1904 Concert Recreated In Melbourne Town Hall

In 1904, Polish pianist and composer, Ignacy Jan Paderewski took to the Melbourne Town Hall stage, for his first piano recital in Australia. Now, 111 years later, PolArt 2015 Melbourne will celebrate this historic event with excerpts of this original performance mirrored for the first time on the same stage by highly acclaimed and talented pianists, including Konrad Olszewski, Rafael Luszczewski and Alan Kogosowski.

The Paderewski Concerto is exquisitely unique, but has rarely been recorded or mastered. This event, at the prestigious Melbourne Town Hall, will be a recording of Paderewski’s works for the first time in Australia.

The concert will also feature the works of Melbourne based composer Harry Sdraulig, which will be showcased and performed by the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra and expertly conducted by Mark Sheill. Sdraulig, of Polish descent, is a solo chamber and orchestral music composer. 

Anna Miernik, a soloist and chamber musician, will debut with a premiere piece of work, The Rondo a la Krakowiak, never before heard with a symphony orchestra in Australia.

The Paderewski Concert, on 2 January 2016 at 7 pm, promises to be a unique event — featuring rarely played, complicated and intense pieces of classical music that have never before been heard in Australia.

Tickets and further information are available at www.polart2015.com.au.

To view full The Argus 1904 article please go to http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/10328557

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About Ignacy Jan Paderewski:

“Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860–1941) is one of the most important figures in Polish history. His multifaceted activities as a composer, pianist, politician, statesman, and generous philanthropist distinguished him as one of the greatest personalities of the cultural and political scenes in Poland, and indeed the world, during the first half of the past century.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski`s contemporaries often referred to him as the greatest piano player since the time of Liszt. His piano career lasted more than 50 years. The artist became widely known and admired after his Paris debut in Salle Erard in March 1888. In both Paris and London he was declared the greatest artist since the time of Chopin. Paderewski`s first American tour in 1891 reinforced his worldwide fame.

Paderewski was not only a talented composer and a pianist, but also a devoted and effective community activist and a politician (Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from January 1919 to December 1919) who worked for his homeland in its most difficult times of captivity and subsequent insecure independence.”

Source: The Paderewski Association