Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
PawełMajewski
The2ndCompetition.OpeningUpto
theWorld.
6th–23rdMarch1932
ThesecondChCeditiondifferedgreatlyinscopeandrangefromthefirst.
Duringthosefiveyears,theorganisersmanagedtospreadwordoftheevent
throughoutthepianisticEurope,despitetheunfavourablematerialcircum-
stances,whichrapidlygrewworsein1929asaresultoftheGreatDepres-
sion.JerzyWaldorffthusrecalledthe1930s:
Naturally,musiccouldhardlyflourishamidallthisconfusion.TheOperaandthe
Philharmonicwerebothpracticallydeserted.Jewsremainedfaithfulconcert-goers
atthehallinJasnaStreetandmadeuponethirdoftheaudience,whichdidnot
fillmorethanhalfoftheauditorium.Asforthestateauthorities,theyshunned
symphonicmusic.IcanrememberaconcertannouncedatWarsawPhilharmonic
tomarkthetwentiethanniversaryofregainingindependenceasolemngalacon-
certinNovember1938,whichwasthefirstinthehistoryofthePolishRadioto
bebroadcasttoAmerica.Tocelebratethisunusualoccasion,we[theyoungmusic
critics]reportedattheconcerthallintailcoats.Butthehallwasśnearlyempty,
becausethegovernmentpreferredtoseeHalka,soabsolutelyeveryonedashed
offtotheGrandTheatre1.
JuliuszKaden-BandrowskiandKarolStromengerwroteaboutthe2ndChC
inasimilartone,butpointedoutthattheeventsucceededdespitethegen-
erallyadversecircumstances:
Echoesofthis[thefirst]Competitionfinallysubsided,andwhenacallforentries
wasannouncedin1931(for[the2ndeditionheldin]March1932),therewere
fearsthatinthehardtimesofcrisisthewholeaffairwouldnotmeetwithan
appropriateresponse.Ithasturnedout,however,thatthisyear’scompetitionhas
againexceededthewildestexpectationsoftheorganisers,thejurors,andother
authoritativecircles.Thenumberofcandidateswhosignedupismorethantwice
1J.Waldorff,Wielkagra[TheGreatGame],in:idem,Wybórpism[SelectedWritings],
Vol.4,Warszawa1993,pp.69–70.