Raphal Blechacz: Platinum Power
Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz has attained Platinum-honours with his debut album in his homecountry. In fact, sales were so high that Blechacz even stormed into the pop charts, scoring a golden disc in the first week of its release. EMPIK, Poland’s largest distributor of CDs and DVDs (compare it to WOM in Germany, FNAC in France and Tower Records in the USA) reported the album reached the top ten of its internal charts, climbing as high as 6. This is all the more sensational, since Rafal Blechacz went for traditional repertoire on his first CD, recording Chopin’s complete Preludes as well as the Nocturne op. 62 – not exactly surprising pieces for a classical Pianist and works which have been recorded by the greatest of the great among the trade. The Platinum distinctions were officially announced and presented to Rafal Blechacz last Sunday, after a concert at the Mickiewicz University Aula in Poznań, where he performed the composer’s Piano Concerto (in fact, a much more seldomly performed piece and one of the more unusual Piano concertos). It is just one of the signs that Rafal Blechacz is quickly turning into a media star in Poland – where he already has a fan club dedicated exlusively to him.
His career has certainly stood under the best of stars until now. A student of the great Krystian Zimerman, Rafal Blechacz won the Chopin-competition 2005 in Warsaw and ever since, his compatriots have been at his feet. This important success followed several national and international podium prizes at renowned concours’. In 2006, Polish oil giant PKN ORLEN sponsored a Steinway worth 70.000 Euros and Deutsche Grammophon were quick to offer him a contract. Thanks to the marketing power of the record company, the artistic touch of Raphal Blechacz, as well as a surge of public empathy, the record has now turned out a major success and will surely turn him into a worldwide attraction over the next few years – a position he has already started to build by tours through a string of international tours.
Homepage: Raphal Blechacz
Homepage: Deutsche Grammophon
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