The Pianist by Original Soundtrack

A montage in my mind flashes images and sounds of Fredrick Chopin and Nazi Germany. Soloists Januz Olejniczak, Wladyslaw Szpilman, and the Warsaw Philharmonic form the soundtrack tripod that supports The Piano--a Roman Polanski film.

Chopin's music is an excellent choice for this Polanski masterpiece. Chopin was a nineteenth century Polish composer during the Romantic era. His works capture the essence of the innocent captives and victims of the Nazi holocaust.

It is as if he foresaw the whole sordid tragedy in some psychic nightmare or premonition, then wrote music to describe it. If he had a premonition, he must have also witnessed the intense struggle between the Nazis and Allied forces as some of his more technical and challenging pieces reflect.

Finally, he must have witnessed the allied victory as his more uplifting pieces indicate. What follows in this review are the images, sounds, thoughts and feelings that run through my mind as I listen to this CD.

Moving to the Ghetto Oct. 31, 1940

The film shows oppressed people of Jewish faith moving to the ghetto to the somber beat of a Yiddish clarinet. The clarinet's tone reveals nothing of the horrors that follow.

It's rhythm is like a school girl skipping to certain death. The poor sweet child is clueless and wants to trust that everything will be all right.

The Nocturnes

Machine gun piano flourishes mow down black and white keys lined up against a wall of pain. A slow tempo runs like blood as it stains my ears.

Searching, longing for freedom of expression. Fleeing, escaping from the oppressor's oppression. A concentration camp of minor chords. The senseless killing of innocent notes. Ebony and ivory scales shower my senses.

Murderous gases cause heaps of flesh then ashes in my mind's eye. My ears listen for the screams but only hear the quiet cadence of the last chords; the final breath and heartbeat of each nocturne; the death of the music and the deafening silence that follows.

The Ballades

Spring follows winter notes of despair. Fortissimo follows the usual pianissimo air. Powerful flourishes are played by hands that have paid the price of practice, practice, practice.

Copiously cunning the player plays the keys as if escaping a prison camp. One wrong note and he will be captured. He gets away as the notes are perfectly played.

The Rest

A waltz is elegantly drawn on a piano canvas in 3/4 time. The white keys are the white space; the black keys are the pencil etchings. Chords and notes dance together as the artist draws circles of sound.

An E minor prelude follows the waltz as the night follows day. Allied troops see the horrors of the death camps. Such a scene fills my inner theater screen. The death trains that took so many innocents away haunt my mind as the pensive chords play.

Flowing Grande Polonaise arpeggios are deftly played, are like a stream of melted snow on the first day of spring. A breath of fresh air filled with the warmth of a morning sunrise makes horns and strings cry out, "Andante Spianato!"

Dramatic, exciting and exquisitely played piano flourishes follow, creating mental images of Europe being set free by allied forces.

CD Notes

With one noted exception, all tracks were composed by Fredrick Chopin

Nocturne In C-Sharp Minor
Nocturne In E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1
Nocturne In C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1

Ballade No. 2 In F Major, Op. 38
Ballade No. 1 In G Minor, Op. 23

Waltz No. 3 In A Minor, Op. 34 No. 2
Prelude In E Minor Op. 28, No. 4
Grande Polonaise brilliante preceded by an Andante spianto, Op. 22

Andante Spianato In G Major
Moving To The Ghetto October 31, 1940 (Composed by Wojciech Kilar)
Mazurka In A Minor, Op. 17, No. 4

Januz Olejniczak-piano soloist
Wladyslaw Szpilman-piano soloist
Hanna Wolczedska-clarinet soloist

Warsaw Philharmonic National Orchestra of Poland conducted by Tadeusz Strugala