ABOUT THE CHOPIN WORKSHOP
“Remembering Frédéric” grew out of my visit to Warsaw in 2006 on an expedition to find my grandfather’s birthplace (Żyrardów) and gain a better understanding of my Polish heritage. Walking the same streets where Chopin had passed and touring the rooms in which he had once lived gave me a sense of Chopin’s life in Warsaw, but curiously, there was not much of his music to be heard.
This puzzling reality led to many conversations with our B & B host, as to why this was, and what could be done about it. After much brainstorming, we came up with 3 ideas:
- Create“people-to-people” programs for pianists to share their interpretations of Chopin’s music with each other and to share Chopin with regular people (regardless of their musical education) through frequent, inexpensive and accessible concerts.
- Release Chopin “from under glass” and let his music out to be heard frequently by everyone who either lives or passes through Warsaw.
- Use Chopin’s music to create an opportunity for global cooperation, communication and goodwill between diverse groups and countries.
These 3 ideas discussed over the breakfast table at 14 Smolna in 2006 became a living reality earlier this year in Warsaw, August 2009, with the 2 week Grać Chopina Workshop. What a great way to get an early start on celebrating the Chopin Year!
ABOUT THE SHOW
I decided to create a tribute for 2010 to commemorate the bicentennial of Chopin’s birth, and was inspired to weave Sand’s autobiography through Chopin’s compositions to give my audiences a sense of the unique relationship that joined these two geniuses as soul mates. This resulted in a 75-minute performance which, I believe, is a compelling and fitting tribute for the Chopin Year 2010.
Premiered in Warsaw to herald the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth, “Remembering Frédéric” plumbs the tortured relationship between the gifted Polish composer and the Frenchwoman George Sand, herself a gifted writer whose words form the basis for this musical journey in time.
In the show I speak alternately between French, Polish, English, and use the infinite language of Chopin’s tranquil, ecstatic and poignant music, to conjure Sand as she talks to Chopin six years after his death as she finishes her autobiography. I use Sand’s own words (as well as some words that I’ve given her) to convey the history of their extraordinary relationship; from 1838, when they were lovers; the wildly productive years at Nohant, her country retreat, where she nursed him in his frail health; until 1847, when they split bitterly two years before his death.
Chopin responds only through his hands (me at the piano) in the music of his mazurkas, waltzes, preludes and, in his closing remarks, the Nocturne in E Minor.
Click here to read student comments and to view images and video.
Click here to download the official “Remembering Frédéric” flyer. |
