Hi

I just wondered how many piano lovers, as well as others, are getting involved in Chopin's bicentenary and what activities you are attending. By the way, did any of you go to The Chopin Forum yesterday in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, and what did you think of it? I thought it was very informative but a very long day from 10.00 to about 5.30, and quite tiring. I hope I survive my time at Chets. So far, as part of the Chopin celebrations, I have seen Cristina Ortiz performing at the Royal Overseas League Club in London and probably have about 20 other Chopin recitals to attend this year in my diary, the next one being a candlelit concert with Piers Lane performing the nocturnes at St. Paul Church in Covent Garden.

I'm going to an event at the Wigmore next Saturday afternoon, which looks interesting (about the romance in Chopin's life!)

We're also having a big event the following weekend at the Elmitt Piano Academy, where we'll be having a lecture recital (which I have researched) & masterclasses with Masa Tayama (who'll also be performing & teaching at Chet's again this year), as well as performing classes & musical games for children & a tea party with a 200-candle cake.

I went to the Chopin Forum, and yes, it was a long day... I found it a bit hit and miss. I really enjoyed hearing John Rink and Kenneth Hamilton speak, and would have liked to hear more from them. The other sections didn't really capture my interest, I particularly felt that the chair of the round table discussions could have asked some better questions to lead the discussions in a more practical direction. Apart from the points about notation in Chopin scores, I am struggling to think of other points which I can take away and use in my teaching, or explore through further reading.

Having said that, I have ordered Kenneth Hamilton's book, and can't wait for it to arrive...

Theres a big celebration going on in Poland (at the end of this month I think!) where the Polish military wind band will be playing several Chopin pieces.
My piano teachers husband was commissioned by the Polish military wind band to do the arrangements of the pieces which must be a real honour. He's been invited to attend and watch the performances.
I wish school could be put on hold for a few days so I could attend also.

Like yourself, Minuet3, John Rink and Kenneth Hamilton, were the highlights and thoroughly enjoyable. At the beginning I wondered what on earth I had let myself in for, but when John Rink came on I had a feeling of relief. It was interesting to see the different extracts and hear the different interpretations played. The section on the different editions was a bit too academic for me, but I am sure they suited the scholars who were there. I started off in Row G2 but then moved up more to the middle in the afternoon to sit next to one of my friends and had a good view of keyboard side of the Steinway.

It must be amazing to be in Poland this year, Wurlitzer.

Ugh ! I cant imagine Chopin played by a military wind band !

Why is Chopin thought to be such a great Polish patriot? I understand why Chopin wants to claim him as uniquely Polish, but the French have an equal claim on him. He left Poland when he was 20, just before the Revolution, and never went back. He spent most of the rest of his life in Paris, and was buried there. Surely a patriot would have asked to be buried in his homeland, even if the politics of the times made it impossible for him to return there while he was alive? Of course there is a strong Polish character to much of his music - but that is to be expected in someone that grew up there. It does not by itself make him a patriot.

I don't know much Polish history, and the "information" on the net looks like a hundred sites repeating the same unsubstantiated twaddle. Can any Chopin scholar enlighten me?

Haven't got time for a long reply - in any case I'm not a Chopin scholar, although I have been researching lately, but his heart was buried in Poland (at his own wish) & he did have very strong feelings for Poland.

I'm by no means a Chopin scholar, but can volunteer the following (all of which is gleaned from books, not from the internet. Unfortunately not all of it is fact, but some of it is reasonably well-argued conjecture).

- while Chopin was buried in Paris, his heart was taken from his body and was sent to Poland. It was sealed in a pillar of the Holy Cross Church, Krakowskie Przedmiescie.
- Warsaw was not a major musical centre at the time. You could argue that Chopin needed the artistic stimulation that he got in Paris; he wouldn't necessarily have got it in Poland
- Chopin made an enormous amount of money teaching in Paris. Possibly he would not have been able to make the same amount in Poland
- There was a large Polish ex-pat community in Paris, particularly a number of the Polish nobility who had fled Poland. This would have given him the opportunity to speak his language, and share experiences with people of similar backgrounds
- George Sand's influence: she was the dominant partner in their relationship, and likely would have been strongly averse to going to Poland
- Possibly during the later years of his life, Chopin would have been too weak to uproot himself back to Poland, given the progression of his tuberculosis.

Anybody else got anything else to add / disagree with?

