A Conversation with Ruth Slenczynska

A filmed Zoom conversation held in July 2023 with Ruth Slenczynska.
Aged 98 at the time of this conversation, Ms. Slenczynska discusses the five famous pianistic legends with whom she had training in her formative years: Josef Hofmann, Alfred Cortot, Egon Petri, Artur Schnabel, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
I have found that Ms. Slenczynska has often been asked about her time with some of these legendary artists individually but as I had never heard her discuss all five at the same time, this was the organizing principle of this conversation.
This thoroughly engaging conversation provides an opportunity for the pianist to share some fascinating recollections.
A few details worth noting based on some inquiries I made after filming:
- A colleague states that Ravel did not officially teach but he may have offered some guest appearances at the Conservatoire for his friend Marguerite Long
- The Sousa/Souza pianist named in the discussions in Paris is clearly not the John Philip Souza 'march king' who lived much earlier; this last name is common amongst the Portuguese and Brazilians, and it is possible that this 'march' memory was a reference being made by Ravel and others at the time to a student's famous namesake. We have not yet identified the full name of this pianist (João de Souza Lima was thought to be a possibility, but he left Paris in 1929, before Slenczynska arrived, and it's unclear if he visited after that time).
Of significant interest in this conversation is Slenczynska sharing the technique that Rachmaninoff taught her to create a big sound at the keyboard - a fascinating insight!
Many thanks to Shelly Moorman-Stahlman for having coordinated this opportunity!
If you wish to support The Piano Files, please consider membership at my Patreon page: / thepianofiles

[@fredwanger9337]

Extraordinary window on the past, really important document: Thank you Mark.

[@Sofronichrist]

Wonderful interview! Thank you so much to both of you for this beautiful conversation 🙏

[@jeffhollon1255]

Delightful!!!! She is precious!! A treasure. Thank you for sharing!

[@meta4sbewithu]

How soft spoken she is. So glad to find this interview. ❤

[@evamillovici]

Fantastic ❤ An enciclopedic person, a treasure among our community- and a lovely interview-👏🏼

[@Chopinetto]

Hey Mark, just let you know that all the work you are doing is priceless. Thank you so much.

[@topclassical]

What struck me most was the wisdom of Rachmaninoff, to point out to her father she should not concertize until she was ready for it.Thanks for this insightful conversation!

[@HJLimOfficial]

Hello!👋 I would love so much to have lessons with the pianist Ruth slenczynska. I would play for the the complete Rachmaninoff concertos for her. This would be my dream come true! Does anyone know how I could possibly reach her? Any angels flying out there? 😇 Could you The Piano files help me? That would be such a miracle come true!

[@PianoLessons]

Thanks for this Mark!~ 🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹

[@1fattyfatman]

Can you do more of these? Creating a greater record of this extraordinary life is critical.

[@emarel]

Extremely illuminating! Thank you!

[@thrassyvoulospapadopoulos3565]

She's so wonderful!

[@thrassyvoulospapadopoulos3565]

She is so charming and so serious at the same time!

[@claudio7448]

it is very interesting to listen to Mrs. Slenczynska so naturally recount the encounters of a lifetime

[@spind]

Mark, what a magnificent interview! Thank you & Happy New Year 🎊!!!

[@Bayreuth1943]

Wow wow wow, she is wonderful! I watched her serial live accounts on 30-31 January 2005, at Okayama,Japan. You can see a snippet of the actual footage of the day on KZbin.

[@valicalin17]

How important archeology of music history! Congratulations and Happy New Year!

[@HofmannScores]

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!!

[@thrassyvoulospapadopoulos3565]

It is so amazing already! THANKS Mark!

[@Valentina-Steinway]

This was wonderful.❤ Thank you Mark !

[@ladivinafanatic]

Thank you Mark!

[@nicolasvanpoucke.pianist]

Thanks for this Mark!

[@alexeilyubimov7760]

❤❤❤

[@berlinzerberus]

A very good pianist.

[@wadecottingham]

I have her book but had no idea her background...loved this interview, thank you!!!!

[@tamer3397]

does anybody here know where to get her autobiography "Forbidden Childhood" I think it's called, I've looked everywhere on the internet for it and it seems to be unavailable

[@Valentina-Steinway]

@@tamer3397- if you find it, please let me know!

[@Valentina-Steinway]

@@tamer3397- I found it on Amazon. However it’s a hardcover and the cost is $450.00……😢😢😢😢

[@4rmless502]

Thank you so much for this gem of an interview! What a delightful discussion. For those into this sort of thing, there is another conversation with many fun and revealing anecdotes between Bruce Hungerford and Elsie Hall. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ7OhZudacymd7s

[@ThePianoFiles]

Thank you for your kind words. And that is a FABULOUS conversation!

[@lockjiang]

Sorry to bring this up, but do you think her memory serves her well? Cuz Sousa would be over 70 and was at the end of his life. Or did I misheard it?

[@tamer3397]

Yeah that part was a bit strange, I guess there was just another John Phillip or Jean Phillipe Sousa who could make nice marches.

[@ThePianoFiles]

Read the notes in the text I wrote under the video: it is a common last name and there was at least one Brazilian pianist training in Paris with that last name, but that was a bit earlier. She also said Jean Pierre, not John Philip, so it seemed as if Ravel was playing on the name of the March King by asking the guy to do a March… but indeed this part was a bit unclear.