Culture
Classical Music
Chopinmania
05.02.2010
Who does not enjoy hearing the joyful waltzes, splendid mazurkas and gentle nocturnes by Chopin? And who in fact was the man with the thin silhouette, the caprice for luxury, with polished white gloves and highly elegant manners?The year 2010 marks the 200th anniversary of Frederic Chopin’s birth in Żelazowa Wola near Warsaw, where he lived with his parents and three sisters until he was 20, when he left his beloved Poland, seeking international fame in Paris. Frederic, already recognized as a child prodigy at the age of seven, proved multitalented as he wrote and sketched his own journal named “Pichon,” an anagram of his name. Against all odds, he was a prophet in his own country, and he thrilled entire Europe with his playing during his lifetime.
Nothing has changed: his music still delights entire world and opens doors to countless international cultural events. This year, multiple events, recitals, concerts, conferences and competitions are scheduled to offer audiences enchanting piano music. In this respect, we cannot overlook the elite, traditional, 16th Chopin Competition in Warsaw starting in April 2010. Since 1927, the competition has launched the careers of some of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, among them legendary Marta Argerich, Krystian Zimmerman and even the disputed non-winner Ivo Pogorelich. It was postponed only once in eight decades, due to the Nazi occupation of Warsaw during WWII.
Chopin Conference in Ljubljana
Slovenia will also not stay in the backstage and will take the international lead in commemorating Chopin’s anniversary at the European Piano Teachers Association four-day conference in October in Ljubljana, with the theme “Chopin in the Contemporary World.” Concerts, round tables, open discussions and lectures given by the most prominent “Chopinists” will enable listeners from all over Europe, Canada and Asia to have special insight and understanding of Chopin’s music. The organisers hope to promote the attention to the piano, its music and its players in Slovenia, something that does not get the attention it deserves.
In addition, the Polish Embassy in Slovenia plans other types of events related to the beloved composer. There will be some jazzy Chopin heard, by legendary trio Jagodzinski, films, a Chopin rock love concert in collaboration with Festival Ljubljana and an exhibition of posters related to Parisian Polish gentillhomme, a Polish art form that suddenly became very expressive in the late 1950s.
Disputed performances
While his artistic contemporaries played for royalty, Chopin played also played for the crowds. Today, it is not the question for whom to play but how to play and interpret. Is a good interpreter also an amazing performer, with flamboyant expressions like Liszt, who is claimed to be the first great virtuoso performer in history? Or is it someone like the relatively shy, elegant and completely still figure of Frederic, who never wasted a drop of energy for anything else than pure music?
And what to offer on a recital menu for public of today? Do musicians really need modern arrangements making exquisite music more commercial?
Perhaps the lack of understanding and appreciation pushes public to expect “the impossible,” as in musical circles it is unacceptable and almost shocking to change anything, or play just a part of pieces to make it shorter, i.e. “not too long and boring.” Liszt himself once played Chopin’s nocturne with many additional thrillers, bass notes and other “decorations”; Chopin attended this performance and was highly insulted, so Liszt said he should play it. After hearing Chopin, Liszt approached him with tears in his eyes, apologizing for his egocentric and ignorant behaviour.
Chopin’s year will certainly prove whether classic piano melodies can equal match the expressiveness of the flute, saxophone or other instrument. Experience them yourself, whether at home for relaxation or at exiting live performances.
Frederic Chopin
I left my heart in Warsaw: Although he was buried in Paris, Chopin’s heart was removed and buried in Poland according to his wishes.
A true romantic that hated romantics: Chopin had a seductively otherworldly air, and loved intellectual company and high society. He could also be cold, petty, and arrogant. In the cultural Mecca-on-the-Seine that was Paris, he rubbed elbows with Schumann, Rossini, Franz Liszt, as well with authors George Sand, Adam Mickiewicz, painter Eugène Delacroix, but deemed their art too aggressive and exaggerated.
In film: Chopin has been the subject of several movies: A Song to Remember (1945), James Lapine’s independent film Impromptu (1991). A Polish version of this story is Chopin: Desire for Love (2002).
In his own words: “Sometimes I can only groan, and suffer, and pour out my despair at the piano!”