IGNACE JAN PADEREWSKI (1860-1941) Polish Pianist and Composer
Ignace Jan Paderewski is one of the most famous pianists in history. He was a superstar pianist, a movie star, and a Prime Minister of Poland. So why is he today treated with less than the respect he deserves? It may be the natural inclination to look for the Achilles heels of the rich and famous. It may be that he made many records late in life at a time when his playing was less than it had been. It may be the outgrowth of somewhat malicious comments made by jealous peers. Or it may be that familiarity breeds contempt, he did record an awful lot. And his Hollywood appearances playing the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 have certainly not helped. But on the basis of a few recordings alone, Paderewski deserves the fame and glory that are his.
Enough has been written about Paderewski that I do not need to go into the detail of his life. (If you are interested, there is a Wikipedia article that covers the salient points.) Suffice it to say that he was a pupil of Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna, and as with so many of Leschetizky's better pupils, embarked on what was to become, in his case, a phenomenally successful career as a concert pianist.
Manru, was performed by the Metropolitan Opera in 1902 and is to this day the only Polish opera by a Polish composer ever to have been performed there. And no less a composer than Sir Edward Elgar borrowed a theme from Paderewski's Fantasie Polonaise. Paderewski wrote piano music, songs, chamber music, a
piano concerto
dedicated to Leschetizky, and a symphony.
perhaps the only work by Paderewski that is widely known is his Minuet in G, so I'll start there with a recording from 1937. Even though Paderewski was well past his prime by the time of this recording, the gorgeous playing for which he was so admired is still evident. And you will hear an infinately superior minuet to the one we have all massacred as young piano students. What will be a huge surprise to those who only know Paderewski from recordings like the Liszt second Hungarian Rhapsody is the delicacy and subtlety of his playing. The Chopin C sharp minor Waltz from Opus 64 is just beautifully played, certainly one of the finest performances of this piece I know. The Chopin Etude Op 25 No 2, I can easily imagine myself swooning in the aisle. And his Beethoven and Schumann (just listen to his recording of The Prophet Bird from Wladszenen)just make me wish desperately that he had recorded more.
As for those who make disparaging comments about his technique, It's the MUSIC ....
I should add that Paderewski edited the complete works of Chopin in a very handsome edition which I have been using, along with the Cortot, for much of my life. I have always found his fingerings to be excellent and based on facility rather than dogma. You could not tell it from my playing, but I owe him much.
Paderewski Humoresques de Concert Op 14 Cahier 1 a l'antique
n1 Minuet in G Major n4 Caprice (genre Scarlatti) in G major Recorded in 1917
n1 Paderewski Minuet in G Recorded in 1937
Paderewski Cracovienne Fantastique in B major from Humoresques de Concert Op 14 Cahier 2 n6 Recorded in 1912
Paderewski Nocturne in B Flat Major Op 16 n4 (preceded by a 1920 recording of the work by Guimar Novaes) Recorded in 1911
Chopin Waltz in C sharp minor Op 64 n2 Recorded in 1917
Chopin Etude in C sharp minor Op 25 n7 Recorded in 1917
Chopin Mazurka Op 17 n24 Recorded in 1912
Chopin Waltz in A flat Major Op 34 n1 Recorded in 1911
Chopin Nocturne in F sharp Major Op 15 n2 Recorded in 1927
Chopin Etude Op 10 n5 Recorded in 1917
Chopin Etude Op 10 n12 "Revolutionary"
Chopin Etudes Op 25 n1 in Ab major and n2 in F minor Recorded in 1912
Chopin Ballade 3 in A flat Major Op 47 Piano roll recorded in 1925
Chopin Berceuse Op 57
Chopin Mazurka in B flat minor Op 24 n4 Piano roll recorded in 1922
Beethoven Piano Sonata 14 in C sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia" Op 27n2 "Moonlight" Recorded in 1937
i Adagio sostenuto
ii Allegretto sostenuto iii Presto agitato
Liszt/Wagner "Spinning Song" Recorded in 1924
Debussy "Reflets dans l'eau" Recorded in 1926
Mendelssohn Songs Without Words Adagio in F Major Op 53 n4 (1911) Jägerlied Op 19 n3 (1912) Spinnerlied Op 67 n 4 (1922)
Rubinstein Valse Caprice in E flat Major (1912) Brahms Hungarian Dance No 6 (1930) Brahms Hungarian Dance No 7 (1930)
Schumann Fantasy Pieces Op 12 (1912) 1 Des Abends 2 "Aufschwung" 3 "Warum?"
Schumann 7 "Vogel als Prophet" from Waldszenen Op 82 Recorded in 1926
Chopin Nocturne in F Major Op 15 n1 (1917) Chopin Waltz in C sharp minor Op 64 n2 (1917) Chopin Etude Op 25 n11 "Winter Wind" (1925)
Chopin Etude Op 10 n12 "Revolutionary" (1928) Chopin Polonaise in A flat Major Op 53 (1937)
