Janusz Olejniczak

Janusz Olejniczak 2 October 1952 20 October 2024 was a Polish classical pianist academic teacher and actor He made an international career as a pianist especially with the piano music of Chopin which he played on modern and period instruments He portrayed the composer in the 1991 film Blue Note and played piano music in the 2002 film The Pianist also appearing as the hand double Olejniczak was born in Wrocław on 2 October 1952 He began playing piano at the age of six The family moved to Warsaw where he had piano lessons from Luiza Walewska he was trained by Ryszard Bakst and Zbigniew Drzewiecki from 1967 to 1969 In 1970 he placed sixth in the VIII International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw and two years later he placed fourth in the Alfredo Casella Piano Competition in Naples He studied in Paris with Constantine Schmaeling and Witold Małcużyński from 1971 to 1973 He returned to Poland where he studied at the Higher State School of Music in Warsaw with Barbara HesseBukowska He completed postgraduate studies from 1977 to 1978 with Victor Merzhanov in Warsaw and with Paul BaduraSkoda at the Folkwangschule in Essen Olejniczak was a member of a chamber orchestra and his repertory included compositions of Beethoven Schumann Schubert Chopin Ravel and Prokofiev He played contemporary music also such as works by Wojciech Kilar He was the soloist in the world premiere of Giya Kanchelis Valse Boston for piano and orchestra in 1979 Olejniczak played Chopins music on both instruments from his era and modern pianos in juxtaposition He performed and recorded on historic instruments such as Érard and Pleyel with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century conducted by Frans Brüggen Olejniczak taught classes for four years at the Academy of Music in Kraków held master classes in Poland Canada the United States and Japan He was on the jury for international piano competitions including the Chopin Competition there from 2018 also for period instruments Olejniczak recorded often for radio and television as well as on compact disc for labels such as Polskie Nagrania Selene Pony Canyon Opus 111 and CD Accord He recorded compositions by Rameau Mozart Liszt Schubert Prokofiev and especially Chopin including the latters Piano concertos the Fantasy on Polish Airs the Piano Sonata in Bflat minor the Rondo in Eflat major and piano solo music A reviewer from Gramophone noted that he played the 57 mazurkas on a 1849 Erard piano with a delicate variety of colour and nuance with a rubato that never threatened the dance rhythm He recorded Kilars piano concerto and Henryk Góreckis Piano Concerto as well as music for violin and piano with Kaja Danczowska and Chopins Polish Songs with Stefania Toczyska His recordings earned him seven Fryderyks and his recordings of Chopins piano concertos with the Sinfonia Varsovia conducted by Grzegorz Nowak were named Album of the Year be the Studio magazine in 1995 Source Article Janusz Olejniczak from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA