Chopin birthday gala
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
01.03.2018 10:26
In line with a long-standing tradition, the National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw will host a gala concert to mark the anniversary of the birth of Fryderyk Chopin in Żelazowa Wola, west of Warsaw, 208 years ago on Thursday.
Fryderyk Chopin. Photo courtesy of the Polish Institute in Paris.
The composer’s Concerto in F minor will be performed by Argentinian pianist Nelson Goerner.
Goener will also be the soloist in a performance of a Piano Concerto by legendary Polish pianist, composer and statesman Ignacy Paderewski.
Goerner replaces Bulgarian pianist Plamena Mangova, who was forced to cancel her performance at the last minute due to her health.
The programme of the concert also includes a Piano Concerto by 20th-century Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik, who spent half of his life in the UK. English pianist Clare Hammond will perform. The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk.
Chopin’s birthday has been celebrated with a wide range of concerts and recitals since 22 February, his date of birth as per his baptismal certificate.
However, according to Chopin’s mother, the composer was in fact born on 1 March. The discrepancy is attributed to the father, Mikołaj Chopin, who mistakenly told a priest his son was born a week earlier. (mk/vb/pk)