Chopin Celebration
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Piano concerto no.1 in E minor, op.11 (1830) [37:10]
Grande valse brillante, op.18 (1833) [4:42]
Grande valse brillante, op.34 no.1 (1835) [5:13]
Grande valse brillante, op.34 no.2 (1831) [5:37]
Grande valse brillante, op.34 no.3 (1838) [1:56]
Grande valse, op.42 (1840) [3:39]
Valse, op.64 no.1 (Minute waltz) (1846) [1:38]
Valse, op.64 no.2 (1846) [3:13]
Valse, op.64 no.3 (1847) [2:55]
Valse, op.69 no.1 (1835) [4:07]
Valse, op.69 no.2 (1829) [2:48]
Valse, op.70 no.1 (1832) [2:57]
Valse in E minor, op. posth. (1830) [2:35]
Piano concerto no.2 in F minor, op.21 (1830) [31:36]
Marek Drewnowski (piano)
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Katowice/Antoni Wit
Directed by Ron Isted
rec. details not given
NVC ARTS 5051865 710622 [112:20]
Visit the website of Lańcut castle in the far south eastern corner of
Poland (see here http://www.zamek-lancut.pl/en/)
and you will find a link to “Records, documentaries and feature films”.
Unfortunately, that turns out to be something of a misnomer, leading as it
does to just a couple of old movie clips, neither of which is more than a
minute or so long. The first, prefaced by a title-card that proclaims First
short-of-cash now full-of-jewels, seems to be part of an old silent movie
showing a thief escaping from (presumably) the castle, while the second, looking
like it dates from the 1930s, depicts a group of bigwigs touring Lańcut
and examining the estate’s bloodstock. Thankfully, this new DVD will
now allow the website to show some rather more up to date material (even if
it’s still not absolutely contemporary - the small print on the box
indicates an original copyright date for this film of 1993.) The purpose of
the whole exercise is, though, otherwise rather unclear.
From the fact that so much of the performance is overlaid by images of the
castle, its grounds and artefacts, it would seem likely that this is primarily
a marketing tool for purposes of promoting tourism - and a product to stock
in the castle gift shop - rather than a film to showcase the artists.
That impression is only reinforced by the fact that so little attention has
been paid to the needs of the music itself. The first thing that will strike
you - as the camera gives us a brief initial tour of the grounds and some
of the castle’s splendid interiors during the orchestral opening of
the first concerto - is the very resonant accoustic in which it is being performed.
Lańcut has an undeniably attractive appeal to the eye but gives the ear
real problems whenever the full resources of the full symphony orchestra are
deployed in one of its magnificent salons. In fact, after a while I found
it necessary to turn the volume on my television down significantly in order
to listen more comfortably through the sonic soup. It is worth noting that
in the case of three of the waltzes for solo piano - op.64 nos 2 and 3 and
op.69 no.1 - the sound, recorded in a small, more intimate theatre within
the castle, emerges much more successfully.
Polymath Marek Drewnowski, lauded on the box cover as a successful “actor,
film producer, music festival founder, music professor and conductor”,
invariably plays the notes well enough and, unsurprisingly, sounds thoroughly
idiomatic in this repertoire. But, in the E minor concerto in particular,
whenever he appears on camera - as an increasingly welcome break from yet
more shots of the Columned Salon, the Sculpture Gallery or the Turkish Apartment
- he appears to be utterly emotionally detached from the music and almost
to be just going through the motions. That is, though, perhaps an understandable
response if you know that your contribution is to supply long stretches of
“background music” to be played under images of old carriages,
kitsch Victorian sculpture, portraits of obscure and long forgotten aristocrats
and lots of clocks (the focus, naturally, of the director’s attention
during the performance of the Minute waltz).
Conductor Antoni Wit is, on the other hand, a far more animated presence and
leads the orchestra with character, warmth and distinction.
This is, then, probably a DVD for anyone who enjoys spending an evening
at their neighbours’ house looking at slide shows of their latest holiday.
Lovers of Chopin’s music will, though, do just as well by putting on
a CD of one of their favourite performances and avoiding the distraction of
those darned clocks.
Rob Maynard
For anyone who enjoys spending an evening at their neighbours’ house
looking at slide shows of the latest holiday