Today marks the 165th anniversary of Ignacy Jan Paderewski’s birth! An outstanding pianist, composer and statesman whose life story feels impossible to sum up in just a few sentences. That is why we have prepared 10 remarkable fun facts and anecdotes from his life showcasing what an extraordinary person he was.
10 funfacts for I.J. Paderewski’s birthday
- He was adored by his fans for his hairstyle. To such an extent that after his concert in Leipzig, two American women chased him around the hotel to snip off a lock of his hair as a souvenir.
- His faithful companion during his daily piano practice was his parrot named Cockey Roberts. Perched on the tip of the pianist’s shoe, it bobbed along to the rhythm, as the pianist pressed the pedal, and occasionally exclaimed, “Oh my God, that’s so beautiful!”.
- Another companion of the composer was a spider that lived in the room Paderewski rented in Vienna. Every time the pianist practiced Chopin’s Étude in Thirds, it would dangle from a thread of its web from the ceiling.
- His concerts were hugely popular. For example, his 1932 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York gathered an audience of 16,000. By comparison, the attendance at the coronation of Charles III was around 20,000.
- He was awarded a star on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame in LA. Other artists honored in this way include Michael Jackson, Maria Callas and Leonard Bernstein. He also made it into the Guinness World Records as the highest-paid concert pianist of all time.
- He had a set of custom-made low Steinway stools at his disposal, and he placed his seat exactly 20.5 cm from the edge of the piano keyboard. This stemmed from his belief that achieving a sufficiently soft-sounding tone depended on sitting low at the instrument.
- He was known for his stoic composure while performing. This wasn’t an innate ability. As a young man he spent months developing it by placing a mirror on the piano and controlling his facial expressions during practice.
- He funded many monuments, including those of Tadeusz Kościuszko in Chicago or Adam Mickiewicz in Lviv. His childhood dream was to commemorate Poland’s victory at Grunwald. It came true on July 15, 1910, the 500th anniversary of the battle, when a symbolic monument he had funded was unveiled at Matejko Square in Krakow.
- On February 14, 1902, Manru was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. To this day, it remains the only Polish opera ever included in the repertoir of this famous theatre. The role of Ulana was then sung by Marcelina Sembrich, and Manru was performed by the tenor Aleksander Bandrowski.
- After the outbreak of World War I, in 1919 he assumed the positions of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. On June 28, 1919, in Versailles, he co-signed, together with Roman Dmowski, a peace treaty on behalf of Poland, officially ending the war.
These fun facts were based, among other sources, on Paderewski’s Small Monograph, published by the PWM Edition. We’re curious how many of them you already knew. You can find the pianist’s biography in Music Encyclopedia, and Pictures section (Ikonoteka) contains many photographs and memorabilia related to the composer. Be sure to check them out and learn more!
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