Longest piano concert - world record set by
Romuald Koperski
GDANSK, Poland -- Polish pianist Romuald
Koperski, 54, got a thunderous ovation after he finished
his 103 hours and 8 seconds piano recital at "Alfa Centrum"
shopping mall - setting the new world record for the Longest
piano concert. *
Photo: Romuald Koperski. Photo by:
Krzysztof Mystkowski/KFP
(enlarge
photo)
His record-breaking recital consisted of
classical musical compositions, jazz fragments and famous
movie soundtracks.
The pianist finished his brilliant performance
with Fly Me To the Moon, a popular standard song written by
Bart Howard in 1954 and frequently performed by Frank Sinatra. To get the world record for the Longest
piano concert Mr Koperski has to continuously perform
generally well known compositions, from classical pieces to
jazz numbers and soundtracks from movies and musicals. Improvisation
is not allowed.
* the total lengh
of the record is the recital itself (101 hours, 8 minutes
and 3 seconds)+ allowed breaks
“I didn’t think it would be this hard,”
Mr Koperski said three days into the challenge.
“[The world record] is more of a sport category,
I think,” he said. “This is about endurance, certain abilities,
the connection between muscle movement and the mind.”
“There is an audience watching the concert, you
need to concentrate and give everything of yourself.”
Back in 2004 Mr Koperski played non-stop for 54
hours only to have his Guinness world record smashed by Hungarian
pianist Charles Brunner.
"There is nothing worse, no torture is worse
than the impossibility of getting enough sleep," Koperski
told the Polish Press Agency PAP after the marathon
concert in northern Poland.
The pianist was entitled to a five-minute
break for every hour played, according to Guinness World Records
rules. The pianist tried to accumulate the breaks to take
longer rests, and ate and drank as little as possible so as
not to waste time, PAP reported.
In addition to being a musician, Romuald
Koperski has numerous travel exploits to his credit. In 1998
he single-handly covered 4, 500 km along the Lena River in
a rubber pontoon.
He has organized and participated in three
trans-Siberian automobile expeditions and took part in the
Zurich-New York car expedition in 1994.
