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Platinum Jubilee Celebrations - My stay in London from 1st June to 8th June 2022

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   T he great throng of adoring well-wishers along the Mall pictured from the Victoria Memorial. If you can spot me I shall buy you a glass of the best champagne ! The Colour (regimental banner) that was trooped on June 2nd on Horse Guards Parade was that of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards. Hence the interesting presence of the battalion mascot, an Irish Wolf Hound at the head of this procession, the largest breed of dog.  Also the Irish Guards Pipe Band is playing the march  This celebration was the reason I have been unable to cover the magnificent Moniuszko vocal competition as a music critic this year. There were many expressively exciting voices in this relatively young competition! I have mentioned before the remarkable and inspiring Polish musical renaissance now in progress in the country. I was in London until Thursday paying homage to the uniquely long reign of ‘my’ miraculous Queen Elizabeth II. I watched live much of the spectacular and moving Platinum Jubilee celebrati
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Dimitry Ablogin at Żelazowa Wola, Poland, the birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin, Sunday afternoon, 8th May 2022 at 3.00 pm

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The Dworek at Żelazowa Wola, the birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin, 1st March 1810 Classical concerts in Poland today lie under the shadows of an unspeakably brutal war. In addition there is the poetry of attending a recital at Chopin's birthplace and absorbing the nostalgic anguish and yearning for aesthetic tranquility that lies at the heart of much of his music.  I had admired Dimitry Ablogin from when I heard him in impressive recitals  during  the  1st International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments. 2–14 September 2018.  Before I examine this recital a little, I would like to quote my first impressions in 1992 of that deeply eloquent domain of Żelazowa Wola, the birthplace, taken from my book concerning Poland entitled A Country in the Moon. *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * "In late winter, in a despondent frame of mind, I decided to raise my spirits with a visit to Chopin’s birthplace at Żelazowa Wola, a hamlet about fifty kilometres from Warsaw. The flat Mazovian lands
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'Music for Peace' Project : Hiroshima, Warsaw and Chopin - A remembrance of things past certainly but surely now is a time to browse through this post once again and deeply reflect

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European Council President Charles Michel is in Japan where he's visiting the city of Hiroshima this morning (Friday May 13th) In 1945 that city suffered the first atomic bombing, and Michel used a visit to a memorial there to discuss the current state of global security. Please browse this relevant account sometime ….. the account of Chopin played on Akiko’s piano that survived the bomb (although this innocent young girl Akiko did not) is desperately moving. As I said before, a timely reminder ….. This appalling device was many times less powerful than those of today. The EU leaders and Japanese  Prime Minister Fumio Kishida  said in a joint statement released after the talks  "We remain committed to the ultimate goal of realizing a world without nuclear weapons, regardless of the current severe international situation." European Council President Charles Michel lays flowers at the cenotaph for atomic bomb victims at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan,
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