Polish Music Beyond Chopin: An Interview with Peter Jablonski

PeterJablonski_AnastasiaBelina.jpg, default, Peter Jablonski, photo: Anastasia Belina

Brought to international attention by maestros Vladimir Ashkenazy and Claudio Abbado, Peter Jablonski has long been celebrated as an outstanding interpreter of Chopin. Yet his artistic DNA is deeply rooted in the broader landscape of Polish music.

From the very beginning of his career, he has been a tireless champion of this repertoire, performing works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Roman Maciejewski, Zygmunt Krauze, Romuald Twardowski, and Paul Kletzki. Notably, Wojciech Kilar wrote his First Piano Concerto for Peter Jablonski.

Jablonski’s discography also includes albums dedicated to Grażyna Bacewicz and André Tchaikowsky – featuring the world premiere recording of Tchaikowsky’s ‘Second Piano Concerto’. Now, he is embarking on his next major project: a monumental four-album survey of Karol Szymanowski’s complete solo piano works for the Ondine label.

Part I (November 2026): An exploration of youthful brilliance and impressionistic colour, pairing the ‘Variations’ (Op. 3 & Op. 10) with ‘Masques’ and ‘Métopes’.
Part II (November 2027): A journey into structure and reverie, featuring the Preludes, Études, and the ‘Fantasy’.
Part III (April 2028): A return to Polish roots, dedicated entirely to the rhythmic complexities of the Mazurkas.
Part IV (November 2028): The climactic finale, taking on the monumental challenge of Szymanowski’s three Piano Sonatas.

Filip Lech: Let's start with your father. You must have grown up hearing plenty of stories about his homeland.

Peter Jablonski: My father, Jan Jablonski, is 91 now, and we recently talked about his time in Warsaw. Though he was actually born in Jelenia Góra, he spent several months as a young jazz musician living and playing at the Hotel Europejski, here in Warsaw.

He later started his own jazz quintet and spent years touring Europe, with a lot of time spent in Scandinavia. That's where he met my mother in 1969 and decided to stay in Sweden.

FL: Could you share any stories about his time in Poland?

PJ: I actually know very little about his life there – he kept it quite private. I do know that in his youth, he initially studied chemistry and worked in a lab before turning to music. He originally wanted to be a classical musician, I believe, but soon shifted to jazz.

Being a man of many talents, he never focused on becoming a virtuoso on just one instrument. Instead, he plays the trombone, saxophone, piano, bass, guitar, accordion, and harmonica. Since he plays seven or eight instruments well, he is an incredibly versatile musician.

Growing up in Sweden, I was constantly surrounded by music, ranging from jazz to classical records. We had an LP box set of Arthur Rubinstein playing the complete works of Chopin, except for the études.

But while my father was this rather explosive Polish musician, my mother was a very calm Swedish nurse. It was quite a contrast.

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Young Peter Jablonski performing at the Stockholm Concert Hall (Konserthuset), photo: courtesy of the artist

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FL: You played your first concert in Poland in the mid-1980s, I believe. It was at a jazz festival, and you were playing the drums. What are your most vivid memories of that first visit?

PJ: I was 14 years old, incredibly young. It was in 1985. I remember being thrilled to visit my father's country for the first time, but my memories of the trip end there. I performed with two Polish brothers – one of whom played bass – alongside a Finnish vibraphonist. We initially played a concert in Finland before coming to Cracow for a jazz festival. [The performance the pianist is referring to took place at the Jazz Juniors festival in Kraków in March 1985. Peter Jablonski shared the stage with Finnish vibraphonist Severi Pyysalo, along with Marcin and Mateusz Pospieszalski. The quartet appeared in the official programme under the name Wild Children – ed. note].

I remember much more about the following year, which was my first time playing the piano in Poland. It was in Kraków, with the Kraków Radio Orchestra, an ensemble that I don't think exists anymore [Orkiestra Symfoniczna Polskiego Radia i Telewizji w Krakowie was active in the years 1947–1994 – ed. note].

That visit proved to be a turning point. They were performing two pieces by Wojciech Kilar on the same programme, and that was when I first met him. I was only 14, but my father was with me. He befriended Mr. Kilar, they stayed in touch, and years later, this connection led to him writing a piano concerto for me. That likely never would have happened had we not met in Kraków.

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Peter Jablonski, photo: Anastasia Belina

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FL: What was your impression of the country and its atmosphere back then? I imagine it was a stark contrast to Sweden.

PJ: It certainly was. Though you have to remember, I was only 14 at the time.

FL: Formative years, then.

PJ: Exactly, so everything felt like a massive adventure. I do remember my father feeling a bit uneasy when we landed, however. Chopin Airport in Warsaw was vastly different in the 1980s. I recall seeing guards with German Shepherds and machine guns – certainly not the friendly welcome you get today. I also vividly remember the sweet smell of the tobacco people used to smoke here.

But at that age, you treat everything as an adventure. It was fantastic to eat Polish food, which I really enjoyed. And just on a romantic level, being in the homeland of Chopin – a composer I loved so much and whose competitions I had watched on television – made the whole experience incredibly special.

FL: How do you recognise that a piece absolutely needs to be brought back to the concert stage? What is your method for choosing the right repertoire?

PJ: I was recently discussing this with my partner, Anastasia Belina, who is a musicologist. Over the past decade, practically all our recordings have been fascinating projects focused on neglected works or composers. She asked me what my next dream project would be. Swedish piano music was one option, but I told her I’d like to dive deeper into Szymanowski's music while I still can. It’s incredibly demanding, and there will come a day when I simply won't want to practise that intensely.

Since I’ve already performed a fair amount of his work, it felt like a natural choice. It’s a wonderful project for us to take on. As unbelievable as it sounds, while Szymanowski is perfectly well known in Poland, audiences elsewhere are largely unfamiliar with his music – though the situation might be slightly better in England.

I occasionally sit on the jury of major piano competitions, and the contestants all play Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, or Prokofiev. But Szymanowski? Sadly, most of them don’t even know who he is.

How many times have Szymanowski's complete piano works been recorded? Perhaps three or four times in history. Meanwhile, complete Prokofiev cycles are recorded endlessly. Szymanowski truly deserves to be heard more often.

FL: Yes, and the opera ‘Król Roger’ is perhaps better known than his piano music.

PJ: True, and you do hear the ‘Violin Concerto’ every now and then. But his solo piano music covers such a vast spectrum. People often think, “Oh, maybe ‘Masques’ is a bit too complicated to listen to.” And perhaps it is, but just listen to the ‘Mazurkas’, or the early preludes and études. It’s incredibly beautiful, much like early Scriabin or Chopin. It is absolutely accessible to play.

FL: How has your approach to Szymanowski’s music evolved over the years?

PJ: That's hard to say. When you're right in the middle of it, it's probably easier for outside observers to notice how things are changing. Hopefully, with age, growing experience, and a deeper sense of humanity, you bring something new to the performance.

There isn't just a single approach, because all his works are so diverse. ‘The Variations Op. 10’ are completely different from ‘Métopes’. Szymanowski is an entire universe, but one that fits onto four CDs. So it's not impossible to grasp – it's not a daunting 20-disc set.

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Peter Jablonski, photo: Anastasia Belina

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FL: How do you perceive Szymanowski as a person and as an artist? Do you feel a personal connection with him?

PJ: That's a fascinating thing to explore, though personally, it's almost impossible to answer. His music has always touched a nerve with me. I think it's very difficult to fully commit to playing a piece if you don't feel a certain chemistry with it.

I'm currently learning more and more about Szymanowski the man. When I was younger, the only thing I knew about his personal life came from Arthur Rubinstein’s memoirs, which I read early on, where he talks a lot about their friendship. Now, as I continue on this musical journey, I hope to uncover much more and enrich my own perspective along the way.

FL: Are there any other composers with whom you feel an intimate connection?

PJ: Chopin, mainly because his music has been with me for so long. It's always emotional when a composer touches you at a very young age – that really stays with you.

Bach is another one. I’ve always loved Bach, but somehow, throughout my career, I haven’t performed his music in public nearly as much as I would have liked. Perhaps I was afraid. Sometimes there is an almost unhealthy amount of respect built up around certain composers.

FL: Bach was, of course, a profoundly important figure for Chopin as well.

PJ: Yes, exactly. Mozart is another composer I was always afraid of. I loved his music dearly, but I think most pianists are somewhat afraid of Mozart. It's that unhealthy respect again. You end up treating Bach and Mozart almost like marionettes – they seem too perfect to even touch. But Bach is a composer I'm actually getting closer to now. I'm studying his work more for my own sake.

If you had asked me to name my favourite composers when I was 20, I could have given you an answer very easily. Now, there are just too many; I'm really not so sure.

