Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Recital 4
Janina Fialkowska (piano)
rec. 2022, Salle Raoul-Jobin, Palais Montcalm, Quebec, Canada
ATMA Classique ACD2 2803 [54]
I think that a satisfying Chopin recital demonstrates a variety across musical forms. I will examine Janina Fialkowska’s performance of six pieces on this disc, and compare each with another recent interpretation.
Polonaise op. 49/1, the Military, may be Chopin’s best-known. Fialkowska’s account is sturdy and committed, an Allegro con brio of constant endeavour and bounce. The second section (tr. 1, 1:51) is not immediately ff energico as marked. The thunderbolt is suitably reserved for the music’s repeat going up an octave and to fff. Its second part with thrilling drum rolls in the left-hand is not repeated, though a repeat is marked in the Henle urtext. But at a masterclass by Nikolai Lugansky the other day I discovered what a minefield Chopin’s editions are.
Louis Lorte recorded the piece in 2020 for Chandos (CHAN 20117). His approach is more jovial but has less edge than Fialkowska. His highest notes in the climax of the second section are less exciting, but he does make the repeat of that part for a grander peroration.
Grande valse brillante, Chopin’s first published, is the happiest piece on this CD. It begins with a stentorian call to the dance, establishing the dance beat’s importance and thereafter in accompaniment often reminscent of it. The first dance and the principal theme come pleasingly tripping from Fialkowska’s fingers. She makes its leggieramente contrasting second section mettlesome yet light. The second dance is dreamy, floating, Fialkowska’s playing airily smoochy. She relishes the second section’s vigorous, even splenetic, manner. Dance 3, con anima, has warmth despite its more relaxed manner. Fialkowska brings to its second section a scatterbrained fit, but allows both sections reassuring compromise in their repeats. Dance 4, dolce, (tr. 8, 3:26), a more classical ballerina one, has eloquent arioso to match the poise. It invites and gets sensitive rubato from Fialkowska. But is Dance 4 really a transformation of the second section of Dance 1? The coda’s cadenza is a nightmare refracted view chiefly of both sections of Dance 1. Fialkowska performs magnificently and really has a ball. So did I.
Tristan Pfaff recorded the work in 2022 for Ad Vitam Records (AV 23025). His timing of 5:00 against Fialkowska’s 5:25 allows less space for variation. The opening dance has a lighter touch, so feels smaller in scale. His leggieramente is jolly; Fialkowska gives it more grace. Pfaff’s Dance 2 is less floating; Fialkowska’s recurring calls to the dance have a more compelling impulse. Pfaff’s Dance 3 is amiable and smiling, but its frenetic second part lacks Fialkowska’s appealing lightness.
Ballade No. 1 stages a conflict between two themes. The first establishes melancholy and endeavours to cope with it, the second is an antidote of bravado which relaxes into arabesques. Fialkowska’s fine balance of the hands is telling. Consider the eruption of the left-hand (tr, 3, 1:17) and veiled quotation of Dies irae (1:48). The first theme return is quickly dispatched by a triumphant fff upper register second theme, drifting into a zany dance before claiming its victory parade. Then the first theme returns with a Presto con fuoco coda’s maelstrom and closing fff descent. Ecstasy turns to agony. Fialkowska might have been more coruscating, but it remains compelling to be bamboozled how you ended up.
François Dumont’s account from 2022 was recorded for La Musica (LMU 030, download only in the UK). The first theme has more pathos than melancholy, but his balance between the hands is less sensitive than Fialkowska’s. The second theme has gentler longing, its later dance more crazily animated. His final return of the first theme is a more marked, ghostly pp; his coda is more distraught and has a stronger effect.
The Berceuse is the most serene piece on this disc. For me, the ambience created suggests whatever you wish: perhaps balmy summer afternoons on the river, which Debussy or Satie would have appreciated. Fialkowska establishes the utter gentleness of the melody over the rocking accompaniment. Soon it transmutes into a host of filigree work, a myriad of demisemiquaver minutiae to imbibe, all exquisitely realized. The melody partially returns at the end after a coda (tr. 11, 2:54) in which Fialkowska entrancingly conveys gratitude for the experience.
Jan Schulmeister, who recorded the piece in 2022 on ArcoDiva (UPO 248), is only 16. With lovely touch, he focusses on the freshness and innocence of the situation. Keyboard antics are nicely varied, controlled and blended with the rocking. The melody is plainer in his hands yet crystal clear, as is the coda.
The Prélude op. 28/4, archetypal tragic Chopin, sports espressivo arioso over an accompaniment of almost constant quavers. Fialkowska projects them with a stark, sombre eloquence as if spontaneously realized, only climaxing with sudden stretto and ornamental turn before resolving in deep regret.
Dora Deliyska’s version recorded in 2021 for Hänssler (HC22083), takes 1:45 to Fialkowska’s 2:06. There is less space for this Largo’s significant moments: her first melisma after the first theme and repetition, also her climax which flashes by. Hers is a moving account, beginning more softly and despairing, but I find Fialkowska aesthetically more satisfying.
The Nocturne op. 15/1 is quintessential Chopin. One falls in love immediately with the soft first theme in F major, semplice e tranquillo. It is beautiful and fragile, and the decorations on repeat add to the appreciation. A contented codetta stops in mid-air, the void filled with a loud, angry con fuoco section in F minor. The rhythm that marks the end of the Nocturne’s opening phrase is used mockingly by the left-hand assailant (tr. 4, 1:37), then gets a right-hand response by the opening singer. This begins the battle with the inescapable rhythm, eventually returning to the fully restored opening section. Fialkowska sets out this scena with compelling directness.
Giuseppe Greco made his recording in 2021 for OnClassical (OC 21114B, download only in the UK). At 4:04 to Fialkowska’s 4:22, Greco sweeps through the scena with greater directness but less subtlety. The opening section has an attractive freshness and innocence but the decoration is more self-conscious than Fialkowska’s. The central section is more brutal, yet its crucial dialogue is clear.
Michael Greenhalgh
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Contents
Polonaise in A, op. 40 No. 1 (1838-1840)
Polonaise in C minor, op. 40 No. 2 (1838-1840)
Ballade No. 1 in G minor, op. 23 (1835-1836)
Nocturne in F, op. 15 No. 1 (1830-1833)
Nocturne in F minor, op. 55 No. 1 (1843-1844)
Prélude in E minor, op. 28 No. 4 (1838)
Prélude in A, op. 28 No. 7 (1836)
Prélude in E-flat, op. 28 No. 19 (1838-1839)
Grande valse brillante in E-flat, op. 18 (1833)
Valse No. 19 in A minor, op. posth. (1843-1848, published 1955)
Berceuse in E-flat, op. 57 (1844)
Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, op. 39 (1839-1840)
