Andrzej Wasowski
Encyclopedia
Andrzej Wasowski was a Polish
classical pianist
.
, Ukraine
) of an aristocratic family (his father was a baron and his mother a princess). His father's family owned estates in Podolia
and sugar refineries and mining interests in Silesia
. His mother, Princess Maria Glinska Wasowska was Professor of Piano at the Warsaw
Conservatory. She, in her turn, had studied piano with Richard Baumeister, a pupil of Franz Liszt
.
Andrzej began his piano studies with his mother at the age of four. In 1931 he was admitted to the Warsaw Conservatory where he studied with Margerita Trombini-Kazuro, who had studied with one of Liszt's disciples, Giovanni Sgambati
. He graduated from the conservatory in 1939 with one of its highest awards, the Grand Prix d'Interpretation.
Lwow, where he was living, was overrun by the Russian army in 1939. On hearing him play, they packed him off to give concerts in the Soviet Union
where he performed 186 times, giving up to nine concerts in a three day period. While in the Soviet Union, he studied with Konstantin Igumnov
in Moscow
.
He returned to his native city just before the Germans captured it. He was permitted to give concerts to benefit war relief organisations, but was not permitted to play Polish music. Since the Nazis forbade performance of Polish music, Wasowski played clandestinely in basements for handfuls of Poles who risked their lives to hear Chopin. When he refused to play concerts for the Nazis, he was put to work in a slave battalion.
After the Second World War, all of his family's possessions were seized by the communists, and the 22-year-old Wasowski became a stateless refugee. He was the winner of the 1951 Marguerite Long
International Piano Competition in Paris
and the 1952 International Competition in Bolzano. In 1956 he married Countess Maria Grocholska
He toured extensively in Europe, North and South America, and became a Venezuelan citizen.
In 1965 he and his family moved to the USA, but found it difficult to secure work as a concert pianist and instead took up a teaching post at Oral Roberts University
in Tulsa, Oklahoma
.
We would know nothing of his playing were it not for the enterprise of a small US record company, Concord Records
, who recorded Wasowski playing Chopin's complete mazurka
s in 1980 and complete nocturne
s in 1989. These recordings were hailed by critics. Bernard Sherman, reviewing the mazurkas for the New York Times described Wasowski as one of those artists the broad international public neglects but critics and colleagues rave about. Another critic, Charles Michener praised the Mazurkas as full-blooded and intoxicating, almost shocking in their use of rubato, the freedom with which they shake the pieces' rhythmic structures.
Critical acclaim for the nocturnes (recorded in just two days, 30 September and 1 October 1989) was equally marked. The recording received the 1997 Critics Choice Award from National Public Radio, and the critic Jessica Duchen writing in BBC Music Magazine (May 1997) said These performances of the Chopin Nocturnes, recorded in 1989, are really rather extraordinary… a glorious singing tone of great clarity, eloquence and purity, with beautifully balanced accompaniment and inner voices… they moved me to tears.
Wasowski's recordings show a fascinating approach to rhythm, especially in the mazurkas. Being familiar with the dances themselves, his readings are informed by the rhythmic conventions of Polish music, resulting in interpretations that differ markedly from the literal notation, but which are perhaps more in keeping with Chopin's own performance (see an extensive discussion in Sherman's review in the external links section).
Of his own playing, he said "In my conviction, Chopin is not a sentimentalist. On the contrary when I am at the piano I feel his power and anguished revolutionary might."
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
classical pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
.
Life
Born in Lwow (now LvivLviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) of an aristocratic family (his father was a baron and his mother a princess). His father's family owned estates in Podolia
Podolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
and sugar refineries and mining interests in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
. His mother, Princess Maria Glinska Wasowska was Professor of Piano at the Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
Conservatory. She, in her turn, had studied piano with Richard Baumeister, a pupil of Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
.
