Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849)
The Chopin Traditions Volume 1
rec. 1967-2020, Chopin University of Music, Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music and National Philharmonic, Warsaw
Chopin University Press UMDCCD245-246 [2 CDs: 100]

I am not sure what I expected from this issue other than it contained a mix of Chopin performances by various pianists. I assumed from the title that it would feature pianists from right across the range of recorded history although later in the series that may indeed be the case. What we do hear are historical interpretations of works by Fryderyk Chopin, performed live by lecturers of the Chair of Piano at the Chopin University of Music as the booklet tells us. Other than the dates of the performances it tells us little else; the pianists within are not discussed other in a very broad sense in the very potted history of the University’s pianistic heritage, a heritage that started with Aleksander Michałowski, a pupil of Chopin pupil Karol Mikuli. None of this is represented in this volume however in which the earliest recording is Teresa Manasterska’s occasionally stilted performance of the G major nocturne in 1967. Most of the performances date from the decades either side of the millennium with the most recent being in 2020. The booklet adds that the project was conceived as a historical cross-section of live performances but then goes on to say that this is the opening volume of a series that will also include studio recordings. Hopefully the confusion will be cleared up as future volumes arrive and that a genuine cross-section of traditions, one that includes recordings of Michałowski, his contemporaries and successors, as well as more detailed documentation, will emerge.

What we certainly have is a two disc set of some really lovely Chopin playing from twenty one pianists, some whose names will be well known though I doubt many will be familiar with all the pianists here. The earliest pianist is Jan Ekier who taught at least three of the pianists in this collection (Paleta-Bugaj, Kawalla and Paleczny). He was in his mid-eighties when he played the A minor mazurka with playing that belies his age. The same might be said of the seventy five year old Regina Smendzianka’s G flat major waltz in a performance that fizzes with energy and is notable for lovely voicing and sheer elegance. Passion is not reserved for the older generation as Joanna Ławrynowicz-Just’s étude op.25 no.7 and Monika Quinn’s vigorous C major mazurka testify. A gritty and noble C minor polonaise from Jerzy Sterczyński is impressive but it is Paweł Kamiński’s glorious Polonaise-Fantasy that stands out for me. Op.61 may not be everyone’s favourite amongst the polonaises but Kamiński finds a perfect balance between the dance and fantasy elements while finding magic in the intimacy of the slower sections.

Disc two opens with a beautiful F sharp major nocturne from Hesse-Bukowska, a lovely pianist whose recording of Różycki’s Ballade and Paderewski’s Piano concerto were happy discoveries for me in my early collecting days. Other highlights here are Anna Jastrzębska-Quinn’s nocturne op.55 no.1 and Bronisława Kawalla’s powerful C minor étude. It is also good to have some of Chopin’s chamber music represented with the Introduction and Polonaise Brilliante which, I can say with confidence having recently accompanied it, showcases the piano more than it does the cello though the music that Chopin provided for that instrument is undoubtedly beautiful. Jabłoński and Strahl make an excellent partnership in this tour de force. Piotr Paleczny is given the unique honour of being shown at two stages of his life, firstly by two stunning études – remarkably stunning in the case of op.25 no.10 – recorded when he was in his early thirties and in Chopin’s posthumous C sharp minor nocturne at the age of seventy four. The younger Paleczny’s octaves may be utterly fearless but Paleczny senior’s nocturne is more memorable and for me is closer to an older tradition of playing, with subtle and personal rubato, than anything else in this set.

There are no performances that disappoint and even someone with very strong opinions will surely find much to enjoy here. The sound is very good across the set, especially considering it was recorded live over a period of some five decades plus and we are not disturbed by audience noise; the occasional applause is curtailed smoothly and quickly. The performances are all what one might call modern in style and if we want to hear the evolution of Chopin playing we are certainly going to need future volumes to reach further back but with no idea for how the series will continue this seems as good a start as any with the caveat’s that I mentioned earlier.

Rob Challinor

Contents
CD1
Mazurka in A Minor Op.67 No.4
Jan Ekier
rec. 17 October 1999
Waltz in G Flat Major Op.70 No.1
Regina Smendzianka
rec. 26 February 1999
Étude in C Sharp Minor Op.25 No.7
Joanna Ławrynowicz-Just
rec. 19 January 2000
Nocturne in F Sharp Minor Op.48 No.2
Maria Wiłkomirska
rec. 16 May 1971
Polonaise-Fantasy in A Flat Major Op.61
Paweł Kamiński
rec. 16 October 1999
Mazurka in C Major Op.56 No.2
Monika Quinn
rec. 31 March 2010
Polonaise in C Minor Op.40 no.2
Jerzy Sterczyński
rec. 7 November 2007
Mazurka in A Flat Major Op.50 No.2
Maria Szraiber
rec 21 April 2010
Waltz in A Flat Major Op.64 No.3
Alicja Paleta-Bugaj
rec. 17 October 1999
Nocturne in F Sharp Major Op.15 No.2
Jerzy Romaniuk
rec. 1 March 1999

CD2
Nocturne in F Sharp Major Op.15 No.2
Barbara Hesse-Bukowska
rec. 25 May 1977
Mazurka in G Sharp Minor Op.33 No.1
Maciej Wota
rec. 19 October 2014
Mazurka in F Sharp Minor Op.59 No.3
Agnieszka Przemyk-Bryła
rec. 1 March 2004
Mazurka in G Major Op.50 No.1
Karolina Nadolska
rec. 16 October 2006
Nocturne In F Minor Op.55 No.1
Anna Jastrzębska-Quinn
rec. 31 March 2010
Étude in C Minor Op.25 No.12
Bronisława Kawalla
rec. 26 October 1978
Mazurka in E Minor Op.41 No.1
Janusz Olejniczak
rec. 19 October 2011
Nocturne in G Major Op.37 No.2
Teresa Manasterska
rec. 3 April 1967
Sonata No.2 in B Flat Minor Op.35 – Finale
Elžbieta Tarnawska
rec. 17 October 1972
Introduction and Polonaise Brilliante for cello and piano Op.3
Krzyztof Jabłoński (piano)
Tomasz Strahl (cello)
rec. 19 November 2008
Étude in A Minor Op.25 No.4
Étude in B Minor Op.25 No.10
Piotr Paleczny
rec. 25 April 1979
Nocturne in C Sharp Minor Op.Posth
Piotr Paleczny
rec. 22 February 2020