Ladies and Gentlemen,
In my memories, I frequently recall one sunny day in October 1992, when I came to Warsaw’s Bristol Hotel to meet two distinguished representatives of the then newly established Foundation for International Chopin Festivals in Duszniki-Zdrój. In that period, my life revolved exclusively around performances and tours, so what I expected was an offer of yet another concert. Instead, those two gentlemen – Professor Kazimierz Działocha (Chairman of the Foundation) and Andrzej Merkur (President of the Board) proposed that I should take over as the Festival’s artistic director.
I must admit I was shocked and at a loss for words. I just could not believe it was real. I expressed my gratitude for the trust they put in me, and asked for some time to consider their offer…
Today, I am overcome with emotions when, on opening the 80th jubilee edition of the Festival and the thirty-third one under my direction, I can express my enormous gratitude to those two gentlemen, now unfortunately both gone, for their confidence in me and for long-time friendship.
That memorable October day changed and enriched me as an artist and person. Every year, I derive great joy and satisfaction from preparing this great feast of music, from contacts with the greatest artists of our time, and from search for new pianistic talents, all of whom you and I can later listen to at the Chopin Manor.
I could hardly open this year’s Festival without first expressing my highest respect, recognition and profound grief for the late Eugen INDJIC and Janusz OLEJNICZAK, who were once my Competition rivals and became my close and long-time friends. The recent and untimely passing away of those brilliant artists has left a wound in my memory and constitutes a painful loss to all their friends and music lovers. I am confident that their interpretations and our encounters will remain forever instilled in our memory.
Let me now warmly welcome the artists, the Festival’s friends and organisers, at this special 80th jubilee edition of the Duszniki Festival. I am confident that the presented performances will meet with wide interest and be remembered as major events, providing an artistic experience to be remembered for many years.
I am very glad to present Mikhail Pletnev, one of the most outstanding artists of our day, who will play both of Fryderyk Chopin’s piano concertos with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Paweł Kapuła.
Another pianist who has accepted our invitation to the jubilee edition is Piotr Anderszewski, considered as one of the most eminent musicians of his generation. We will hear a very attractive programme performed by Sergei Babayan, a musical partner to such celebrities as Martha Argerich and Antonio Pappano. The virtuoso Boris Giltburg will play a Chopin recital. Naturally, there will also be performances by prize winners of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw: Krzysztof Jabłoński, Gabriela Montero, and on the final day – Kate Liu and Eric Lu.
Olga Pasichnyk, star of the world’s major stages, accompanied by Natalya Pasichnyk on the piano, will present a unique vocal recital of songs by Chopin, Szymanowski, and Ukrainian composers.
As usual, our afternoon recitals feature excellent young artists. Our guest on the Festival’s second day is Aristo Sham, who has freshly won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (the event ended on 7th June). At age twelve, Sham was one of the protagonists of The World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies UK television series. In Duszniki, he already performed during the 74th Festival in 2019.
The younger generation of pianists is also represented by Kevin Chen (winner of, among others, the Tel Aviv, Geneva, and Budapest competitions) as well as last year’s Hamamatsu Competition winner Manami Suzuki. Other performers include prize winners of the most recent Chopin Competition in Warsaw (Aimi Kobayashi, Kyohei Sorita), as well as Philipp Lynov (winner of, among others, the International Paderewski Competition in Bydgoszcz) and young Polish artists who will take part in the coming edition of Warsaw’s International Chopin Piano Competition: Krzysztof Wierciński and Mateusz Dubiel.
Chamber music has naturally also been programmed, in the form of a concert of works for cello and piano performed by Marcin Zdunik and Szymon Nehring. Our traditional night concert ‘Nocturne’ will be hosted this time by Róża Światczyńska, known to our audience as a presenter on Polish Radio Channel Two.
Let me warmly welcome, as in previous years, young piano students and the invited teachers who will conduct this year’s masterclass: Ronan O’Hora from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Claudio Martinez-Mehner, professor at the Hochschulen für Musik in Basel and Cologne as well as the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank our well-tested sponsors, first and foremost – the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, as well as the media, most of all – Polish Radio Channel Two, which annually records and broadcasts the Festival concerts so that music lovers in Poland and abroad can listen to them on the air.
I am extremely grateful to the Foundation for International Chopin Festivals, in particular – to the event’s organisers: Jadwiga Merkur, Mariusz Fituch,and Andrzej Borszowski – for the trust they have put in my work and in our ability to solve many problems together. I would also like to thank Izabella Dargiel of Agencja Artystyczna Filharmonia for her great assistance with the organisation of all the concerts.
I am looking forward to the intense emotions that invariably accompany our Festival concerts, in the hope that they will stay in my and your memory for a long time.
Piotr Paleczny