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Article: Penderecki, The Lion Of Poland; The Balancing Act of a Celebrated Composer
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- June 17, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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It was a vision of prewar, presocialist Poland: This week, in the
richly appointed drawing room of a rural, 200-year-old manor, beneath
a crystal chandelier, a mix of Polish and foreign guests stood hushed
in a decorous semicircle around a piano.
In the garden, through the leaded, latticed windows, tuxedoed
waiters set out the silver service of the coming luncheon on a long,
linen-draped banquet table. At the piano, accompanying a singer in a
brief recital of songs, sat a balding, gentle-faced man whose very
name in the engraved program card, Maciej Paderewski, was a cultural
statement: Ignace Paderewski, his grandfather and Poland's great
musician-statesman, would surely have felt at ...