‘That’s a tough one’ – replied our guest asked if the Chopin Competition leaves room for humour.

‘I sometimes like to sit on the balcony, behind the jury, so that I can observe their reactions. Once I saw a juror fall asleep during the performance. His head was nodding as he dozed off and at some point he leaned on another juror, which woke him up. I won’t publicly say who it was, but I can reveal it to you guys once we finish recording’, says Marcin Bogucki, the guest of episode of the Chopin season. We told each other some musical jokes and memes, but also discussed the performative aspect of the Chopin Competition and whether or not the famous contest can be compared to the Eurovision.

Dr. Marcin Bogucki (Theatre and Performance Section, the Institute of Polish Culture at Warsaw University) is a cultural studies scholar and a musicologist. His research interests include opera, cultural history of music, including the Chopin Competition but also the Eurovision. He is the co-author (alongside Ada Arendt, Paweł Majewski, and Kornelia Sobczak) of the book ‘The Chopin Games. History of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in 1927-2015’. He also wrote ‘Teatr operowy Petera Sellarsa. Inscenizacje Händla i Mozarta z lat 80. XX wieku’ (‘Opera Theatre of Peter Sellars. Händl and Mozart Stagings in the 1980s’) and ‘Szaleństwo w operze’ (‘Madness at the Opera’). Bogucki belongs to the Polish section of The Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l'Eurovision and to The Polish Society for Theatre Research.

Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:05) ‘I am well and happy’. What We Know about Chopin’s Sense of Humour

(05:12) Humorous Motifs In Classical Music

(10:38) Serious Music Memefied

(15:00) Favourite Jokes – Catharsis

(24:04) Is the Chopin Competition Funny?

(28:54) Performativity of the Competition

(34:38) Stereotypisation of the Participants

(36:53) Theatre or Natural Expression? Gestures at the Competition

(39:10) Blind Audition – Conclave for the Jurors?

(42:30) Love for Chopin

Credits:

Concept, production, host: Filip Lech, Izabela Smelczyńska

Jingiel: Izabela Smelczyńska

Narrators: Aleksandra Szkudłapska, Mark Bence

Translation: Natalia Sajewicz

Graphic design: Paulina Ufnal / Hekla Studio