Stanisław Wisłocki (7 July 192131 May 1998) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

who performed and recorded with many internationally renowned

orchestras An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

, ensembles and

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

musicians and is highly regarded for his interpretations of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

and

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

Early life

Wisłocki was born in

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

, Poland. He began his studies in Lwów vivunder Seweryn Barbag, and continued during the war at the Academy of Music in

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

under George Simonis (composition and conducting), Emil Mikhail (piano), and

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanians, Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Biography En ...

. It was during this time that he began his artistic career, performing as a pianist and conductor in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Career

After returning to Poland in 1945, Wisłocki founded the chamber orchestra "Polish Society for the Promotion of Folk Music". Two years later he started the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was artistic director and conductor for 11 years. From 1961 to 1967 he was conductor of the

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra The Warsaw Philharmonic (full Polish name: ''Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie'', "National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw"), as it is legally set up, is a Polish orchestra based in Warsaw. Founded in 1901, its home is the Warsaw ...

. From 1978-1981 he was director and artistic director of National Symphony Orchestra of Radio and Television in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. During this period he performed in Europe, the United States, Canada, South America and Japan. In the years 1984–1990 he was chairman of the music section of the National Council of Culture, in 1987 vice-chairman of the Music Council of the Ministry of Culture and Art, member of the Music Section of the Council of Higher Artistic Education and chairman of the Council of the Polish Culture Foundation. In 1997, he became an honorary member of the

Polish Composers' Union The Polish Composers' Union (, ZKP) is a society of Polish composers and musicologists. History The association was founded in Kraków on August 29 or September 1, 1945 by the All-Polish Composers' Congress, as a continuation of the Association of ...

. At the turn of the 1990s he was appointed Music Director of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Venezuela.

Academic career

From 1948 he conducted teaching activities. He was a lecturer at the State Opera School in Poznań (1948–1951), and at the State Higher Opera School in Poznań he lectured on score reading and conducting (1951–1957). From 1955, he also taught conducting at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw, where in 1958 he became the head of the Conducting Department, initially as an associate professor, and later as an associate professor (1966) and full professor (1976). Among his students were Tomasz Bugaj, Zbigniew Graca, Jacek Kaspszyk, Simon Kawalla, Wojciech Michniewski, Andrew Straszynski, Rubén Silva, Juan Carlos Núñez and Henryk Wojnarowski. A few of the notable soloists that he performed with were

Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time,Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his interpreta ...

Roman Totenberg Roman Totenberg (January 1, 1911 – May 8, 2012) was a Polish-American violinist and educator. A child prodigy, he lived in Poland, Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, before formally immigrating to the U.S. in 1938, at age 27. He performed and taught ...

and

Ivry Gitlis Ivry Gitlis (;‎ 25 August 1922 – 24 December 2020) was an Israeli virtuoso violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. He performed with the world's top orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmoni ...

. He retired in 1991, but continued to work at the university until March 1997.

Awards

Stanisław Wisłocki was awarded many prestigious awards, including the

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

, Académie Charles Cros in Paris (for "Piano Concerto" by Sergey Rachmaninoff with Sviatoslav Richter and the National Philharmonic Orchestra), the Minister of Culture and Art Prize of the Polish Composers Union and numerous Polish and foreign decorations.

Discography

*Extensive AllMusic entry - http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stanislaw-wislocki-q60929/credits/all *Extensive Discogs entry - http://www.discogs.com/artist/Stanislaw+Wislocki

Film work

*Trzy kroki po ziemi - 1965 *Dziadek do orzechów - 1967 *'' The Deluge'' - 1974 *'' The Conductor'' - 1980 *'' The Polish Bride'' - 1998

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wislocki, Stanislaw 1921 births 1998 deaths Grand Prix du Disque winners Polish male conductors (music) Deutsche Grammophon artists Academic staff of the Chopin University of Music People from Rzeszów 20th-century Polish conductors (music) 20th-century Polish male musicians Polish expatriates in Romania Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland Recipients of the Medal of the 40th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland