How should we go about this? Take it one step at a time starting with the music and learning more about the man. Let's get started with a CD and watching "The Pianist" in 2002 produced by Roman Polanski starring Adrien Brody as Chopin. Soundtrack and sheet music from sheetmusic.plus available from the film. Songbook publisher: Hal Leonard: 9 pieces by Frederic Chopin.
The Story of Chopin in Words and Music - One Hour of Music with Narration - available on Amazon: An Introduction to the Classics priced at $11.83 for the audio CD (plus $4.00 delivery). One review goes like this: Chopin changed the nature of the piano, making the piano what it is today. He wrote over 200 pieces for the piano. Chopin is the true classical pioneer of the piano. As the CD says, Chopin kept the spirit of the Polish people alive through all the wars and invasions from Russia and Germany and others. Chopin was a gentle intellectual musician whose music helped his beloved Poland as it has done to this day. The story is mixed with his story and music. Vamos a Escuchar! SOURCE: Amazon Music
THE FILM - The Pianist" with Adrien Brody as Chopin.
As well as practising the piano for four hours a day, Adrien Brody made a lot of personal sacrifices to star in Roman Polanski’s gripping war film, The Pianist. The Pianisttells the heart-wrenching story of acclaimed Polish Jewish musician, Wladyslaw Szpilman, who faces a series of struggles after losing contact with his family during the Second World War.
Directed by Roman Polanski and released in 2002, the haunting Holocaust drama is inspired by the autobiography, The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man’s Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945, and follows a radio station pianist (played by American actor, Adrien Brody) as he embarks on a harrowing journey through the ‘Warsaw Ghetto’.
By the time the Germans close the gates of the Ghetto on 15 November 1940, Szpilman’s family have sold all of their belongings – including his precious piano, and are forced to hide in bleak surroundings.
Using his pianism to help him survive, he plays at Café Nowoczesna, a café on Sienna Street frequented by the Jewish elite, and the Ghetto’s largest café, the Sztuka, before tragically losing his loved ones during Operation Reinhard. Brody won an Academy Award for his performance at the age of 29, making him the youngest person ever to win Best Actor. SOURCE: CLASSICfm
What music is used in The Pianist?
Polanski’s screen adaptation demanded a melancholy soundtrack to match its sombre themes. And who better than the Romantic composer, Frédéric Chopin...
Szpilman would often share his love of Chopin with listeners while working on air, so many of the late Romantic’s masterpieces feature in The Pianist – all played on the soundtrack album by Polish classical pianist and actor, Janusz Olejniczak. SOURCE: Wikipedia
Thanks for listening.
