Barbara Zieba-Godula, president of the management board of the Wieliczka Salt Mine Tourism Company, said Chopin's music is appreciated in both Poland and China, and the concert also showed visitors another way to experience the mine: enjoy an evening listening and explore history at the same time.

by Xinhua writers Yue Yuanyuan, Du Zhiqian

WIELICZKA, Poland, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Some 135 meters beneath the surface of the earth, even the softest touch of the piano keys can be clearly heard, resonating through the chamber in the Wieliczka Salt Mine, near Krakow.

For Chinese pianist Rao Hao, the venue was unexpectedly intimate: the audience sat close by while delicate musical details floated through the space. It felt, the pianist said, like a small musical salon.

Rao gave the underground Chopin recital as part of his October concert schedule in Poland. At Wieliczka, Chopin's music was met with a landscape shaped by centuries of mining.

For a musician accustomed to theaters and concert halls, the setting of a subterranean chamber carved from rock salt was inviting.

"It was a very new experience for me," Rao told Xinhua before the performance. "We chose works by Chopin to better express my own feelings and my understanding of Polish musical culture."

Around him was an underground hall connected to chapels in the mine. On the walls of the chambers, sculptures feature generations of miners working to extract salt.

Mining activities here date back to the 13th century and Wieliczka was among the first sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1978. Its underground spaces preserve both the history of mining and the artistic imagination of those who worked there.

For Rao, however, the main discovery was acoustic. The chamber responded to even the quietest playing, allowing subtle changes in pressure to be heard by the audience, he said.

The short distance between performer and public also made the experience more relaxed, the musician said, providing an ideal setting to convey a powerful Chopin of courage, pride and longing -- qualities he feels can be overlooked in the composer's music.

Chopin was often portrayed as fragile or melancholy, but Rao said: "He was a composer with backbone and courage, and he was full of homesickness."

His program included Chopin's four scherzos and the "Heroic" Polonaise. "This time, I want to bring out his strong side," Rao said.

Rao was 17 when he received an honorable mention at the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, an experience that introduced him to a wider international audience.

Now 22, he hopes to demonstrate his growth as a performer. He said his personal connection with the music has deepened, as have his reflections on Polish and Chinese cultures.

For the mine's hosts, the recital also carries special significance.

Barbara Zieba-Godula, president of the management board of the Wieliczka Salt Mine Tourism Company, said Chopin's music is appreciated in both Poland and China, and the concert also showed visitors another way to experience the mine: enjoy an evening listening and explore history at the same time.

Zieba-Godula added that she hoped Rao's visit would encourage more Chinese artists to perform at the mine and create further opportunities for cultural exchange.

For the occasion, the organizers invited representatives of the Chinese embassy, classical music festivals, musical institutions and tourism organizations.

Among the guests was Tomasz Chabowski, who runs a local Chinese kung fu school. With about 30 people in the audience, the concert was "exceptionally intimate," he said, and the setting made it all the more memorable.

"I'm no Chopin expert, but this concert reminded me how moving his music can be," said Chabowski, praising Rao's masterful playing and choice of repertoire.