MUSIC AND DANCE

PADEREWSKI IN RECITAL. RCA Victor Gold Seal 09026-60923-2. In these recordings, made between 1912 and 1937, one certainly wouldn’t accuse Ignace Paderewski of being overly faithful to the letter of the score. Yet he seems to have gotten at the spirit of the music consistently. His performance of Chopin’s Nocturne, Opus 15, No. 2, for instance, is practically an improvisation on the printed page, yet it goes to the heart of this music, capturing its decorative, spontaneous and elegant qualities perfectly. Similar unwritten additions throughout seem to make all the pieces more themselves than anything else. Two of the later recordings show an understandable falling off in technique--the Polish pianist was 76 at the time. Generally, however, one is struck by the ease, intimacy and directness of the playing.