Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz plays a program full of beauty, with Vancouver Chopin Society March 13

Alongside pieces from the group’s namesake, celebrated artist performs Mozart, Debussy, and Szymanowski

By Janet Smith

Rafal Blechacz

Vancouver Chopin Society presents Rafal Blechacz at the Vancouver Playhouse on March 13 at 7:30 pm

BORN IN THE small town of Nakło nad Notecią in northern Poland, pianist Rafal Blechacz went on to win the prestigious 2005 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw—becoming the first Polish musician to receive the prize in 30 years. He’s gone on to sell a platinum record in his home country (of Chopin’s Preludes), to win awards by Germany’s Echo Klassik and France’s Diapason d’Or, and to record a dozen universally acclaimed albums.

Devoted entirely to Chopin, Blechacz's latest release interprets the gorgeous piano sonatas Nocturne Op. 48 No. 2 and Barcarolle Op. 60, a program he’s played all over the globe.

This week, the Deutsche Grammophon artist returns to the Vancouver Chopin Society, where there will be an array of work by the group’s namesake: Polonaise Fantasy, Op. 61; Nocturne, Op. 55 No. 1; and Mazurkas, Op. 6.

The evening also includes a serene mix of Mozart’s Sonata in A Major, Debussy’s transcendent Suite Bergamasque, and Polish modernist composer Karol Szymanowski’s Variations.

It's a knockout combination, full of beauty—and a concert piano fans will want to swoon in.  

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