Frederic Chopin, Janusz Olejniczak - The Pianist: Music from the Motion Picture
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CD Details
Artist: Frederic Chopin, Janusz OlejniczakEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language); German (Original Language); Russian (Original Language)
Format: Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 2002-11-26
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Nocturne in C-Sharp minor (1830)
- 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
- Prilude in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4
- Grande Polonaise for Piano and Orchestra (preceded by an Andante Spianato), Op. 22
- Andante spianato in G Major
- Grande Polonaise in E-flat Major
- Moving to the Ghetto Oct. 31, 1940
- Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17, No. 4
Music reviews of The Pianist: Music from the Motion Picture
Music Review: An Inspirational, Stunning Soundtrack to a Brilliant Movie
Rating: 5 Stars
Just as surely as Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" was easily the most powerful film I have seen during my four decades on this earth, so has the movie's soundtrack transformed (i.e., expanded) my musical horizons. As child of the sixties for whom a purchase of classical music would have seemed anathema only a few short years ago, the stirring echos of "The Pianist" and its magnificent soundtrack are akin to a groove in the soul....they remind us all of the transcending power of music, the enduring goodness and presence of humanity in the midst of bestiality...the staggering gifts of the protagonists (Wladislaw Szpilman and Frederic Chopin) as they conjoin to vanquish unspeakable evil and degradation. Not only a director of subtle genius and commanding skill, Roman Polanski also escaped the Nazi terror at a heartbreakingly tender age (seven). Having lost his mother to Auschwitz, Polanski survived intermittently on the kindness of strangers and his own wits, but miraculously prevailed. Speaking words of surpassing eloquence, Polanski gives credence to the Polish pianist (Janusz Olejniczak) whose brilliant majesty pervades this soundtrack. As an accomplished pianist in my own youth, I know - keenly - that 90% of the works on this soundtrack are adequately performed by only the most able of musicians. Olejniczak does that - and much, much more. Track #9 - "Grande Polonaise in E-flat Major" is, in a word, breathtaking. Polanski wisely chose this piece as the backdrop to the film's climactic final scene. It had the audience (including myself) standing in rapt attention until the very last second - and applauding joyously at its conclusion. In conclusion, if the true measure of a film and is soundtrack is the ability to inform and influence others - then this stellar work has achieved this goal for this discerning film and music fan. I ceased performing on the piano years ago (1971), yet the ability to play never left me - until the summer of 1992, when I tried to play an old standard from my youth - and could not do so. Nor could I remember a single chord from even the simplest sonata - the ability to play had left me. Or so I thought. But "The Pianist" and its spine-tingling soundtrack have inspired me. I have vowed to try anew - to attempt to re-learn the ability to play. I may fail miserably - or my abilities may be all for naught. But I'd like to try. Don't get me wrong - I still love the Beatles. I still savor the sonic splendor of The Deftones and the inventive harmonies of Sonic Youth and Coldplay. But, like the very finest works of art, the soundtrack to "The Pianist" is something to be savored - slowly, like manna from the highest heavens. The visceral Valhalla and propulsive immediacy of the best rock 'n roll is still precious to this music buff, but age brings wisdom - and appreciation. My deepest thanks to Roman Polanski, Frederic Chopin, Wladislaw Szpilman and Janusz Olejniczak for the gift of "The Pianist." May its legacy endure - forever.
Description of The Pianist: Music from the Motion Picture
Roman Polanski's telling of famed Polish composer-pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's survival in the Nazi-controlled Warsaw ghetto can't help but be infused with the director's deepest passions: he himself escaped the Kraków ghetto as a boy of 7. The musician's status as a musical hero to the oppressed Polish Jews of World War II was surpassed only by that of Chopin, the composer who was at the core of Szpilman's repertoire. Thus this score revolves tightly around Chopin's music, with modern Polish pianist Janusz Olejniczak paying passionate homage to both his musical and national forebears, the haunting strains of the Nocturne in C-sharp Minor setting the film's historical and dramatic tone. The underscore of previous Polanski collaborator Wojciech Kilar (The Ninth Gate, Death and the Maiden) is represented here by the soulful "Moving to the Ghetto," a cue that helps anchor the soundtrack's troubling time and place with understated grace. The collection concludes with a rare, remastered performance of Chopin's Mazurka Op. 17, No.4 by Szpilman himself, recorded in Warsaw in 1948. --Jerry McCulleySoundtracks CDs
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