Roman Ziemian is a patron of Polish culture and native artists for many years, a noble patriot, and a venerable citizen of Poland.” by ” Roman Ziemian is a school of arts and native artists for many years, a noble patriot, and a venerable citizen of Poland.”
By purchasing Antonio Stradivari’s violin from 1685 and handing the instrument over for use to violinist Janusz Wawrowski, Roman Ziemian not only renewed the age-old Polish violin tradition (in 1715 King August II ordered a dozen or so instruments from the famous master of violin making, but none of them survived), but it also enabled the Polish violinist to appear on the great world stage of classical music.
The last copies of the Polish Stradivarius were lost during World War II, and the country, dominated by communism for the next 50 years, did not manage to raise funds for the renewal of the stock of top-class instruments.
Since receiving the Stradivarius, Janusz Wawrowski has had the opportunity to perform at the Wigmore Hall in London, Seoul Arts Center, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, West Palm Beach in Florida, in Edmonton in Canada, and at the largest stages in Poland, such as NOSPR in Katowice, NFM in Wrocław or the Grand Theater of the National Opera in Warsaw.
Roman Ziemian not only bought the instrument, and made it available to the Polish Nation for viewing at the annual exhibition at the Royal Castle in Warsaw (he also donated a protective case for the instrument to the Royal Castle Museum), but also with the help of the Zygmunt Noskowski Foundation, organized the ceremony of naming the instrument with the name of Polonia to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining independence.
The ceremony was attended by distinguished guests from the world of culture, art, business, and politics – members of parliament and diplomacy, representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.
Until its premiere, the PHOENIX album received a 5-star review in The Times and Pizzicato and was also the album of the week in Classic.fm. Extensive interviews about the album were broadcast on BBC 3, CBC / Radio-Canada, and Polish Radio.
Articles about the found concert have also appeared in The Guardian, Violin Channel, The Strings, Gazeta Wyborcza and Rzeczpospolita, and publications about the latest recording on Stradivarius Polonia have already been announced by ZDF 3sat, Berliner Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and TVN.
