Description

ROZA ETKIN-MOSZKOWSKA (WARSAW, 24. 12. 1908 – WARSAW, JANUARY 16. 01. 1945)

 

 

 

 

She was born in 1908 into a large family of Polish Jews, the daughter of Lejb Etkin and Sara, née Milewska. Already as a child, at a very young age, and exceptionally talented, she began learning to play the piano. Before the age of ten, she became a student at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, studying in the class of the outstanding pianist and teacher Aleksander Michałowski.

Her concert debut took place on 20 June 1920, when she was only twelve years old. In 1924, she performed with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Grzegorz Fitelberg, playing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30. In the spring of 1926, she appeared once again with the Warsaw Philharmonic, performing Ferenc Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, S. 124, and in the autumn of the same year Johann Sebastian Bach’s Piano Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052. These performances were highly acclaimed by both music critics and audiences.

She then began preparations for the First International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, initially under the supervision of Professor Michałowski and later Professor Zbigniew Drzewiecki of the Warsaw Conservatory.

In 1927, she took part in the First Chopin Competition as its youngest participant. She reached the final, where she performed Fryderyk Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 21, ultimately winning third prize. The competition was won by the Russian pianist Lev Oborin, while Etkin was placed behind her compatriot Stanisław Szpinalski, who received second prize.

In May 1927, she left for Berlin, where she began studying piano at the Klindworth–Scharwenka Conservatory in the class of Moritz Mayer-Mahr. That same year, she made her Berlin debut at the Carl Bechstein Concert Hall, where her performance was received with great enthusiasm and favorable press reviews.

Etkinowa also performed frequently in Poland. She appeared in Polish Radio broadcasts, took part in evenings organized by the Polish Society for Contemporary Music, and regularly gave concerts in the halls of the Warsaw Philharmonic and the Conservatory. She also gave lectures at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw.

While in Berlin, she met the architect and sculptor Ryszard Moszkowski, a nephew of the pianist and composer Maurycy Moszkowski, whom she soon married. After returning to Poland, she continued her career as a concert pianist.

During World War II, she and her husband lived in Warsaw on the Aryan side, hiding in the homes of friendly Poles. She died on 16 January 1945 under mysterious circumstances. According to some witnesses, she was killed by a grenade thrown into the basement where she was hiding. According to others, the Moszkowskis’ hideout was discovered due to smoke from a burning stove. It is most likely that the Germans arrested the couple in their bunker and shot them in the Żoliborz district.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Mazurka In C-sharp Minor Op 50 No. 3 (Chopin) Tri-Ergon T. E. 1074 M 521

Nocturne In F-sharp Major Op 15 No. 2 (Chopin) Tri-Ergon T. E. 1074 M 522

Etude in D sharp minor Op. 8 No. 12 (Scriabin) Tri-Ergon TE 1079 M 526

Etude Op. 8 No. 2 (Scriabin) Tri-Ergon TE 1079 M 526

Jeux d’eau (Ravel) Tri-Ergon TE 1079 M 525