Chopin and His Europe

The festival is to be held in Warsaw on 15-29 August.

Artur Szklener, the director of the National Chopin Institute in Warsaw, the main organiser of the event, has told the Polish Press Agency that the programme reflects the festival’s continued commitment to promote Polish composers whose music deserves a wider exposure.

The Philharmonic Orchestra of London under Vladimir Ashkenazy will perform Ignacy Jan Paderewski’s Piano Concerto (with Dang Thai Son as the soloist), the Russian Symphony Orchestra is billed with Mieczysław Karłowicz’s ‘Rebirth’ Symphony, while Philippe Giusiano will perform Feliks Ignacy Dobrzyński’s Fantasy on themes from Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Featured artists also include such household names as Louis Lortie, Nelson Freire, Andreas Steier, Nikolai Lugansky, Jan Lisiecki, Yulianna Avdeeva, Ingolf Wunder and Krzysztof Jabłoński.

A series of late-night recitals is scheduled on a historic Erard piano from Chopin’s times of Polish participants in the International Chopin Competition, which begins on 1 October.

‘In the run-up to the grand competition’ is one of the themes of the ‘Chopin and His Europe’ Festival, with as many as eight of its past prize winners and two jury members among the performers.

Launched in 2005, the festival has earned a reputation as one of the most prestigious music events in the summer international calendar. (mk/rg)