1.
Heinrich Neuhaus
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Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus was a Soviet pianist and pedagogue of German extraction. He taught at the Moscow Conservatory from 1922 to 1964 and he was made a Peoples Artist of the RSFSR in 1956. His pedagogic book The Art of Piano Playing is regarded as one of the most authoritative and he died in Moscow in 1964. He was born in Elisavetgrad, in present-day Ukraine, although both his parents were piano teachers, he was largely self-taught. The biggest influences on his artistic development came from his second cousin Karol Szymanowski. He also received lessons from Aleksander Michałowski. In 1902 he gave a recital in Elisavetgrad with the 11-year-old Mischa Elman and in 1904 gave concerts in Dortmund, Bonn, Cologne and Berlin. Subsequently he studied with Leopold Godowsky in Berlin and from 1909 until the outbreak of World War I at his master classes in Vienna Academy of Music, in 1912, Neuhaus attempted suicide by cutting a wrist. Szymanowski and Rubinstein hastily followed Neuhaus to Florence and tracked him down to a hospital, in 1914 Neuhaus started teaching in Elisavetgrad and later Tbilisi and Kiev. After having been paralyzed, Neuhaus was forced to halt his concert career in the interests of his pedagogical activities. In 1922 he began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory where he was director between 1935 and 1937. When the Germans approached Moscow in 1941, he was imprisoned on suspicion of being a German spy, Neuhaus was renowned for the poetic magnetism of his playing and for his artistic refinement. He was a friend of Boris Pasternak, and Osip Mandelshtam expressed his admiration for Neuhauss playing in a poem. Stanislav Neuhaus, Heinrichs son by his first wife Zinaida, was also a noted pianist, Stanislav Bunin is his grandson
2.
Emil von Sauer
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Emil Georg Conrad von Sauer was a notable German composer, pianist, score editor, and music teacher. He was a pupil of Franz Liszt and one of the most distinguished pianists of his generation, josef Hofmann called von Sauer a truly great virtuoso. Martin Krause, another Liszt pupil, called von Sauer the legitimate heir of Liszt, he has more of his charm, Sauer was born in Hamburg, Germany on 8 October 1862 as Emil Georg Conrad Sauer. He studied with Nikolai Rubinstein at the Moscow Conservatory between 1879 and 1881, on an 1884 visit to Italy he met the Countess von Sayn-Wittgenstein, who recommended him to her former paramour, Franz Liszt. He went on to study with Liszt for two years, but did not for some time himself a Liszt pupil. In an 1895 interview, he denied it, It is not correct to regard me as a pupil of Liszt. He was then old, and could not teach me much. My chief teacher has been, undoubtedly, Nicholas Rubinstein, in his later years, however, Sauer realized the influence of Liszt on himself and on music in general. From 1882 Sauer made frequent and successful tours as a virtuoso pianist and he premiered in London in 1894 and New York in 1899. In 1901 he was appointed head of the Meisterschule für Klavierspiel at the Vienna Academy, Sauer left this post in April 1907 but returned to it in 1915. Some of his pupils continued on to successful concert or other significant music careers, See, List of music students by teacher, in 1917, Sauer was raised to the peerage by the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy, which added the nobiliary particle von to his name. He was also awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society of London, Emil von Sauer was married twice. Angelica Morales, his wife, carried on his legacy in teaching. Sauer had two sons with Morales — Julio and Franz and he died in Vienna, Austria on 27 April 1942, aged 79. Unlike his fellow pupil Moriz Rosenthal, who could overwhelm the keyboard with orchestral force, von Sauer was said to caress the piano in a suave and his recordings show him to have been a smooth pianist who was inclined toward relaxed tempos and exactitude of detail over temperament. While his playing may have lacked in breadth, it was always elegant. His compositions have been considered of minor importance, nevertheless, six CDs of his piano music were recorded by Oleg Marshev. Two Piano Concertos Two Piano Sonatas Études de Concert Suite moderne Emil von Sauer—1940 live recordings, Works by Chopin, Sauer, Schubert, Schumann, Sgambati
3.
Wilhelm Backhaus
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Wilhelm Backhaus was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly known for his interpretations of Beethoven and romantic music such as that by Brahms. He was also admired as a chamber musician. He seems to have favoured Bösendorfer pianos as he can be playing this instrument in commercial videos with Karl Böhm. Also see his original photograph and handwritten letter of appreciation of the Bösendorfer in their main showroom in Vienna, born in Leipzig, Backhaus was the son of a well-known architect. He began learning piano at the age of four with his mother, as a boy of 9 or 10 he was taken to hear both of the Brahms piano concertos performed by dAlbert — and conducted by Brahms himself. He made his first concert tour at the age of sixteen, in 1905 he won the Anton Rubinstein Competition with Béla Bartók taking second place. He toured widely throughout his life - in 1921 he gave seventeen concerts in Buenos Aires in less than three weeks. Backhaus made his U. S. debut on 5 January 1912 as soloist in Beethovens 5th Piano Concerto with Walter Damrosch, in 1930 he moved to Lugano and became a citizen of Switzerland. He died in Villach in Austria where he was due to play in a concert and his last recital a few days earlier in Ossiach was recorded. After the seizure of power by the Nazis, Backhaus met Adolf Hitler, in May 1933 at the very latest, in the same year he became an executive advisor of the Nazi organization Kameradschaft der deutschen Künstler. The violinist Leila Doubleday Pirani wrote that on November 20,1938 she attended a concert by Backhaus in London with the Viennese Jewish violinist Alma Rosé. The incident is reported by Richard Newman, who adds that Backhaus eventually moved to Switzerland in opposition to the Nazi regime, may have been due to his awareness of German agents operating in London at the time. According to some critics, Backhaus was one of the first modern artists of the keyboard, playing with an objective style, one of the first pianists to leave recordings, he had a long career on the concert stage and in the studio. Recordings of various etudes also exist from the early 1950s, when Backhaus was nearly 70 years old and his 27 January 1936 recording of Brahmss Waltzes, Op.39, runs just over thirteen minutes. His studio recordings of the complete Beethoven sonatas, made in the 1960s, display exceptional technique for a man in his seventies and his live Beethoven recordings are in some ways even better, freer and more vivid. However, his playing could be accused of being mechanical and lacking in insight and his chamber music recordings include Brahmss cello sonatas, with Pierre Fournier, and Schuberts Trout Quintet with the International Quartet and Claude Hobday. The Times praised Backhaus in its 1969 obituary for having upheld the classical German music tradition of the Leipzig Conservatory, Backhaus was quick to recognize the importance of the gramophone
4.
