Alicja Fiderkiewicz
is an outstanding pianist who deserves
to be much more widely known.
In full command of
technique, she is able to project vivid
interpretations especially in music
of composers from her own country, Poland,
as recorded on this CD. The performances
were recorded ‘live’ at her celebrity
recital given at the Fifth Chetham’s
International Summer School and Festival
for Pianists, by kind permission of
the Director of Music. The recital had
an added significance in being dedicated
to Alicja’s sister, Elzbieta Fiderkiewicz-Mirska,
who died of cancer in 2005. I feel that
this gave impetus to the wonderful performances
recorded here.
Two groups of pieces
by Szymanowski are followed by four
pieces of Chopin. Finally there are
two encores, one by each composer. Four
of Szymanowski’s Nine Preludes. Op.
1 (Nos. 1, 2, 5, and 7) are an example
of his early piano music (1900) composed
while still in his teens, yet already
memorable in lovely ideas and pianistic
writing, with No. 5 making an exciting,
powerful contrast to the other three.
All four are played with much feeling
and great control of dynamics. The later
set of Masques, Op. 34, of 1916, consists
of substantial, virtuoso pieces, and
these performances superbly bring out
the contrasts - from delicacy to great
power - between them and within each
piece: ‘Shéhéherazade’
- whose quiet ending sounds exquisite
here, ‘Tantris, the clown’ and ‘Don
Juan’s Serenade’, which sounds really
brilliant.
The two Nocturnes by
Chopin are given lovely, poetic interpretations,
followed by the powerful Polonaise No.
4 in which the main theme is played
with great majesty in the bass, with
well-controlled, delicate contrasts
later on. For me, the highlight of this
CD is the performance of Chopin’s Ballade
No.4 – a truly great, moving and memorable
reading with a wide range of expression,
feeling, rubato, pedalling, control
of the structure and brilliant playing
in the closing section.
The two encores, by
Chopin and then Syzmanowski, make a
delightful, well-contrasted conclusion
to this recital.
Rarely is there any
sound from the audience, and the recording
of the piano is just right! I feel it
to be in the same room as me.
The CD booklet is excellent,
full of useful notes on the music, the
pianist, and with quotes from excellent
reviews of other recordings and performances
that Alicja has made.
The photographs are
well produced.
Just one small point:
the Polonaise No. 4 is in C minor not
C sharp minor, but I have no doubt that
this will be corrected in the next printing
of the booklet and inlay. Very highly
recommended in every way!
Ian Milnes
The Warsaw-born pianist Alicja Fiderkiewicz
is a distinguished concert artist who
has, for some years, taught piano at
Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester.
This CD is a memento of a celebrity
recital at Chetham’s on August 21st,
2005. In this she combines music by
Poland’s two greatest composers, certainly
its two greatest composers for the piano,
Chopin and Szymanowski. Even though
the latter was born in 1882, 33 years
after the death of Chopin, it would
still have been surprising had he not
been influenced by his great compatriot.
That influence may certainly be detected
in Szymanowski’s very early Op. 1 Preludes,
of which we hear four highly agreeable
examples here. More characteristic of
the mature composer are Masques, Op.
34, dating from 1916. The first of these,
"Shéhéherazade",
suggests storytelling, though there
is no discernible parallel with Chopin’s
Ballades - of which the fourth and last
is also on the disc - dramatic though
both of them are. I should add that
the drama is excitingly realised. The
remaining Masques are "Tantris,
the clown", perhaps the scherzo
of the set as we might guess, though
wistful episodes suggest the depression
many clowns have endured, and "Don
Juan’s Serenade", the most Debussy-influenced
of the three. Szymanowski, while remaining
very much his own man, admired both
Debussy and Scriabin, another whose
early piano music is strongly Chopin-influenced.
The Chopin here is outstanding; both
Nocturnes are superbly poetic, the C
Sharp Minor Polonaise, understated if
anything, shows deep musicality and
the F Minor Ballade is stunning. The
applause which follows this presumably
persuaded Miss Fiderkiewicz to add two
short encores, one by each of her composers.
The "Krakowiak" (1926) is
the latest Szymanowski on the CD but
its lines, so reminiscent of a Chopin
Mazurka, seem to take us back to where
we began.
The recording is clear and natural,
with no extraneous noise that I could
detect; Chetham’s audiences must be
among the most silent and best behaved
of all! I have no hesitation in recommending
this release to lovers of both composers.
Philip L. Scowcroft
Alicja Fiderkiewicz (piano) 