Andrzej began his piano studies with his mother at the age of four. In 1931 he was admitted to the Warsaw Conservatory where he studied with Margerita Trombini-Kazuro, who had studied with one of Liszt's disciples, Giovanni Sgambati
Giovanni Sgambati
Giovanni Sgambati was an Italian composer.Born to an Italian father and an English mother, Sgambati, who lost his father early, received his early education at Trevi, in Umbria, where he wrote some church music and obtained experience as a singer and conductor...
. He graduated from the conservatory in 1939 with one of its highest awards, the Grand Prix d'Interpretation.
Lwow, where he was living, was overrun by the Russian army in 1939. On hearing him play, they packed him off to give concerts in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
where he performed 186 times, giving up to nine concerts in a three day period. While in the Soviet Union, he studied with Konstantin Igumnov
Konstantin Igumnov
Konstantin Nicolayevich Igumnov was a Russian virtuoso pianist and the teacher of many famous Russian pianists.Igumnov studied under Nikolai Zverev, and at Moscow Conservatory under Alexander Siloti and Pavel Pabst. He took theory and composition courses from Sergei Taneyev, Anton Arensky and...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
He returned to his native city just before the Germans captured it. He was permitted to give concerts to benefit war relief organisations, but was not permitted to play Polish music. Since the Nazis forbade performance of Polish music, Wasowski played clandestinely in basements for handfuls of Poles who risked their lives to hear Chopin. When he refused to play concerts for the Nazis, he was put to work in a slave battalion.
After the Second World War, all of his family's possessions were seized by the communists, and the 22-year-old Wasowski became a stateless refugee. He was the winner of the 1951 Marguerite Long
Marguerite Long
Marguerite Long was a French pianist and teacher.Marguerite Marie-Charlotte Long was born in Nîmes. She studied with Henri Fissot at the Paris Conservatoire, taking a premier prix in 1891, and privately with Antoine François Marmontel...
International Piano Competition in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and the 1952 International Competition in Bolzano. In 1956 he married Countess Maria Grocholska
Maria Grocholska
Countess Maria Grocholska was a Polish noble lady.Maria married Prince Witold Czartoryski on October 30, 1851 in Paris. After the death of Witold she entered the Carmelite Order....
He toured extensively in Europe, North and South America, and became a Venezuelan citizen.
In 1965 he and his family moved to the USA, but found it difficult to secure work as a concert pianist and instead took up a teaching post at Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts University , based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the United States, is an interdenominational, Charismatic Christian, comprehensive university with an enrollment of about 3,790 students from 49 U.S. states along with a significant number of international students from 70 countries...
in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
.
We would know nothing of his playing were it not for the enterprise of a small US record company, Concord Records
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
, who recorded Wasowski playing Chopin's complete mazurka
Mazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
s in 1980 and complete nocturne
Nocturne
A nocturne is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night...
s in 1989. These recordings were hailed by critics. Bernard Sherman, reviewing the mazurkas for the New York Times described Wasowski as one of those artists the broad international public neglects but critics and colleagues rave about. Another critic, Charles Michener praised the Mazurkas as full-blooded and intoxicating, almost shocking in their use of rubato, the freedom with which they shake the pieces' rhythmic structures.
Critical acclaim for the nocturnes (recorded in just two days, 30 September and 1 October 1989) was equally marked. The recording received the 1997 Critics Choice Award from National Public Radio, and the critic Jessica Duchen writing in BBC Music Magazine (May 1997) said These performances of the Chopin Nocturnes, recorded in 1989, are really rather extraordinary… a glorious singing tone of great clarity, eloquence and purity, with beautifully balanced accompaniment and inner voices… they moved me to tears.
Wasowski's recordings show a fascinating approach to rhythm, especially in the mazurkas. Being familiar with the dances themselves, his readings are informed by the rhythmic conventions of Polish music, resulting in interpretations that differ markedly from the literal notation, but which are perhaps more in keeping with Chopin's own performance (see an extensive discussion in Sherman's review in the external links section).
Of his own playing, he said "In my conviction, Chopin is not a sentimentalist. On the contrary when I am at the piano I feel his power and anguished revolutionary might."