Biography (read more)
Jan Smeterlin was born Hans Schmetterling on 7 February 1892 in Bielsko, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, Dr Julius Schmetterling, was a lawyer; his parents were first cousins, and the family came originally from Grzymałów in Galicia. He was using the name Jan Smeterlin by 1924.
He gave his first concert at the age of seven, but was directed towards a legal career and studied law in Vienna. He returned to music after winning a scholarship to study with Leopold Godowsky, who became one of his most important teachers. He made his professional debut in 1920.
He was a close friend of Karol Szymanowski; the composer dedicated a volume of mazurkas to him, and their correspondence was later published. He lived for a period in New York with his wife Didi before returning to London in 1967, where he died on 18 January of that year. He was a keen cook, and a cookbook of his was published after his death.
Smeterlin was known above all as an interpreter of Chopin, and the discography bears that out: he recorded more music by Chopin than by any other composer, for Philips, Mace, Allegro, Polydor and RCA Victor.
His second association was with Szymanowski, and it was not simply a matter of programming. The two were close personally as well as professionally, Szymanowski dedicated a volume of mazurkas to him, and their letters were published, which makes Smeterlin one of the pianists through whom Szymanowski’s piano music reached audiences outside Poland during and after the composer’s lifetime.
His training placed him in a direct line from the late romantic virtuoso tradition: the scholarship to work with Leopold Godowsky came after he had already been pushed towards the law, and it is what turned an interrupted talent back into a performing career.
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