Suite: The life Of The Machines – Wladyslaw Szpilman – John York

Piano solo dates from the year 1933. Wladyslaw Szpilman (1911-2000) was a major star on Polish State Radio in the 1930s. In September 1939, during a live broadcast, he was perfoming Chopin’s “Nocture in C Sharp Minow” when the studio was bombed. Narrowly escaping deportiation and the death caps, he survived with the help of Polish friends and was ulitamtely spared by a German officer who heard him play the same “Nocturne” in his hiding place.After the war, Szpilman resumed his career at Polish State Radio, coming back on the air once again with the “Nocturne”. Over the following decades he appeared in concert as a soloist as well as with the Warsaw Piano Quintet in Poland, throughout Europe, Asia and in America.Later, he recounted his experience in a best-selling book – “The Pianist” – which formed the basis for Roman Polanski’s award-winning film. Titles are:I.”The Life of the Machines”:II. “Machine at rest”III. Toccatina.