Frederic Chopin and the Art of the Piano

A JOURNEY THROUGH CHOPIN'S TWENTY-SEVEN ÉTUDES, THE FOUNDATION OF VIRTUOSO PIANO TECHNIQUE, REVEALING HOW THE HAND ACTUALLY WORKS, IN THE CONTEXT OF THE HISTORY OF THE PIANO AND THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT IN MUSIC

© ALAN KOGOSOWSKI 2005 GENIUS OF THE PIANO - ÉTUDE!

CHOPIN'S ÉTUDES AND THE ART OF THE PIANO

Alan Kogosowski: Chopin in the Hands of a Master

Alan Kogosowski has made a unique impression on audiences in London and America as an articulate and persuasive communicator as well as a pianist of rare ability and charisma. His playing of the music of Chopin was hailed under the headline 'Chopin in the Hands of a Master' by the critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, and his Chopin performances in London have been called 'never-to-be-forgotten experiences'. He has been decorated by the Polish Knights of Malta and the Vatican for his many Chopin recitals in London, which have produced the same fervour of excitement among his audiences as did those of his great predecessors Ignaz Paderewski and Artur Rubinstein.

In the highly successful Schubertiade concert series at Sotheby's in London, which he hosted for ten years, Kogosowski presented musicians and singers from all over the world, whom he introduced, accompanied and together with whom he performed. It was at these very special musical evenings in London that Kogosowski developed his own style of welcoming an audience into the world of the musician, and of making his listeners feel as if they were his partners in the journey of musical exploration - that they are an involved and essential part of the musical and artistic experience. Building on his ten-year experience as Artistic Director of the concerts at Sotheby's, Kogosowski was invited to be Artistic Advisor to the Palm Beach Symphony in 2001.

As a result of his success with English audiences, Kogosowski was invited to perform on numerous occasions for various members of the Royal Family - for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, for Prince Charles and Princess Diana, for the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and for Princess Alexandra.

Alan Kogosowski has introduced two major additions to the concert repertoire. As a throwback to the multi-leveled activities of pianists of the past, Kogosowski orchestrated a great neglected work by Sergei Rachmaninoff - the Trio Elégiaque in D minor, a work which Rachmaninoff thought about in orchestral terms but never orchestrated himself - thereby creating a new concerto, known as the Concerto Elégiaque in D minor. This was premiered by Kogosowski as soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its chief conductor Maestro Neeme Järvi. The recording of this work became an international best-seller, hailed by the American Record Guide as one of the best recordings of the year in 1994, and the work itself was considered worthy of being classed as Rachmaninoff's Fifth Piano Concerto.

At the request of Maestro Järvi, Kogosowski followed the success of his Rachmaninoff orchestration with a consummate orchestration and reconstruction of Chopin's unfinished Third Piano Concerto, a work which the composer tried to settle down to completing for ten years, at the same period he was writing the Etudes. Chopin eventually published the first movement as a piano solo, and the other two movements as incomplete solos. This realisation was also premiered by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Frederic Chopin in October 1999.

Several television films have been made of Alan Kogosowski playing the music of Chopin. One of these, Kogosowski plays Chopin at the Guildhall, is a film of a special recital which was a recreation of the last public performance given by Frederic Chopin himself, which took place in 1848 at the historic Guildhall in the City of London.

More recently, Kogosowski created a series of six programmes on Chopin's life and music, filmed live in concert in London, with spoken introductions to all the music, as well as superimpositions of evocative imagery, entitled 'Frédéric François Chopin - A Life to Remember'. The series premiered in New York on CUNY-TV Channel 75 in 2003 and was singled out on successive weeks by The New York Times as an 'Outstanding Documentary' highlight. The complete series is now available as a special double-DVD set with extra features (available through www.kogosowski.com).

For information about Alan Kogosowski's special insight into piano technique and the principles of correct use of the hands and fingers pertaining to everyone, please see the above website, with particular reference to 'An Interview with Alan Kogosowski about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome', which gives an idea of the far-reaching relevance and significance of this subject. For more information about Alan Kogosowski's pianistic achievements, and about his restorations of the works by Rachmaninoff and Chopin, please see the 'biography' page on kogosowski.com.

Also available at www.kogosowski.com is the 'Hand-book' for computer users and everyone else, 'How to Prevent RSI - The Michelangelo Code'.