“Chopin and his Europe” Festival

Organised by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, the International Music Festival "Chopin and his Europe" looks at the work of Chopin through masterpieces of other artists, especially those from which he drew. It also refers to the contemporary times of the brilliant composer, presenting, among other things, the works of his friends, Polish composers, who were close to Chopin, for whom the memory of their posterity turned out to be less gracious, and who left works of great value: Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński, Józef Nowakowski, Franciszek Lessel, Józef Krogulski, as well as those with whom Chopin co-created the musical world of Europe in the first half of the 19th century and those who remained clearly influenced by him. Every year, at the invitation of the Institute, they come to Warsaw to perform at the festival, stars of the world's pianism, eminent chamber musicians, virtuososos of various instruments, conductors, excellent ensembles... Among those who have been invited to Warsaw many times are Martha Argerich, Nelson Freire, Nelson Goerner, Garrick Ohlsson, Orchestra of the 18th century, Europa Galante, Collegium 1704, Sinfonia Varsovia... A special value of the Chopin and its Europe Festival is to recall the original sound of works which - performed on period instruments or their copies - allow us to get closer to the sound aura of Chopin's times. Legendary ensembles and soloists specialising in historical performance are regular guests of the Festival, bringing the magical image of past eras closer. The pianists play on pianos from the Institute's collection, which has an extensive collection of instruments from the Chopin era: the famous Pleyel, Erard, Broadwood, as well as a copy of the Buchholtz piano (Chopin's Warsaw instrument) and the Vienna Graf. The festival is also the basis for the Institute's constantly expanding and internationally acclaimed collection of phonographic publications - many of the CDs and DVDs published by the Institute are recordings of festival concerts or were created as part of the festival. Every year the Festival gathers in Warsaw an audience of many thousands, including many music lovers from Poland and abroad, coming to our capital city especially for this event. The festival has its fans and listeners all over the world - including those who cannot be in Poland in August. Thanks to the Institute's traditional cooperation with Polish Radio 2, the festival concerts reach an audience of many millions in several dozen countries - the concerts of the Festival are broadcasted many times on the air of Program 2 PR, they are also an offer of the European Broadcasting Union EBU station, which is still enjoying great interest and recognition. Selected concerts are also available online, in live streaming and vod on the Institute's youtube channel.