Instytut Polski w Brukseli

18.11.2018 Music

The winner of the first prize in the new International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments in now know: 23-year-old Polish pianist Tomasz RITTER. He will play in front of the Belgian audience with a programme that is 100% Chopin at the Centre for Fine Arts BOZAR on 18 November.

Playing music on historical instruments is very much in vogue these days, especially in Belgium. By recreating the original sound and mechanics of XIXth century pianos, instruments used by the composer, playing Chopin’s music on historical instruments allows musicians to tap into what makes his work so unique, as well as his unique articulations and sense of harmony, which are, to a great extent, lost when played on contemporary instruments.
Thirty pianists from 9 different countries participated in the competition. The second prize resulted in a tie for Japanese pianist Naruhiko KAWAGUCHI and the Polish Aleksandra ŚWIGUT. The next places were for the Pole Krzysztof KSIĄŻEK, Dmitri ABLOGUINE from Russia and the French Antoine DE GROLEE.
The competition, the first edition of which was held in Warsaw by the National Fryderyk Chopin Institute from 2 until 14 September 2018, is the descendant of the Internation Chopin Piano Competition founded in Warsaw in 1927.

PROGRAMME
Polonaise in g minor, op. posth., Frédéric Chopin
2 Polonaises, op. 26, Frédéric Chopin
4 Mazurkas, op. 33, Frédéric Chopin
Nocturne, op. 48/1, Frédéric Chopin
Etude nr. 5, op. 25, Frédéric Chopin
Ballade nr. 4, op. 52, Frédéric Chopin

PRACTICAL INFORMATION
>>> Centre for Fine Arts BOZAR (Rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 Brussels), Salle Henry Le Bœuf – see map
>>> Sunday 18 November 2018 – 11h
>>> 12€ (tickets available online)

+++ On the site of the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels

From 4 until 6 March 2018, the Polish Institute in Brussels, in collaboration with the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel and the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, co-organized a preparatory workshop devoted to the music of Chopin and his period, made up of recitals and workshops and conferences.

Find out about the project HERE.

Tomasz RITTER already performed at an earlier occassion in Belgium, in 2013, aged only 18 years, at the 11th edition of the Pianotune festival. The Polish Institute was one of the partners. Find more info on this event HERE.

Concert organised as a part of The Centenary of Regaining Independence of the Republic of Poland.
Coproduction: Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels (BOZAR).