During the last weekend, London lived the music of our national composer. This came about because of Janusz Sikora-Sikorski, who organised an exceptional and prestigious 2-day Chopin Festival at the heart of Polish life in London – the Polish Cultural Centre “POSK”. Excellent pianists from Poland, Great Britain and the Ukraine participated in this Chopin celebration.
Sikora-Sikorski is foremostly known for the concert he organised in London on the 100th anniversary of Poland’s regaining independence. He hired the most prestigious venue in Great Britain (I do not hesitate to say, that it may be in the whole world) to organise the biggest Polish concert in our Polish history on these islands. Tickets sold out quickly. On the 11th of November 2018, five thousand people celebrated our national feast day by listening to over 30 excellent Polish and English artists, supported by a nearly 200-member choir. What’s most interesting – they all performed for charity – without a fee.
A particularly emotive moment was when everyone sang the Dąbrowski Mazurka. 5000 people singing with one voice our national anthem gave us a unique feeling of strength and community.
This time over two days in the Polish Social and Cultural Association POSK, in the London Borough of Hammersmith, the music of our national composer Fryderyk Chopin resounded exclusively.
The Festival program was exceptionally full, made up of not only concerts but also talks, the screening of a Chopin feature film and an exhibition. The principal concerts took place in the Theatre and the Jazz Club.
The first day of the Festival began with the opening of an exhibition in the POSK Gallery, which was followed by a talk given by Alexander Laskowski, the press officer of the Chopin Institute in Warsaw. Shortly after this, the Gala Concert began. It goes without saying that all 300 POSK Theatre tickets were sold out. The concert began with Artur Haftman, a well-known Polish artist from London and whose interview can be read here.
Ewa Osińska , the well-known Polish pianist, who lives primarily in Paris, travelled specially to London to accompany Ewa Majcherczyk (soprano) and Marcin Gesla (bass) in selected Chopin songs.
The guitarist Adam Palma delivered a remarkable interpretation of Chopin, daringly playing Chopin compositions from his album “Adam Palma meets Chopin.”
Concluding the concert was the exceptional pianist and international Chopin Competition laureate Janusz Olejniczak, whom the delighted audience would not allow to leave the stage for a long time.
After the Gala concert, in the Jazz club, there was a sensational performance of the Alle Choir London featuring Kevin Fox followed by musicians John Donegan and Stephen Ellery, who presented Chopin compositions in the Jazz idiom.
The next day the Festival began with a talk entitled “Chopin in Britain, 1848”, given by Lady Rose Cholmondeley, the president of the Chopin Society in the UK.
Not everyone knows that Chopin was twice in Britain. The first time was briefly in London in July 1837. The second time was in April 1848 – this time it was a tour of Britain visiting London, Manchester, Calder House, Glasgow and Edinburgh. On the 16th of November 1848, Fryderyk Chopin played his last public performance in the Guildhall , in support of polish veterans of the November Uprising.
Continuing the musical afternoon, the POSK Theatre created the atmosphere of the famous Warsaw Łazienki concerts. The concert was graced by the British pianist John Paul Ekins, who not only excellently interpreted Chopin’s compositions but equally enthusiastically talked about Chopin’s life and creativity. He shared Chopin with us as would a devoted friend. Alongside a few of the pieces he played, he was joined by the dancer Natalia Meksa, who revealed that Chopin could not only be played and sung but also danced. And how!
The next pleasant surprise for the gathered audience had a Ukrainian accent – the harpist Liza Rakovska, played Chopin compositions with the flautist Leonor Luz and the mezzo-soprano Rozanna Madylus.
When it seemed like no one can now delight us even more, at the end of the concert, there appeared a finalist of the last international Chopin Piano Competition – Kamil Pacholec. As the British say, “he was the cherry on top of the cake.“ Kamil played differently than previous performers. He was engaged to such an extent, he lived out the music so strongly whilst at the same time playing so exceptionally and dynamically, that the audience had the impression that he was Chopin! It was as if our national genius incarnated himself into our pianist, who was having his recital in POSK’s theatre.
His performance was rewarded with such great applause that we decided to carry out an interview with him to find out some more about the artiste, which the audience loved from the outset.
In the end, the producer and originator of the Festival, Janusz Sikora-Sikorski, invited everyone in the theatre to the film by Jerzy Antczak “Chopin: Desire for Love” screening starring Piotr Adamczyk and Danuta Stenka in the leading roles.
The Festival also included a Chopin portrait competition for young people organised in association with the London portrait artist Barbara Kaczmarowska-Hamilton, The Polish Schools Association and the department of the Polish diaspora of the Polish University abroad PUNO. 221 entries were received.
The audience was so moved and elated that the chairman of POSK, Dr Marek Laskiewicz had no choice but to commit to organising an annual Chopin Festival, most likely in October. We are quietly hoping that the excellent organiser of musical events, Janusz Sikora-Sikorski, will support it with his experience. Until then, we will hold Marek Laskiewicz to his word. POSK, under his new management, is catching up on years of inactivity and, with some momentum, is promoting our cultural heritage.
The British Poles portal was a media patron of the Festival.
See you in a year’s time!
Maria Byczynski
Translated by Janusz Sikora-Sikorski
Photos: British Poles, Caroline Byczynski
