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Showing posts from September, 2021

Concert and recording review of Paderewski, Moniuszko, Duparc/ Songs - NIFCCD 070 - Christoph Prégardien tenor Christoph Schnackertz piano

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  17.08.19 NIFCCD 070 Paderewski, Moniuszko, Duparc/ Songs Saturday 17:00 Witold Lutosławski Studio of the Polish Radio Vocal recital Performers Christoph Prégardien  tenor     Christoph Schnackertz  piano Program Stanisław Moniuszko  (1819-1872) Les larmes Les plaintes de la jeune fille Le chant de la tour Le Nièmen Le joueur de lyre, cz. 4 Oui, chantons encor Henri Duparc  (1848-1933) Chanson triste Soupir Le manoir de Rosemonde Phidylé L’invitation au voyage Robert Schumann  (1810-1856) Zwölf Gedichte, Op. 35 to words by Justinus Kerner Concerts are never real music, you have to give up the idea of hearing in them all the most beautiful things of art.'   Chopin said to one of his students ( Chopin: Pianist and Teacher: As Seen by His Pupils  Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger).  Far be it from me to contradict Chopin, but this was certainly not the case in the song recital I attended this evening. On this rarest of occasions, I had one of the deepest artistic experiences of my musical lif

XVIII International Chopin Competition Warsaw, October 2-23, 2021 at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw.

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XVIII International Chopin Competition, Warsaw   Events Schedule  https://app.box.com/s/3nvk44oqo5hpwdpreaw1alu92n2ikpkf *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  The result announcement being made by Mr. Arthur Sklener, Director of the National Fryderyk Chopin Institute. The entire jury are ranged behind him. The wait for the announcement of the results took a very long time - it was finally made at 2.00 am - which indicated the difficulty the jury were having in making a final decision. Ex aequo decisions are always time-consuming. I was so tired  and my legs were giving out standing around on the cold marble floor!   There was one major surprise which in a way brings into question my entire criteria for judging performances of Chopin. That was the complete exclusion from the prizes of Eva Gregoryan. This really needs to explained to me in detail by a jury member. Looking at the Chopinesque qualities of other competitors that gained prizes, although of course I do not deny they deserve awards, h