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

Astounding musical experiences a lways happen i n Poland! Has been happening to me for as I long as I began visiting the country to work in 1992. The astonishing recital by the child prodigy  Elisey Mysin   I watched online last night prompted me to write this review immediately. It was broadcast from the International Piano Forum, a Polish musical event now in its seventeenth year. The Forum (lectures and concerts) is held in the town of Sanok (the 'capital' of the remote Bieszczady Region). I knew or know nothing about this remarkable Forum until last night.  The concert was  'In Memoriam Tatiana Shebanova',  that magnificent Russian pianist who died so tragically of leukemia in 2011 whilst at her pianistic peak. The concert was organized by her husband, the Chairman of the Piano Forum Council, Prof.  Jaros ław  Drzewiecki.    Tatiana Shebanova was one of the first pianists I heard play works by Fryderyk Chopin (1810-18...

Bruce Liu CD number: NIFCCD 638 An outstanding recording in every dimension This recording of competition performances of Bruce  (Xiaoyu)  Liu, the stunning winner of the latest Chopin Competition, is an exceptional album, much awaited by Polish and foreign music lovers alike. The FAZIOLI had a rich, unctuous tone under his fingers yet not lacking in brightness and sparkle when required.  The CD contains the lion’s share of the pianist’s performances recorded on the Chopin Institute label, including the Concerto in E minor . Together with the CD released by Deutsche Grammophon in November, by agreement with the Institute, it is a remarkable and complete document of Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu’s triumphant road to victory in the world’s most important music competition. Warsaw in October 2021 was home to consummate piano musicianship. The 18th Chopin Competition brought together the superbly talented virtuosos and was certainly one of the best in ...

  The remains of the 'Endeavour' have been identified and found but arguments continue ..... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-60239753 I thought this account of my sailing on the replica of his vessel the  Endeavour  many years ago might be of interest. It is taken from the opening chapter of my book on the island provinces of Papua New Guinea entitled  Beyond the Coral Sea : Travels in the Old Empires of the South-West Pacific  (HarperCollins, London 2003). The book was short-listed for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.           The original idea of sailing a copra schooner called  Barracuda  around the islands of  Eastern Papua New Guinea  in the spirit of Robert Louis Stevenson had faded, as do so many boyhood dreams. I had always wanted to experience what it was like to sail    the old vessels of the past on those remarkable voyages of discovery.    My friends at the Ro...