In terms of celebration of 200 years of Chopin, I'll be working on a number of Chopin pieces this year (including the G Minor Ballade, Mad Tom - I agree the second half looks like a nightmare!).

But, with the pieces I've got planned for this year, I'm also celebrating 325 years of Bach, 137 years of Rachmaninov, 240 years of Beethoven, and 135 years of Ravel!!

Thanks for the Chopin info. I knew he had his heart removed before being buried. I thought that was only because of his fear of being buried alive, and not also so that it could be sent to Poland.

Re: The Chopin Ballade, the second half - and especially the Presto, the scale in 10ths, and the ocatave apssage at the end, is really not horribly difficult after all. It just takes time to burn the movements into auto-pilot! The hardest part of the whole piece turns out to be the connecting passage between the first big ff statement of the theme in chords chords and the scherzando section.

Fortunately, of the other composers you mention, I have almost no interest in playing anything by Ravel (I am happy juist to listen), already play all the Bach I want to, and as for Rachmaninov there are a couple of Preludes and Etudes that I quite like, but I am only seriously interested in mastering Concerto No. 2 (slowly learning it - a multi-year project I am afraid) and Concerto No. 3 (a wild dream for now ... unless I unexpectedly leap up another order of magnitude in skill). Now Beethoven ... that is something else ...

I'm going to the two birthday recitals at the Festival Hall (Zimerman and Pollini) and the Chopin study day at Kings Place in March (plus the concert in the evening).

I'm celebrating by learning as many of his Op.28 preludes as I can

Snap, Panthera, for the two RFH concerts. I'm not going to the study day though, having already been to the forum. It is quite good that you will be provided with lunch and refreshments, as at the RFH we were given not very long breaks and it took an age to queue up for refreshments. Good plan, Solari. I think I will steal your idea and learn a bundle as well.

Good luck. Three or four of them are very tough nuts to crack.

Having finally (37 years after I first took a look at it) cracked the nasty bits of the first Ballade, I am celebrating by learning the rest of the Op 10 etudes! (Don't expect to finish this year).

Does that count as "Celebration" ?

Chopin was not, in my opinion, terribly good at composing for instruments that weren't pianos, and I can't imagine Chopin works translate terribly well to wind bands either...

Having said that, he knew a thing or two about pianos, and I may attend a Chopin Prom or two...

I'm going to RFH on 22nd Feb (Krystian Zimerman) . According to Spanish newspapers, he played Sonatas No2 & 3, Barcarolle and Scherzo No2 in Spain. I'm looking forward to his recital very much!

I have been booked to give an all-Chopin recital to celebrate the anniversary. I shall be giving a sample of his works apart from the sonatas and concerti, neither of which are in my repertoire.

He is my fav, so I love the idea of an entire recital of his works.

That is amazing, PianoDoodler. Are you performing in London?

No, Louth in Lincolnshire.

Piers Lane playing the Nocturnes by candlelight, sounds very appealing. Might just go to that myself. Have got several CD's of this pianist, his Scriabin etudes are, in my view, unsurpassed.

Myself and a few other forumites are going to the Piers Lane recital

Well, if i do make it there, which there is realistically only a 33% chance of, do say hello if you spot me...leather jacket with buttons,grey scarf , short grey hair ...nearly 5ft7. and, ahem, early middle age, and while on the subject of the Nocturnes, I have to concede that I've never been very happy with my playing of any of the ones i've attempted to learn, it tends to be hit or miss with them in certain parts-usually the intricate right hand bits....but they are probably my favourite works by Chopin.

I'm testing the water with a few of them at the moment, more to get the notes in my head for when I'm more competent than anything else, but even the disjointed, ham-fisted interpretations of the bits I've tried do give me some satisfaction as they are such lovely pieces

It's all the fiddly random tuplets and ridiculous runs that get me!

We'll say hi if we see you!

Gutted I'm headed home Sunday :-(

If some of you are going to Piers Lane, I will be sitting on the door ready to take your money, or check your tickets. I will look out for you, Chopineze (and any others although I do not know what you look like.

I'll be there, and my picture is on my forum profile

I'm the younger of the two ladies on the desk, so do say hello, and I will look at your picture. It gets a bit manic sometimes when tons of people arrive at the same time, so forgive me if I miss you. You can sit anywhere you like. It is good to arrive early to ensure you get a decent seat.

