The exhibits include Janiewicz’s piano, lyre guitar and an inlaid violin case, as well as his portrait, portraits of his wife and his gold snuff box.
Also on display are Janiewicz’s letters and autographs from his correspondents, such as the violin virtuoso Nicolo Paganini and opera singer Angelica Catalani.
Known outside Poland as Felix Yaniewicz, he was born in 1762 in Vilnius (then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) and gained fame as a violinist at the Polish Royal chapel in Warsaw.
In his early twenties, thanks to royal patronage, Janiewicz travelled to Vienna, where he encountered Haydn and Mozart, and subsequently to Italy, France and Britain.
London, Liverpool, Edinburgh
After joining a community of musical emigrés in London, he toured the country as a performer, composer, and impresario.
In 1799, Janiewicz moved to Liverpool and married an Englishwoman, Eliza Breeze. In 1815, he settled in Edinburgh, where he lived till his death in 1848.
Janiewicz was a founding member of the Philharmonic Society in London and mounted the first British performance of Beethoven’s oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives. He also co-founded the first Edinburgh music festival.
The Edinburgh exhibition, which runs until October 22, is curated by Josie Dixon, Janiewicz’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter.
It has been organised by The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz and the National Trust for Scotland in collaboration with Poland’s Warsaw-based, state-run Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
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