Holy Cross Church, Warsaw
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The Church of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic house of worship in Warsaw, Poland. Located on Krakowskie Przedmieście opposite the main Warsaw University campus, it is one of the most notable Baroque churches in Polands capital, the Holy Cross Church is currently administered by the Missionary Friars of Vincent de Paul. As early as the 15th century, a wooden chapel of the Holy Cross had been erected here. In 1526 the chapel was demolished, and a church was erected. Refurbished and extended by Paweł Zembrzuski in 1615, the church was too small to fill the needs of the growing city. Initially located well outside the city limits, by the 17th century it had one of the main churches in the southern suburb of the city that had in 1596 become Polands capital. In 1653 Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga gave the church to the French order of Missionary Friars of Vincent de Paul, however, three years later Warsaw was captured by Swedish armies during the Deluge. Pillaged, the church was found to be damaged beyond repair, during the reign of King John III Sobieski the churchs remnants were demolished, and it was decided to erect a new shrine. In the 18th century this became the origin of the gorzkie żale tradition, the main building was constructed between 1679 and 1696. Its main designer was Józef Szymon Bellotti, the architect at the Royal Court of Poland. It was financed by abbot Kazimierz Szczuka and the Primate of Poland Michał Stefan Radziejowski, the façade was relatively modest and reminded of Renaissance facades of the nearby churches. The two towers surrounding the façade were initially square-cut, between 1725 and 1737 two late Baroque headpieces by Józef Fontana. The façade itself was refurbished by Fontanas son, Jakub and ornamented with sculptures by Jan Jerzy Plersch, from 1765 the church was one of the most attended by Polish King Stanisław II Augustus. It was also there that the King established the Order of St. Stanisław, on May 3,1792, the Polish Diet gathered there on the first anniversary of the May 3rd Constitution. During the Warsaw Uprising of 1794, the leading to the main entrance were destroyed and had to be replaced with new ones designed by Chrystian Piotr Aigner. On Christmas Day 1881, an outbreak of panic following an alarm of fire in the crowded church caused the stampede deaths of twenty-nine persons. Jews were blamed for starting the panic, and the Warsaw pogrom of 1881 ensued, in the late 19th century the church interior was slightly refurbished, and in 1882 an urn containing the heart of Frédéric Chopin was immured in a pillar. Some decades later, an urn was added with the heart of Władysław Reymont
5.
Warsaw
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Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. Once described as Paris of the East, Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. On 9 November 1939, the city was awarded Polands highest military decoration for heroism, Warsaw is one of Europe’s most dynamic metropolitan cities. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world, in 2017 the city came 4th in the “Business-friendly” category and 8th in the “Human capital and life style”. It was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central, Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, a major international tourist destination and a significant cultural, political and economic hub. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. Together with Frankfurt, London and Paris, Warsaw is also one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union, the city is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Warsaw. The historic city-centre of Warsaw with its picturesque Old Town in 1980 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, buildings represent examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period. Warsaw provides many examples of architecture from the gothic, renaissance, baroque, neoclassical and modern periods, furthermore, the city is positioning itself as Europes chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and renowned restaurants. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, according to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love. In actuality, Warsz was a 12th/13th-century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of Mariensztat neighbourhood. See also the Vršovci family which had escaped to Poland, the official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa. A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianin, warszawianka, warszawiacy, other names for Warsaw include Varsovia and Varsóvia, Varsovie, Varsavia, Warschau, װאַרשע /Varshe, Варшава /Varšava /Varshava, Varšuva, Varsó. The first fortified settlements on the site of todays Warsaw were located in Bródno, after Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa
6.
Polskie Radio
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Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna is Polands state-owned national publicly funded radio broadcasting organization. Polskie Radio was founded on 18 August 1925 and began making regular broadcasts from Warsaw on 18 April 1926, czesław Miłosz, recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature, worked as a literary programmer in Vilnius for Polish Radio in 1936. After the war, Polskie Radio came under the tutelage of the public broadcasting body Komitet do Spraw Radiofonii Polskie Radio. Chart archives dating from 1982 are available to the public via the stations website. pl - Polish Radio broadcasts in English Polish Radio News Portal Polish Radio News Music and Music Band News
