Discussing Chopin’s Pianos : Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa

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Chopin's Warsaw Piano: A contemporary copy

Paul McNulty, world-renowned piano maker specialising in reconstructing historical instruments has revived a piano owned by Chopin when he lived in Warsaw. Originally manufactured by Fryderyk Buchholtz, the instrument was wilfully destroyed by tsarist soldiers during the January Uprising against the Russian rule and subsequently immortalised in famous patriotic poem by Polish Romatic poet Cyprian Kamil Norwid. Paul McNulty will share the story of the legendary instrument's reconstruction and discuss the intricacies of its construction: the models he used, the replica's building process, and its special combination of the Viennese and English action mechanisms.

The talk will be delivered in English with a Polish translation.

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The piano in the musical culture of Chopin's times

Professor Beniamin Vogel, prominet specialist in historical instruments and author of a book Fortepian polski [The Polish Piano], will shed light on the musical life in Poland and Europe in Chopin's times, placing special emphasis on keyboard instruments, the piano in particular. He will paint a vivid picture of the piano's role in familty and social life of Chopin's contemporaries and its domination across concert halls.

The talk will be accompanied by a short piano recital by Krzysztof Książek.

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Discussing pianos from the piano

Katarzyna Drogosz, a pianist who specialises in period performance, will be sharing some interesting insights on the technique of playing 19th-century pianos and invoking their magical sound. In her talk she will focus on each of the displayed pianos to discuss their individual character. She will be joined by Dr Geoffrey Govier, pianist, professor at the Royal College of Music in London, and the world's leading expert on historically-informed performance. After the talk, Ms Drogosz and Dr Govier will treat the audience to a short recital.