Ladies and gentlemen,

This month I am particularly delighted to welcome both regular and new readers to the new issue of Magazyn Chopin. The reason is that, as if to celebrate the advent of summer holidays, our magazine appears in larger numbers, and, for the first time, as a supplement to not one, but three national magazines of opinion: Polityka, Newsweek and Forbes.

The sun and the deckchairs depicted against the blue background on our cover are a signal of the imminent summer idleness. The holiday break at schools and universities – or even summer weekends – is a time to forget everyday chores, to change the surroundings, to make new discoveries. Let text- and notebooks have their well-deserved rest for two or even three months. Only those who have been cruelly destined for a September meeting with their professor will have to maintain a mental link with their school. We trust, however, that even the re-sit session will not completely deprive anybody of the joy of summer travelling.

Thus we dedicate this issue of the Magazine to those of you who have decided to bathe not only in sunshine, but also in the glow of the “Chopin frenzy 2010”. A holiday is a wonderful opportunity to follow in the composer’s footsteps, visit the sites which this year – frequently after prolonged and embarrassing neglect – have been restored to a condition worthy of… not so much the anniversary, but a character of Chopin’s magnitude. And so this issue of the Magazine is worth keeping in your pocket or the car’s glove compartment, so that no site with relation to Chopin is missing from your holiday itinerary. Should you wish to share your impressions with us – do post your opinion on our forum or send an email.

We will be extremely interested to hear about the things which moved you, delighted or even disgusted you. Or perhaps you will spot a trace previously hardly known to anyone, or forgotten? Perhaps, for example – and here I have to apologize for the bold words – while “speeding” along the No. 8 national road between Rawa Mazowiecka and Mszczonów you will decide it worth your while taking a quick turn for Babsko, to find the grave of Konstancja Gładkowska on the little cemetery there.  Or you might decide to spend a little more time, say half an hour, in the nearby Raducza, and look for the remnants of the estate in which she spent most of her “post-Fryderyk” life?

These are in fact little-frequented places, yet ones capable of evoking more emotion in us than touching a physical memento. After all, what do we have imagination for?

A Chopin vacation is also a vacation with music.

So, in this issue of the Magazine we are also proud to announce the annual “Chopin and his Europe” festival organised by the National Fryderyk Chopin Institute. After all, we are already thinking of August, which will be filled with concerts from the first to the last day. In planning your holiday, please take it into account.

This issue also includes a coverage of the premiere of Let’s Dance Chopin in Shanghai, while the video-clips posted on our website will give you a foretaste of this fantastic adventure that Janusz and Maria Stokłosas’ performance invites you to.

See you on the road,

Andrzej Sułek
Director of National Fryderyk Chopin Institute