Didier van Moere of the Universite Stendhal in Grenoble is the recipient of the 2011 Award of the Karol Szymanowski Foundation for the promotion of the music of this prominent 20th-century Polish composer.
Van Moere is the author of a major study on Szymanowski (published by Fayard in 2008) and of radio programmes about him. He has also organized numerous events promoting Szymanowski’s life and work.
His Ph.D. dissertation was devoted to the reception of Szymanowski’s music in France.
Szymanowski (1882-1937) had very close bonds with French musical circles. His Symphonie concertante was performed in Paris in 1925 and his ballet Harnasie was premiered at the Paris Opera in 1936.
During the presentation ceremony in Warsaw, van Moere said that Szymanowski’s music stands every chance to attract audiences worldwide. His own interest in this part of Poland’s musical heritage goes back to the early 1980s and his six year-long stint at the Catholic University of Lublin as lecturer in French literature.
“I came across the recordings of Szymanowski’s music and they fascinated me right away,” he said.
The Karol Szymanowski Award was launched in 1997. Its past recipients include the pianist Piotr Anderszewski, the violinists Wanda Wiłkomirska and Frank Peter Zimmermann, the conductor Antoni Wit and the opera director Mariusz Treliński, who produced Szymanowski’s King Roger in Poland and several European cities. (mk)