No worries - I'll say hello if I spot you

Panthera and I said hello Was good to meet you, PianoNotes!

Very good gig, too. Piers Lane can find his way round a piano rather well...

Sorry you couldn't make it Sol...

Still at work.. *sigh*

There's plenty more concerts coming up, anyway

Sorry, you couldn't make it Solari. I did ask for you but was told you were working. It was great to meet you and Panthera, barry-clari. Did you stay for tea? I was hiding in the kitchen for a little while and then came out but couldn't see you guys.

Might see you tomorrow night, Panthera, at Zimerman. Just dug out my ticket and am sitting in the rear stalls JJ, seat 33.

I just got info on an exhition at the British Library from next month:


Btw, poor Schumann... it's his anniversary too this year, but there don't seem to be many events dedicated to him at all!

Hmmm, you've identified a gap in the market, Panthera *off to learn some Schumann*

Had an early start today, so sensibly, I really had to forgo tea

Hopefully we'll see you at a forum event sometime, or maybe you'll tag along on one of our periodic London concert parties...



No , and Schumann is great. Hopefully there'll be a few Proms with Schumann's music in them...

I did'nt make it there, and i'm really dissapointed, but had a feeling i would'nt be able to get there...hope it was good though.

Sorry, not to see you Chopinzee and Solari. Hope you managed to get your work done, Sol: 2 a.m. is really late. I might tag along to a concert or come to a forum event, barry-clari (especially if everyone is as nice as you and Panthera). I know I only met you very briefly. Did you enjoy, Zimerman, Panthera? By the way I will also be going to the British Library exhibition at some stage. Yes, forgot about Schumann. That will have to be rectified.

Aw thanks

I'll definitely let you know which Proms I'm going to once the brochure comes out.

That will be good. I expect we will see tons of Chopin there as well, and even maybe some Schumann.

It was magical... (but then I'm biased as he's my favourite pianist; I've seen him live about 5 times over the past few years and am totally gutted to hear that he's taking a sabbatical for a couple of years after this Chopin centenary tour ) I was also very lucky to be sitting in front row choir directly where the piano was!

I just misread that post and thought you meant you'd seen Chopin live 5 times in the last few years. I was just wondering how you'd seen a dead pianist perform when I realised my mistake!

The only way I'd see Chopin is if he comes to haunt me when I play his pieces abysmally...

I've always admired the music of Chopin after growing up listening to my father play Chopin. I rather amibitiously treated myself to a book of Chopin Preludes after taking my Grade 3 exam and now after hearing Joy play the A minor Mazurka at the Teddington Learners' Concert last Saturday, I have now started working on this piece with my teacher. For me it will be very many months of intense work but it is such a very beautiful piece it will be worth the effort. So far that's the first of my Chopin celebrations.

I may look into what is being performed at the Philharmomic in Krakow, a city I lived in for 5 years, and see if I can squeeze in a visit to that wonderful city and indulge some musical passions at the same time.

I've just received my electronic copy of the Discovering Music Newsletter from Radio 3:

They flag up the Chopin Anniversary, in particular providing notes on the 24 Preludes which will be the focus of the programme going out on 21st March, Radio 3, 5pm. Stephen Johnson will discuss them with Llyr Williams and, for those who are choosing the C# minor Op.45 prelude from the AB Grade 8 Piano List C, Ben Grosvenor will be helping to take us through that piece too.

Wow thanks for that. As luck would have it I'm in London early next week

Clavicembala, thanks for that. I didn't know you could get a radion 3 newsletter and have just put that date in my diary.

Today I went to a masterclass given by Peter Donohoe. It was very interesting and very informative. I thought the pianists were excellent but there was still a lot, from what he said, that they could improve on. It was then I thought "God, help me".

It all sounds amazing I really wanted to go to the Fialkowska recital in Croydon. Some really good events, it would have been interesting to attend a lecture or talk where they shed light on some of the lesser known aspects of his life...

This coming week (Mon-Fri) at 11pm on Radio 3, for the series The Essay, Piers Lane is to deliver five 15-minute essays to mark Chopin's anniversary:

Mon: Chopin's relationship with romantic music

Tue: Chopin's innovatory piano forms

Wed: Chopin's work as a piano teacher

Thur: Chopin's interpretation by performers

Fri: Global veneration of Chopin's music


(I presume these will be available the following day on BBC iplayer)

That is fantastic, clavicembala. Thanks for the info.