PROF. DR MIECZYSŁAW
TOMASZEWSKI
Having reviewed the updated
research paper of 7 Februar 2005,
Prof. Dr hab. Mieczysław Tomaszewski, Akademia Muzyczna,
Kraków, member of the Program Board of the Fryderyk Chopin
Institute, wrote in his
letter of 18 April 2005 to Icons of
Europe:
“Je l’ai lu avec grand intérêt et je vous félicite." |
|
ROUNDTABLE WITH BRITISH SCOLARS
Scholars of the University of Edinburgh and
the
University of St.Andrews, at
Edinburgh, 11 January 2005"...
new information not previously known to exist."
Conclusion of the minutes on the new research paper:
"The participants found that the evidence of the research
paper was persuasive. They observed that it included a good
deal of new information not previously researched or known
to exist." Full minutes = Attachment B 1/4-2/4 of
research
paper of 7 Feb. 2005. |
|
ROUNDTABLE
WITH EXPERTS AT WARSAW
Warsaw Philharmonic, 1 March 2004
Hosted by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute
Chaired by Prof. Dr Irena Poniatowska,
Institute of Musicology, University of Warsaw,
president of the Polish Chopin Academy,
and member of the
Program Board of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.
"... found it quite possible that Jenny
Lind had fallen under
Chopin's spell and wanted to marry him."
Excerpts of the minutes on the new research paper:
"She agreed that Jenny Lind
was probably the donor of the 25,000 francs and that Jane Stirling and Mrs Erskine were
intermediaries. She did not think that there was any evidence in the letters of Chopin
quoted by her to suggest that he was interested in marriage". |
| "... found it quite
possible that Jenny Lind had fallen under Chopin's spell and wanted to marry him."
-
"She pointed out that while Chopin's letters did not suggest that he had any amorous
feelings towards Jenny Lind, that was in itself not proof to show that he did not have
such feelings. Chopin had always been secret about his love life."
"Prof. Poniatowska concluded the
roundtable by observing that the work by Cecilia and Jens
Jorgensen of Icons of Europe [their Chopin biography of 2003
and a comprehensive research paper] provided a useful
contribution to the body of knowledge about the final stage
of Chopin’s life, and that it raised important questions
that would merit further study." Full minutes =
Attachment B 3/4-4/4 of
research
paper of 7 Feb. 2005. |
|
 Article
in Chopin in the World
Vienna, the annual 2003/2004 issue (p. 25-26)
Reviewing the new
Chopin and The Swedish Nightingale
"Our view of facts thought to be known can
change."
"As
we can see, there are still many facts to be discovered 154 years after Chopin's death, or
our view of facts thought to be known can change. There is another, very important
piece of information ...". |
Prof. Dr Irena Poniatowska,
Institute of Musicology, University of Warsaw,
president of the Polish Chopin Academy,
and member of the
Program Board of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute |
|
| COMMENTS
IN 2003 (on
Chopin and The
Swedish Nightingale) : |
|
 "I
find that the authors' vision offers the first truly believable explanation of the sources
as they exist - and it certainly has been a revelation to me.It
is all the more interesting as it strongly links, a century and a half later, Chopin's
life with that of Jenny Lind - two great personalities brought together in a new
light." >> More |
Daniel Blumenthal
Pianist
Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels
14 July 2003 |
|
 The new biography: "I found
it immensely interesting both in respect to its contents and its innovatory and inspiring
way of presentation." |
Hanna Wroblewska-Straus
Director of the Frederick Chopin Museum at
The Frederick Chopin Society in
Warsaw
11 September 2003 |
|
 "Many congratulations on an intensively researched and beautifully
produced volume."Victor Gray
The Director
The Rothschild Archive, London
7 October 2003 |
|
 "A careful reading of your book
and of the letters by Jenny Lind which I received from you as well as my re-reading of
Chopin's letters along with my own considerations have brought me to the following conclusion:
It is possible that it was Jenny Lind who has anonymously donated to Chopin the
amount of 25,000 francs."
"To
this effect she might have used the two Scottish ladies, i.e. Miss Jane W. Stirling and
Mrs. Katherine Erskine, whom she might have probably been acquainted with in England, in 1848. The way which those two ladies have
chosen to fulfill this task did not meet with Chopin's approval. He expressed as
much in several of his letters addressed to Grzymala, among others, in the one dated August 3rd, 1849, quoting:
'There is kind
heartedness there - but what showing off'. These words might be interpreted in
different ways, depending upon the adopted course of thinking.""
"It would serve the cause well if in the future (and maybe in not a
distant future) some documents would emerge which would finally solve the whole matter."
-
... It might have not been excluded that Jenny Lind fell in love with
him and was planning marriage basing upon Chopin's behaviour".
Hanna Wroblewska-Straus
Director of the Frederick Chopin Museum at
The Frederick Chopin Society in
Warsaw
13 October 2003 |
|
Wiener
Chopin-Blätter
Zeitschrift der Internationalen
Chopin-Gesellschaft in Wien
Herbst / Autumn 2003
"Chopin
und die Schwedische Nachtigal" ... ist eine ausgezeichnete, sehr interessante
Darstellung des Lebens F. Chopin, vieler Grösser Persönlichkeiten seiner Zeit, sowie der
bisher unbekannten Romanze mit Jenny Lind."
>> More |
| |
|
 "... I am taking also this
opportunity to thank you for the 50 Krona banknote which we have received recently and
which has been included into the items of our museum collection (inv. No. M/3173)." |
For the Museum Director,
Teresa Czerwinska
Frederick Chopin Museum at
The Frederick Chopin Society in
Warsaw
4 November 2003 |
