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

Hôtel Lambert, Paris This is the famous picture  Chopin's Polonaise - a Ball at the H ôtel  Lambert in Paris  by Teofil Kwiatkowski (1809-1891) now in the National Museum Poznań. This palace was the Parisian home of the Polish magnate Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski and a centre for the volatile discussions of the political  'Polish question' in the mid nineteenth century.  'There have been many chapters in the almost four-hundred-year history of the Hôtel Lambert. Each one has been splendid and fascinating.' JAMES REGINATO The Hôtel Lambert, built in the early 1640s and located on the secluded Île Saint-Louis in the heart of Paris, is the most staggeringly beautiful private residence in the city. This palatial private house was decorated by the artistic visionaries behind the Palace of Versailles, architect Louis Le Vau, and painters Charles Le Brun and Eustache Le Sueur. Since then, it has been home to various illustrious families from Polish Prince Adam Jerzy C

©  Bridgeman Images The significance and magnitude of t he death of Queen Elizabeth II is beyond language and mere words to sufficiently engage and reward mind and heart. She had always seemed an immortal figure for me, indestructible. As time passes and we approach this planetary funeral, it seems in death she has become the subconscious acknowledged moral and spiritual leader of the world She reigned but she did not rule There is something of an inexplicable metaphysical power that hovers about the nature of royalty. Echoes seem still to resound over centuries of the Divine Right of Kings,  a Royal destiny  determined by God. Surely only this can explain such profound mass emotional devotion, 'paying respect' and sense of loss. A phenomenon almost beyond rationality. Finally as an author, I can now write a little, even at such a deeply melancholic moment. A moral beacon of great constancy and continuity  has been extinguished at a time of instability, immense social and cul

The relaxing venue of the Piano Congress I have now attended this remarkable event. Here is a brief report on the presentations I attended. I will soon resume the completion of my music reviews for the  International   Duszniki Zdroj Festival  2022 and the  Chopin and His Europe festival  Warsaw 2022. https://pianocongress.org/category/news/ The Piano Today 'From one genius to another'                                                                                                                  (Udo Steingraeber) This Piano Congress was a particularly interesting Warsaw event to attend as it is the opposite side of the coin to my normal preoccupation with the music, performers, interpretations, festivals, competitions and the actual sound of the instruments. It is held in a different capital city each year and this was the first time it had been held in Warsaw. The participants were modern designers of modern and historic copies of instruments displayed with many examples of