Tekst ponizszy przedstawia Profesora Marka Jablonskiego, wybitnego pianiste polskiego mieszkajacego w Kanadzie. Zostal on wygloszony przeze mnie jako wprowadzenie do wieczoru Marka Jablonskiego w dniu 7 listopada 1997 roku na spotkaniu Towarzystwa Kultury Polskiej w Edmonton na Universytecie Alberty. Na spotkaniu pt. "Chopin Jablonskiego," Artysta mowil o Polonezach Chopina, o swoim pojmowaniu muzyki Chopina oraz gral na fortepianie fragmenty utworow Chopina. (AMK)

The following text introduces Professor Marek Jablonski, an oustanding Polish pianist living in Canada. It was an introductory talk given at a meeting of the Polish Culture Society of Edmonton held at the University of Alberta on November 7, 1997. At this meeting, entitled "Jablonski's Chopin", Marek Jablonski spoke about Chopin's Polonaises and on his understanding of Chopin's music. The artist also played fragments of several Chopin's compositions. (AMK)

MAREK JABLONSKI

CHOPIN PLAYER OF REAL DISTINCTION

ANDRZEJ M. KOBOS

Goscimy dzisiaj Pana Marka Jablonskiego, jednego z najlepszych, najbardziej oryginalnych i najbardziej tradycyjnie "muzycznych" pianistow Kanady, znanego w calym swiecie. Chociaz obywatel Kanady, jest on zasadniczo polskim artysta. Opowie nam nieco o muzyce Chopina, swojej interpretacji tej muzyki i zilustruje ja gra na fortepianie. Pan Profesor Marek Jablonski jest czlowiekiem skromnym, ktory nie ma zwyczaju opowiadania o sobie; sprobuje wiec zrobic to ja w ogromnym skrocie.

We are truly privileged tonight to have as our guest Professor Marek Jablonski, one of the best, most original and most traditional and "musical" pianists in Canada. He will tell us about Chopin's music, and will interprete some selections at the piano. Although a Canadian citizen, he is essentially a Polish artist, well-known in many countries.

Marek Jablonski urodzil sie 5 listopada 1939 roku w Krakowie. Zanim zobaczyl swojego ojca, uplynelo prawie osiem lat. Matka Marka, ktora wielu Polakow z Edmonton jeszcze milo pamieta, napisala pamietnik o tych czasach. Wspomina w nim np. jak podczas okupacji, wieczorami, maly Marek grywal ze sluchu na fortepianie dla gosci, ktorzy nie mogli wyjsc ze wzgledu na godzine policyjna. Marek zaczal powaznie uczyc sie grac w wieku szesciu lat w konserwatorium w Krakowie. Pierwszym jego zewnetrznym audytorium byli sowieccy oficerowie NKWD, ktorzy stacjonujac w budynku sasiadujacym z domem na ul. Sienkiewicza, domagali sie, zeby maly chlopiec gral im na fortepianie. Te "wystepy" tkwia w Marku do dzisiaj. Okres krakowski wbudowal w Marka niezwykle silna polskosc, jego podswiadome byc moze pojmowanie Chopina, jako kwintesencji polskosci. W 1947 roku, Pani Maria Jablonska zdolala wyjechac z Markiem do Wloch, do II Korpusu. Tam Marek zobaczyl po raz pierwszy ojca, ktory podczas wojny, od wrzesnia 1939, przeszedl caly szlak Brygady Karpackiej i II Korpusu. Z Wloch, panstwo Jablonscy wyjechali do Anglii do Chippenham niedaleko Cambridge. Mowie o tym wczesnym okresie, bo nie mam najmniejszych watpliwosci, ze trwale uksztaltowal on Marka.

Marek Jablonski was born on November 5, 1939 in Krakow, Poland, then under the Nazi occupation. Eight years had ellapsed before Marek saw his father for the first time. For the entire war, since September 1, 1939, Michal Jablonski, Marek's father, was a soldier in the Polish Armed Forces first in Poland, then in the Polish Carpathian Brigade in the Middle East and North Africa and finally in the Polish Second Corps in Italy. Marek's mother, whom many still remember in Edmonton, later wrote memoirs in which she recalled, for example, little Marek playing the piano late at night for their guests who could not leave because of the German curfew. At the age of six Marek began attending the Conservatory in Krakow. His first "audience" in 1945 were the officers of the dreaded Soviet secret police NKVD who were stationed in the building next to where Marek and his mother lived. Marek's traumatic childhood in Krakow left a permanent imprint on him, clearly developing his Polishness and contributing to his special relationship with Chopin's music. In 1947 Mrs. Marie Jablonska and son managed to leave Poland for Italy, where they joined Marek's father. After they left Italy, they briefly lived in England in Chippenham, near Cambridge. I talk about this early period because I believe it has firmly shaped Marek.

