© Protected - Selected Classical Music in Poland and the Europe of Chopin - Reviewer's Notebook

Pleyel  Factory Number 13214 (1847) The great English painter J. M. W. Turner once remarked  'always take advantage of an accident'.  In this case I am attempting to take advantage of a coincidence. The consideration is of two  Pleyel  Petit Patron grand pianos used by Fryderyk Chopin. These instruments followed each other to the same address in Paris as if in the manner of a metaphysical destiny.  I have already covered in detail the restoration in Warsaw of Chopin's last piano in Paris,  Pleyel  No .  14810 of 1848, and will follow this with an examination of the history and review a performance on the recently rediscovered penultimate  Pleyel  used by Chopin in Paris,   Factory No. 13214 of 1847.  The award-winning pianist and pedagogue Professor Hubert Rutkowski of the  Hochschule für Musik und Theater  in Hamburg explained the fascination  Pleyel  had for the...

The last  Pleyel  14810 piano played by Fryderyk Chopin in the Fryderyk Chopin Museum Warsaw before restoration Chopin at a  Pleyel  piano. Pencil drawing by Jacob Götzenberger Paris October 1838, just after Chopin's first visit to England in 1837 From 3-12 December at the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw we saw the renovation of a  Pleyel  piano 14810 from 1848. It was the last instrument that belonged to Fryderyk Chopin. Conservation work was done by Paul McNulty, the outstanding American specialist in historical pianos who courageously came to Warsaw during this ghastly pandemic. This groundbreaking event in the history of the unique instrument was available to watch by the visitors of the Museum. I attended an interview session with Paul McNulty on Thursday 9th December 2021. He said that this instrument was the best preserved  Pleyel  he had ever seen. He is thrilled to be working on this historic instrument, one of the high points ...