Koczalski, Raoul (EN)

Koczalski Raoul, Raul, von, pseud. Georg Armand, *3 January 1884 Warsaw, †24 November 1948 Poznań, Polish pianist and composer. His first music teachers were his parents. In 1888, at the age of 4, he made his debut at concerts in Warsaw (15 March) and Riga (31 October), beginning the career of a “child prodigy” (he played, among others, Chopin’s mazurkas and waltzes). At the age of 7, he received an award from the Paris Conservatory (Premier Prix d’Enfant), as well as the titles of court pianist of the King of Spain, the Shah of Persia and the Turkish Sultan. He performed all over Europe, his repertoire also included works by Bach, Beethoven (Waldstein Sonata), Liszt, An. Rubinstein and Paderewski; in 1896, he celebrated his 1000^th concert in Leipzig. He was given piano lessons by An. Rubinstein in St. Petersburg, and then continued his music studies in Warsaw with J. Gadomski (piano), in Lviv with H. Jarecki (instrumentation), L. Marek (piano) and in 1902–05 (from April to October) with K. Mikuli (piano and composition). He also studied musicology and philosophy at the University of Paris. Due to his lively concert activity, he spent most of his time abroad, living mainly in Germany (Wiesbaden, Leipzig and Berlin). During World War II, he was repressed by the German authorities and was banned from public appearances and from leaving Berlin; he nevertheless organised home concerts for friends and students. In 1945, he returned to the country and became a piano professor at the State Higher School of Music in Poznań and Warsaw, and continued his concert activities. In 1949, he planned numerous performances to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of F. Chopin’s death. Chopin’s works performed by Koczalski have been released on CDs by Columbia, HMV, Muza, Odeon, Polydor, Pearl CD (Raoul Koczalski Plays Chopin). In recognition of his services to the development of Polish culture, Koczalski was posthumously awarded the Polonia Restituta Officer’s Cross.

Koczalski composed from early childhood, but destroyed most of the works from that period. He showed a particularly strong interest in compositions in 1926–34. His later piano works belong to the virtuoso trend and reveal the influence of the neo-romantic style of F. Liszt. In his orchestral works he emphasised the colour and sound layer (Piano Concerto in G major, 1914), while in operas he referred to the romantic type of historical opera (Rymond) and lyrical opera (Semrud). As a pianist, he was famous for his excellent technique, subtle phrasing and wide dynamic range. During his artistic career, he gave approximately 4,600 concerts, including: in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Austria, Estonia, Finland, Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, France and Italy. He kept a handwritten diary of his travels (excerpts in the PWM library). He was one of the first pianists to give Chopin recitals, continued the living tradition of performance handed down to him by Mikuli (Chopin’s student), and was particularly appreciated as a performer of Chopin’s works (in the 1935/36 season, among others, he gave 30 recitals in Berlin). He is the author of publications on the problems of interpreting F. Chopin’s works.

Literature: B. Vogel Raoul Koczalski, Leipzig and Warszawa 1896; M. Paruszewska Szkic biograficzny i artystyczna kariera Raoula Koczalskiego, Poznań 1936; M. Blecher Po III Festiwalu Chopinowskim w Dusznikach, “Kuźnica” 1948 No. 41; Z. Keller Koczalski, kompozytor nieznany, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1994 No. 14.