To find out what this
pair of discs is all about, it’s best
to quote the words of the arranger and
keyboard player Kuba Stankiewicz, who
was approached to make these arrangements
for celebrations held in Vienna to mark
the 150th anniversary of
Chopin’s death. ‘I was not particularly
enthusiastic. … Having listened to various
interpretations of the original songs,
I came to the conclusion that everything
in them was subordinated to the vocal
part and that the piano part was somewhat
neglected. I started to analyse the
instrumental parts and discovered beautiful
harmonies which set me looking for "improvements".
I was in for a surprise. It happened
many times that, complacent about a
reharmonisation, I returned to the original
simply because it sounded better. This
soon turned into "teasing"
Frederic, yet all the time I tried to
remember about the thin line between
creative interpretation and kitsch.’
There are two CDs,
the second is the English version of
the first, though there it includes
one additional track Op.74 No.8 ‘The
handsome lad’ (voice and bass), one
of the more successful performances
with some nice touches, particularly
its very brief scat-sung ending. Strange
that its Polish version (Sliczny chlopiec)
is not included on the first CD. Inga
Lewandowska’s voice is too breathy and
monochrome in its tonal colour, but
then she is trapped into her dreamy
sounds by the mood of the songs. Simply
put, there’s not enough variety to sustain
interest. I’d stick to the Polish CD;
initially her English may be quaint
and charming, but after a while you
find yourself reaching for the booklet
with its translation, so it would have
been better to settle for just the one
Polish version. For this reviewer, and
despite the arranger’s awareness of
the potential trap, there is indeed
too much kitsch. Chopin must bear some
of the blame, his solo piano music is
far superior to anything here, the songs
were often socially inspired, mainly
for close female friends. The music
was usually simple in its formal structure,
their wistful mood generated by homesickness
for Poland because they were all written
in exile either in Paris or Vienna.
This set is obviously for lovers of
jazz, while for those who prefer original
Chopin the answer is to buy Hyperion’s
disc (CDA 67125) with Charles Spencer
accompanying the mezzo soprano Urszula
Kryger in the Op.74 set. While, according
to a booklet essay, Chopin’s music and
jazz may have common roots in folk music,
its writer’s conclusion that ‘the combination
here has resulted in a new aesthetic
and intellectual quality’ is questionable.
Christopher Fifield