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.