March 1 marks the 215th anniversary of the birth of Fryderyk Chopin. In line with a long-standing tradition, the composer’s birthplace in Żelazowa Wola, some 50 km west of Warsaw, will be the venue for a Chopin recital at noon.
It will be given by 27-year-old Polish pianist Piotr Pawlak, Second Prize winner at the International Chopin Competition on Historical Instruments in Warsaw in 2023. He will perform on a period instrument.
The event will be broadcast live on Polish Radio 2, the public broadcaster’s arts-and-music-channel, and the YouTube channel of Poland's National Chopin Institute.
Another day’s highlight is an evening concert at the National Philharmonic Hall by American pianist Kevin Kenner. He will be joined by Quatuor Mosaïques, an acclaimed Austrian period-instrument quartet and Grzegorz Frankowski (double-bass) in both of Chopin’s Piano Concertos. The concertos will be performed in a version for piano and string quintet by Kenner and Krzysztof Dombek, similar to the one performed during Chopin’s lifetime.
The concert, at 7 p.m. Warsaw time, will also be available live on Polish Radio 2 and the National Chopin Institute's YouTube channel.
Kenner is the winner of the 1990 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He is a member of the jury of the upcoming, 19th Chopin Competition, which opens on October 2.
(mk)