The annual piano festival
of Chethams School of Music is now a
well-established feature of the summer
festival scene and attracts many star
pianists to its teaching roster. Alicja
Fiderkiewicz is perhaps less well-known
than some; her potted biography in the
notes leaps strangely from 1975 to 2004
though she has been associated with
Chethams for some time. The selection
of critical notices (excessively long,
as seems to be commonplace in notes
now), is, naturally, extremely positive
while perpetuating a few ridiculous
examples of critic-speak. To quote the
Daily Telegraph: "[she] … demonstrated
the truth of the great Rubinstein’s
saying – that ‘only Poles can play Chopin
properly’ …". The great Rubinstein
should never have made such a chauvinistic
generalisation in the first place (starting
with the Hungarian Liszt, pianists of
every nationality have excelled in Chopin’s
music) and the fact that a Pole plays
it well today demonstrates nothing.
Be all that as it may,
Alicja Fiderkiewicz, in her live recital
from the fourth annual Chethams festival
does demonstrate a natural feeling for
Chopin. The gentle, even homely, Impromptus
receive unexaggerated performances while
the Barcarolle - not Polish, nor even
Venetian but wholly Chopin – is similarly
straightforward. The performance lacks
the delicacy of that of Alwin Bär
in his contribution to Brilliant’s complete
set of Chopin’s piano music (an amazing
bargain). In the Nocturne, Maria João
Pires on Deutsche Grammophon is much
more dramatic though some have found
her performances of the complete Nocturnes
a distortion of Chopin’s understated
style. She is certainly favoured with
a much better recording and a livelier
acoustic than is Alicja Fiderkiewicz
on the present disc. Dunelm’s sound
quality is dull and restricted which
may be due to the live concert situation.
Alicja Fiderkiewicz
gives a strong performance of the Hindemith
sonata, one of those works I am glad
to have heard but may pass up at a second
opportunity. The work is agreeable enough
with four well-contrasted movements
but leaves no very distinct impression.
However, if you are a devotee of this
composer, you will find that the performance
conforms to none of the Hindemithian
clichés; it is not dry or mechanistic
but sensitive with plenty of light and
shade. The Franck receives a powerful
performance that doesn’t displace memories
of those by Hough and Perahia. All in
all, this is a well played recital,
somewhat undermined by the recording
quality.
Roger Blackburn
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Alicja Fiderkiewicz (piano) 
