Customer Reviews

The Pianist: Original Recordings by Wladyslaw Szpilman

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After I listened to the CD 'Music from the motion picture The Pianist', which had one piece played by Wladyslaw Szpilman, it was only natural to want to hear more recordings of this great musician and person. This CD has 13 music pieces by Szpilman, and they are wonderful. The movie used mainly Chopin's music, but Szpilman's repertoire- which he preserved through mental piano practice during the war- is quite varied. The CD has him playing Rachmaninov, Schumann, Debussy, Albeniz, Gruenfeld, J.S.Bach, Kreisler, and of course Chopin (Nocturne in C sharp minor appears twice- recorded in 1980 and 1948 respectively).

The highlight of the CD is Szpilman's own composition- Concertino for Piano and Orchestra which he mentions in his book, and which he wrote in 1940- just when the difficult times began.

Szpilman's piano style is different from that of Janusz Olejniczac, whose performances are on the other CD. They both are wonderful in their own way, but it was exciting for me to listen to the real life Pianist. I will look for more works by Wladyslaw Szpilman, including his songs.

I saw Polanski's "THE PIANIST" last weekend and was very impressed and wanted to learn more about the real hero of the movie. I searched online for his recordings. After two days I received two CD's from Amazon.com related to Wladyslaw Szpilman: One with his beautiful songs by Wendy Lands and another one with his Original recordings. He plays wonderful Chopin ( i.e. the Nocturne from the final scene of the movie ), Rachmaninoff, Bach and his own music - Concertino for Piano and Orchestra composed in the Warsaw Ghetto in a time of deepest repressions by the Germans. He was a great pianist but I was surprised how optimistic is his music and indeed how American it is. After I learned his story through the movie, now I also got in touch with this man personally, trough his artistry. Great feeling!!

Could not wait to get my hands on this one. Sorry, but did have to buy it elsewhere. Could not wait. After seing the movie I wanted to know more about this man and what he played. It includes his version of Chopin's Nocturne as performed on the end credits. Great !
Only sorry that I did not get such a good deal as from Amazon. This is a keeper !

THe Pianist won 3 Oscars on Sunday
This classical recording inspired Roman Polanski to direct this great movie about a pianist, Szpilman who survived the war.
Everyone should have this cd in their collection.