Paderewski was renowned primarily as a piano virtuoso, and his piano
concerto, in LP days, was treated as a flashy virtuoso vehicle. It's thus
gratifying to see that artists of the digital era are taking the concerto
seriously. Native soloists Ewa Kupieć (Koch International) and Janina
Fialkowska (Naxos) have provided brilliant, dexterous performances that also
take in supple, expressive phrasing. Both soloists receive strong orchestral
support: Kupieć from high-octane Frankfurt Radio forces led by Hugh
Wolff; Fialkowska from the less polished, but musical and enthusiastic,
Polish Radio orchestra under Antoni Wit.
The Dux performance strikes me as the most expressive yet. After the
imposing unison initial gesture, the phrasing of the opening theme is
sensitive and nuanced. The players infuse the movement with a welcome,
waltz-like buoyancy, even in
tutti. The oboe solo in the central
Romanza is movingly played. Nor does Marcin
Nałęcz-Niesołowski's concentration on such details come at
the cost of projecting the music's structure. Note, for example, his
seamlessly marked transition into the
Romanza's big recapitulation at
7:23, with high violins singing vibrantly over the piano's resounding
chords. Throughout the programme, the orchestra sounds full-bodied and
assured, not at all "provincial".
If I interpret the billing on Dux's digipak correctly, the Polish
word for the piano is
fortepian, which may confuse Anglophones. So
might Kevin Kenner's initial entry, sensitive but contained in demeanour.
The shiny passagework immediately thereafter, however, dispels any notions
of a "period" instrument. He's just taking advantage of a full dynamic range
to shape the lyrical phrases. His tone expands into
forte with
impressive resonance, filling out the big moments - in that recapitulation I
mentioned, and in the gleaming, resonant chords at 14:38 of the
Polish
Fantasy. The latter follows several pages of delicate, crisply
articulated figurations.
In the
Polish Fantasy, a showpiece in the mould of Liszt's
Hungarian Fantasy, the new performance outclasses that of Fialkowska
and Wit, which is well played, but stalls about two-thirds of the way
through. Kenner and company here and there, too - the first time after 9:00.
Otherwise their heartfelt performance better holds attention. The rhetorical
gestures, refreshingly, make their points without bombast. You should note
the slashing energy at 4:49. The rhythms are full of life: the dancing theme
at 6:52, launched by Kenner and taken up by the orchestra, is nicely
buoyant. Kenner's inflection of another dancing theme, at 13:02 is
infectious.
With lively sound the Dux disc becomes the choice for the concerto and
fantasy. Perhaps the orchestra could be a trifle more forward but detail
emerges clearly. The only real snag is that Paderewski "completists", if
such there be, will also want the colourful, vaguely Russian-inflected
Overture, otherwise unavailable, that fills out the Naxos programme.
Fortunately, given the low Naxos price, you can have both discs.
Stephen Francis Vasta
Stephen Francis Vasta is a New York-based conductor, coach, and
journalist.