FL: We are currently witnessing a long-overdue renaissance of Grażyna Bacewicz's music. What is it about her musical language that you think resonates so strongly with audiences today?

PJ: That's incredibly difficult to say. Honestly, I don't think her music is well known enough yet to say it's resonating globally. Before moving back to Sweden, I was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London, and none of my students there had even heard her name. Piano students in Warsaw might know her, but if you go to Juilliard, they generally don't know her piano music.

It’s a great shame because some of her études and concertos are phenomenal. They aren’t just musically profound; they are also fantastic in a concert setting. If you think Prokofiev’s ‘Piano Sonata No. 7’ works well live, Bacewicz’s ‘Piano Sonata No. 2’ is equally effective for an audience. Wherever I perform it, it's always a huge success.

You can play Beethoven or Chopin in the first half, finish with a Bacewicz Sonata, and it really works. I just hope she gains more traction in the future. Her musical language is very accessible and direct. While it is certainly virtuosic and demanding to play, the core message remains crystal clear. I hope she's becoming more popular here in Poland, too.

FL: Many music schools and institutions are named after her. On top of that, she is probably the most widely recognised female composer in Polish music history (even though there were many fantastic women composing before her).

PJ: Indeed, but even when our recording came out, it was the very first time both of her concertos had been issued on the same disc. How is that even possible after 70 years? Or take the ‘Piano Sonata No. 1’, which we published with PWM Edition – that was its absolute first time in print. Still, we are all actively working to change things.

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Peter Jablonski, photo: Radosław Kaźmierczak

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FL: Last year, you travelled to Lviv for the opening of the INSO-Lviv Orchestra’s season.

PJ: Yes, we performed Lyatoshynsky’s ‘Piano Concerto, Op. 54’, the ‘Slavic’. It was a deeply emotional and rather strange experience. I tried reading a letter of support to the orchestra from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and I almost couldn’t speak. Standing on that stage with such a young orchestra felt completely surreal.

We weren’t on the front lines, and we never felt in any immediate danger, though there were air raid warnings advising us to seek shelter. Coming from Sweden, a country that has enjoyed centuries of peace, travelling to a nation at war is a jarring experience. It was incredibly moving. We received the warmest applause I’ve ever experienced just walking onto the stage, before we had even played a single note. I truly hope to go back.

FL: Not every Western artist is willing to travel to Ukraine right now. Could you elaborate on the atmosphere in Lviv and at the concert itself?

PJ: The atmosphere was highly emotional, yet absolutely fantastic. We felt completely safe the entire time. We stayed in a lovely hotel in the city centre that featured a bomb shelter in what used to be a cigar cellar. Still, walking to the Philharmonic each morning past the cathedral, you would see widows and grieving families emerging from the church. It is completely surreal. It makes you question yourself: “What am I doing here? Am I really just playing the piano for people?”

But I suppose the music provides something essential for them. The concert hall was officially restricted to a strict capacity, but they let in quite a few extra people anyway. In times like these, people just want to feel human and share a meaningful experience.

FL: It is incredibly important for Ukrainians to maintain access to normal aspects of life, such as music concerts. It is equally vital that people from abroad continue to visit them.

PJ: Yes, absolutely. We are already looking for our next opportunity to return. The orchestra’s management was so warm and resilient – several of them were even driving vans to the front lines to deliver supplies. Everyone is doing their part to help.

Our invitation came through the guest conductor, Paul Mann, whom Anastasia knows quite well. When she asked him how we could help, he simply said, “Well, you can come and play.” We immediately knew it was a wonderful thing to do.

While some colleagues might hesitate to make the trip, for us, the decision was obvious. Getting to perform a beautiful concerto by a Ukrainian composer made the experience all the more special.

FL: Before we wrap up, I’d like to ask about your reading habits. Have any Polish authors found a place on your bookshelf?

PJ: Oh, many of them. My father brought a lot of books over from Poland, so I’ve always been keenly aware of Polish literature. It’s a huge shame that I can’t read those works in fluent Polish. Even Vladimir Ashkenazy once told me, “You really ought to learn Polish just so you can read Mickiewicz in the original.”

FL: Well, if your father is 91, you still have plenty of time to learn.

PJ: The last Polish author I read was Stanisław Lem, though I read him in a Swedish translation. It was ‘The Futurological Congress’. Obviously, something is always lost in the process. I know that the literary scene in Poland, much like its music, is incredibly vibrant. It really is a shame that my father didn't speak Polish to us when we were growing up. But as you said, perhaps there's still time to rectify that.

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