1st.1944 The abandoned.... The valiant men... This uprising must never be forgotten and will not be despite the indelible co ..read more

Anyone familiar with my past reviews will know the deep affection I have had for Warszawska Opera Kameralna (Warsaw Chamber Opera) over many years and which continues with transformations of its history. This gala concert at the Warsaw Philharmonia Hall was a particularly affecting and charming event of warm-hearted devotion to Mozart.   A number of Mozart arias were sung by two outstanding soloists, the Australian soprano Jessica Pratt (just returned from  Australia performing in Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio) and the Czech tenor Petr Nekoranec ..read more

I am sure Professor Piotr Paleczny will not object to me quoting his well expressed, succinct post on one of the major events of today.  "The President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, during today's ceremony of awarding state medals on the occasion of the National Day of the Third of May at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, awarded Jerzy Maksymiuk, an outstanding conductor, composer and pianist, with the Order of the White Eagle. Established in 1705, the Order of the White Eagle is the oldest and highest state medal of the Republic of Poland. On this remarkable day, I would like to e ..read more

Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra  Andrzej Boreyko conductor Anne-Sophie Mutter violin Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)   Bedřich Smetana in ravaged old age String Quartet No. 1 in E minor "From My Life"   (orchestral instrumentation by George Szell) String Quartet No. 1 in E minor "From My Life" And so it is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana. As I am unfamiliar with this work in its orchestral version and its genesis as a chamber work, I am eternally grateful to John Henken, Director of Publications for the Los Angeles Philharm ..read more

Arcady Volodos (photo Marcin Borggreve) Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Piano Sonata in A minor D 845  Franz Schubert (1797-1828) From the opening seconds of touching the keys the divine legato, velvet distinction and perfection of tone and touch was instantly clear from Volodos. Like all the greatest pianists, his unique voice wings effortlessly above what is inappropriately called 'technique' plunging deep into the beating heart of the music. Listening to Volodos in Schubert, I was put in mind of a letter the composer wrote to his parents in 1825 (the year of the compo ..read more

A joyful picture of Arthur Rubinstein dancing a sevillana in the back yard of a tenement house at 78 Piotrowska Street, Łódź, where he lived his childhood. Taken on his visit to the city commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic. A number of memorable moments are associated in my mind with the genius of Artur Rubinstein. One was some time after I gave a short recital of Chopin at the age of 8 in the Town Hall in Melbourne. At that time I was vainly cultivating the illusory dream of becoming a concert pianist. I first heard t ..read more