W 1949 roku, panstwo Jablonscy wyemigrowali do Kanady i przez przypadek, w drodze do Vancouver, osiedli w Edmonton. Przez kilka lat Marek studiowal gre na fortepianie w Edmonton i w Banff School of Fine Arts. Znany byl wsrod owczesnej Polonii mlodziutki utalentowany pianista, wystepujacy na polskich uroczystosciach. W 1955 roku Artur Rubinstein uslyszal Marka w Edmonton i przepowiedzial mu wielka przyszlosc. W kilka lat pozniej Marek od czasu do czasu gral w mieszkaniu Rubinsteina w Nowym Jorku. Marek wygral kilka stypendiow, pomogly mu rozne organizacje i zaczal uczyc sie w Nowym Jorku u Rosiny Lhevinne, zony slynnego pianisty Josepha Lhevinne (jednego z wielkich zlotej ery pianistycznej), ktora go zaprosila jako ucznia. Uczyl sie rowniez w Londynie u wielkiej nauczycielki, Ilony Kabos, pozniej wyjechal do Wloch. Wkrotce zaczal wystepowac i sam tworzyc swoj styl. We wczesnych latach 60-tych rozpoczely sie koncerty Marka z wielkimi orkiestrami kanadyjskimi i amerykanskimi, europejskimi. Debiutowal w Salle Gavaux w Paryzu, Wigmore Hall w Londynie, Carnegie Hall w Nowym Jorku, Grossemusikvereinsaal w Wiedniu, w Verdi Conservatorio w Mediolanie i Place Des Arts w Montrealu. Zaczal sie okres bardzo czestych koncertow Marka Jablonskiego po calej Europie, wlaczajac Polske i Zwiazek Sowiecki. Ogromnym sukcesem byly jego koncerty w Wigmore Hall w Londynie i Salle Claude-Champagne, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier w Montrealu, w koncu w Carnegie Hall w Nowym Jorku. W tych latach Marek byl jedynym solista muzyki klasycznej, ktory wysprzedawal wielkie kanadyjskie sale koncertowe, jak Salle Wilfrid Pelletier w Place des Arts w Montrealu, nie mowiac nawet o Jubilee Auditorium w Edmonton, ktore zawsze bylo wypelnione na jego koncertach. Przez 35 lat Marek Jablonski koncertuje ze wszystkimi wiekszymi orkiestrami w Kanadzie, w Toronto, Montrealu, Edmonton i Vancouver, we Wloszech, szczegolnie w Bergamo i w Mediolanie.

In 1949, like many other Polish ex-military families, the Jablonskis immigrated to Canada. Originally heading for Vancouver, they settled in Edmonton by sheer accident. For several years Marek studied piano in Edmonton and in the Banff School of Fine Arts. He was known as a gifted young pianist performing at many community functions. In 1955 Arthur Rubinstein played a concert in Edmonton. On that occasion he heard Marek play and foretold Marek's brilliant future as pianist. Several years later Marek would occasionally play for Rubinstein in Rubinstein's apartment in New York. Marek won several scholarships and was assisted by several organizations so that he could begin full piano training in New York. His teacher was the famous Rosina Lhevinne, the wife of Joseph Lhevinne one the great pianists of the golden era of pianism. Later Marek was a student in London of another great piano teacher, Ilona Kabos. Soon after, he left for Italy and began performing on his own in his own style. In the early 1960s Marek Jablonski began performing with many major Canadian, US and European orchestras. He made his debuts in Salle Gavaux in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, Grossemusikvereinsaal in Vienna, in Milan's Verdi Conservatorio and Montreal's Place Des Arts. In those years Marek Jablonski was the only soloist in classical music who was able to sell out large Canadian concert halls such as Salle Wilfrid Pelletier at Place Des Arts in Montreal, not to mention Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium, always full for Marek's concerts. A period of Marek Jablonski's very frequent concerts had started all over Europe including Poland, and the former Soviet Union. His great successes were his concerts in Wigmore Hall in London, Salle Claude-Champagne, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier in Montreal, and Carnegie Hall in New York. For 35 years he has been performing with every major orchestra in Canada: in Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver, and also very frequently in Italy, particularly in Bergamo and Milan.

