Stefan Kutrzeba - Online Profile.

My Online Profile...

Salute! Nice to meet you! However the Idea I would like to propose the pianists is the most important thing on this place, maybe - somebody would like to have a look at my online profile, too? Welcome!

Since 1976 we build our life together with my wife Lidia...

Contents of the page:

My profession - the basic facts

My hobbies & interests

The Tradition I came from

My Online Activity

My Favorite Places

I work strongly

My profession - the basic facts:

At the time I work as a lecturer of the piano at Ylä-Satakunnan College of Music in Parkano, Finland. Our Head here its Mr. Jukka Lehtinen, actually one of the best Finnish choir conductors.

Furthermore, I play concerts and give piano master-courses, mainly – in Poland of course.

Majority of participants of my courses are winners of various domestic (Polish) and international piano-competitions. By the way - let you have a look at this file!

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My Hobbies & Interests:

Playing Hungarian Dances of Brahms with Artur Jaron at the 'Krystyna Jamroz International Music Festival', Busko-Spa/Poland 1998.

My first hobby is music – as a whole.

My secondary hobby is – the piano.

My next hobby is – to give my students the real possibilities to growing faster and being happier!

As you see, I try to be cool, still – not cold at the same time. Before all, I am the very happy father of our two sons: Jan & Franciszek and, as well – the very lucky Lidia's man!

I greatly like autos and traveling; yes, our Octavia seems to be the very good car, really!

2008-02-29; the place is rather clear...

I like coffee as well as the genuine Yunnan tee. I like noble Spanish wines and a good tobacco, I'm afraid...

Besides, do you know – how Vira looks alike...?

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The Tradition I come from:

My Beloved Teacher in the High School of Music in Kielce/Poland: Mrs. Prof. Anna Stefanska, former student of the legendary Polish teacher and pianist, Prof. Aleksander Michalowski (the photo of Her has been done by me myself, as I was 17).

Prof. Aleksander Michalowski (1851-1938) doubtlessly was the Greatest Polish Master throughout all the Polish piano tradition after Chopin. He had studied under Karol Mikuli (a Chopin's student) and visited courses given by Franz Liszt in Weimar. Being actually 17 years old, Michalowski, according to Liszt's request, had accompanied the Chopin's Concerto in F Minor, op. 21, but actually playing the orchestral part – ex tempore – by heart; even the Great Liszt was astonished...!

The most famous students of Prof. Michalowski were: Wanda Landowska, J. Zurawlew, J. Smidowicz, Misha Levitzky, J. Lefeld, B. Woytowicz, Vladimir Sofronitsky, M. Bar, Rosa Etkin, Wladyslaw Szpilman, Stefania Allina (my first teacher in Katowice) and of course – Prof. Anna Stefanska. The photo you could see above, and the hand-written personal letter sent in 1918 to Her Parents by Prof. Michalowski, have been granted to me by Prof. Anna Stefanska.

The photo of Prof. Michalowski (above) has been done at A. Maslowski's Photo-Workshop, formerly - J. Golcz, situated in the beginning of the 20 Century in the famous Hotel BRISTOL and associated with the Artistic Foundation "Zacheta" in Warsaw.

Being a student of the State Higher School of Music in Katowice/Poland (University level; Krystian Zimerman had been graduated from that honorable House) I have started as well my private studies under Prof. Karol Szafranek, former student of Leonid Kreutzer in Berlin and of Egon PETRI in Krakow and Zakopane (John Ogdon and Earl Wild represented the Petri's tradition in its best); unfortunately at the time I possess no one photo of that truly Great Teacher; besides – he never did like to became photographed; He had experienced so hard times under Germans, and after...

In any case, not earlier nor later I had heard the piano singing with so incredibly brilliance, as it had happened in His private Studio in Katowice, Mazowiecka Str. 11...! Anybody, who would not be blessed by SUCH KIND OF THE PIANO TONE, could even suspect, the piano – being so mechanically constructed instrument – might be able to produce as warm, singing, finished, and brilliant quality of sound! And Prof. Karol was the Pianist, who demonstrated That Quality in fact; even in His eighties ha was able to execute all the most difficult "jumps" of the "Mephisto Waltz" with absolute accuracy, and as well He was able to create an interpretation of any work of Chopin in such a way that it become marked by so deeply touching sign of the Absolute Musical Beauty, which could be compared only to the quality of the Horowitz's Kinderszenen, Hofmann's Kreisleriana, or to the best phrases created by Maria Callas...

Mss. Lidia Grychtolowna, Adam Makowicz and Piotr Paleczny - have studied under Prof. Szafranek's class in the State, nowadays - 'Karol and Antoni Szafranek' College of Music in Rybnik/Poland.

Prof. Antoni Szafranek (the Karol's brother) was an extra-highly talented violinist, teacher, artistic manager and conductor. My first public concert (the 1st Concerto of Tchaikovsky; ROW Philharmonic, 1970) I have played under His direction. Maestro studied by Georg Kulenkampff in Berlin. His musical learning was truly large; besides, Olga Boznanska painted his portrait within his stay in Paris.

Prof. Antoni Szafranek (the Professor Karol Szafranek's brother) was the greatly talented violinist, and a truly beloved teacher...

After all of these "Années de Pèlerinage" I am still very happy coming back to the Great Sources, i.e. to the Chopin's tradition. However, seeing from the other side, I have got fairly much musical experience from the Lisztians!

The lessons of Prof. Lev Naumov (in center of the photo), former assistant professor at the Prof. Neuhaus' master-class in the Moscow 'P. Tchaikovsky' State Conservatoire of Music, could give – probably and relatively of course – an image of how, practically, Harry 'The Great' Neuhaus has had personally taught.

Thanks to the Prof. Neuhaus' famous book, as well as due to many others external and internal factors, I have at last entered the World of Chopin's Piano Artistic Principles.

With Prof. Valery Klimov – a Winner of the 1^st P. Tchaikovsky Violin Competition...

Thanks to Him, I have definitely understood what does it mean: the real bel canto in playing the piano. He is the Very Master of the violin and the real, Great Man!

With Mrs. Roberts and Prof. Bernard Roberts in Bad Sobernheim (Germany). Prof. Roberts belongs to the above maintained second Grand Tradition in the European piano teaching: (Liszt) – Busoni – Petri.

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My Online Activity:

What I really do - here, in the World Wide Web?

As I think - it's nothing extraordinary: I just try to actively promote my teaching method, that unites basic thoughts of the Chopin's and Neuhaus' systems into one, cool, interactive, modern, easy to use and very effective pedagogic formula. Of course, all of my published files display many various aspects of teaching and playing the piano, considering them from the Chopin's and Neuhaus' Methods' point of view. As well I give answers on hundreds questions the Internet Visitors would like to ask. The very effective form is a very special kind of instructing, which could be completed via cassettes and CDs I receive, make comments, do recordings and send this all stuff back to my Correspondents. The best form of the artistic co-operation is still the personal contact that could happen at various courses and workshops or just by coming to us to Finland...