Szymanowski’s piano works have proliferated on disc to the point where the diversity among highly capable interpretations makes it more difficult to make clear-cut recommendations. The Op. 29 Métopes that open Joanna Domanska’s all-Szymanowski program prove my point. The pianist’s wide range of tone color, multi-leveled articulation (try the Nausicaa movement’s difficult-to-voice opening page, for example), and sophisticated mastery of the sustain pedal support her unusually expansive and flexible tempos. Her leisurely timings fall in line with Piotr Anderszewski’s more overtly worked out readings (Virgin) in contrast to Sinae Lee’s more incisive, angular performances (Divine Art).
Similarly, an underlying lyricism pervades the Op. 33 Studies, but not at the expense of virtuosic effect when needed. Nor does Domanska come up short in the speed and suppleness department, as we hear in No. 4’s feathery passagework and No. 9’s pointed whimsy. She also fares extremely well in the volatile Third Sonata. Although she doesn’t quite match Anderszewski’s power and vivid dynamic extremes in the first movement, her like-minded deliberation in the fugal Finale yields more playful, less foursquare linear interplay. Domanska lets her hair down and serves up the four Polish Dances with enough idiomatic aplomb and spicy accentuation to end this excellently engineered release on an uplifting note. [7/7/2008]