Marek Jablonski is an outstanding and renown piano teacher, a great pedagogue. For many years he has conducted Master Classes at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Banff Centre of Arts, Montreal, Bergamo in Italy, and Corfu Island in Greece. He was the long-time teacher of many outstanding younger concert pianists, such as Jon Kimura Parker, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bernadene Blaha and Francine Kay. They all, most sincerely, attribute their successes to the teaching they have obtained from Marek Jablonski.

As of a few years, Marek Jablonski is Professor of Music at the Department of Music, University of Alberta. Recently this statement was written about Jablonski at the University of Alberta: "He is a rare and invaluable asset for this university. He has an inquisitive mind and is a wizard as communicator."

Marek Jablonski gra wiele Chopina. Ale nie tylko. Gra takze Liszta, Brahmsa, Beethovena, Mozarta, Schuberta, Albineza, Szymanowskiego, Rachmaninowa. Chopin jednakze niezmiennie pozostaje trzonem jego repertuaru - Chopin Jablonskiego.

Marek Jablonski plays a lot of Chopin, but not exclusively. He also plays Liszt, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Albinez, Szymanowski, Rachmaninow. However, Chopin unfailingly has remained at the core of Marek Jablonski's repertoire - Jablonski's Chopin.

Mozna by oczywiscie mowic bardzo dlugo o Marku i jego sztuce muzycznej, o jego pasji, milosci do piekna, do muzyki. Moze zamiast tego, tylko w oryginale kilka wybranych przeze mnie fragmentow recenzji z jego koncertow, pisanych przez najpowazniejszych krytykow.

One could talk long about Marek Jablonski, his art of performing music, his passion, his love to music and beauty. Perhaps instead I shall quote but a few selected reviews written by leading critics.

"It is some time since I have encountered an audience as totally bewitched by a performer and his music." (Jacob Siskind, Montreal)
"Everything he played to a spellbound audience was never less than stunning. All Chopin repertoir was touched by the Jablonski magic in his brilliant execution." (Myron Galloway, Montreal)
"Virtuosity on a grand scale and presented with unfailing dignity distinguished the playing of the Polish - Canadian pianist Marek Jablonski at Wigmore Hall." (Peter Stadlen, The Daily Telegraph, London)
"Jablonski proved himself a representative of a Chopin tradition most truly Polish, in the great manner of Paderewski, Rubinstein and Malcuzynski." (Jerzy Waldorff - Warsaw)
"Marek Jablonski wylegitymowal sie jako reprezentant chopinistyki najrdzenniej polskiej, w wielkim stylu uprawianym przez Paderewskiego, Rubinsteina, Malcuzynskiego." (Jerzy Waldorff - Warszawa)
"Marek Jablonski, pianista o skrystalizowanej osobowosci, imponujacy gigantycznym tonem i takimz rozmachem gry. Swoja gra na wielka skale przypomina Jablonski Rubinsteina." (Jan Weber, Warszawa)
"... his clean, magical, well-polished technique, his beautiful touch and his limpid tone found its way straight to the music's heart and spirit."
(Der Express, Vienna)
"...the brilliant virtuosity of the pianist was placed at the service of the music and the result was a performance that I have rarely heard equalled by anyone alive today. This was pianism and music of the first magnitude." (Jacob Siskind, The Gazette, Montreal)
"We left the concert with a new experience of something great, enchanting, exhilarating, which is the effect that only a true artist can produce." (Politika, Belgrade)
"The Chopin is masterful; Jablonski's interpretations, while personal, are authoritative and totally persuasive. Jablonski demonstrates his mastery of both the tender and the passionate." (David Green, Regina)
"Chopin player of real distinction. ... Formidable proofs of superior musicianship, as well as technique." (The Times, London)

Let me finish with the following: Marek Jablonski has performed in many places in the world. Everywhere, with the music of Chopin in his exquisite interpretation, he has been creating yet another magnificent bridge between the culture of Poland and that of the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen: My great friend - Professor Marek Jablonski.