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The Pianist and the Pop Singer Tuesday, December 24, 2002 |
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TORONTO -- When the Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman was writing an autobiography about narrowly surviving the Holocaust and then becoming one of Poland's most famous composers, it's unlikely he ever imagined his words being transformed into a big screen biopic by acclaimed director Roman Polanski. But what about his music being turned into contemporary ballads sung by a pop singer? That's what his son, Andrzej Szpilman, has done in the hopes of teaching young North Americans about his late father's music while the man's extraordinary life is being shown in theatres. A Holocaust drama, The Pianist tells the story of Szpilman (played by Adrien Brody), who escapes from a boarding line for the train taking people to the Treblinka death camp only to go into hiding in Warsaw's ghetto during the Second World War. He goes unnoticed with the help of non-Jewish friends and a German officer. The Pianist won the prestigious Palm d'Or at Cannes and received two Golden Globe nominations last week. "The film depicts such a brutal situation for this man but the truth is that he rose above it," says Wendy Lands, the Montreal-born singer selected to voice the updated melodies. "He even wrote some of these songs during that time -- that blows my mind. "The songs are actually uplifting and they're not dark and they're not heavy. It was really imperative that come through (on the disk)." |
Lands -- who was once in the failed 1986 pop duo Double Dare with Andy MacLean -- says she automatically "clicked" with the spirit of the late Szpilman, whom she describes as the Gershwin-McCartney of Poland. After the war, Szpilman returned to his old job at Polish radio and became a famous composer. His memoirs were published around the world. He died two years ago at 88. "I really got to know this man through his melodies. That's a pretty intimate way to get to know someone," Lands explains over the phone from Los Angeles, where she moved two years ago. Her Jewish upbringing didn't hurt either, she adds. The CD, entitled Wendy Lands Sings The Music Of The Pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, features a dozen songs from the composer's catalogue of about 500 songs. Land's sultry jazz-infused vocals are laid overtop of smooth pop melodies played on electric guitar, drums and bass as well as the more traditional violin, cello and piano. "It was important that there not be anything melancholy or tragic sonically about this project," says Lands, who was urged not to see the film or read Szpilman's memoirs until the recording was completed. "(Andrzej Szpilman) wanted it to be very fresh and very North American ... He wants his father to be as popular as he once was, and as popular in North America as he was in Poland." |
Lyrics were written by several songwriters including Michael Ruff (Bonnie Raitt's Cry On My Shoulder, Huey Lewis's That's Not Me). Lands and her producer husband Jim Gillard, whom she met while recording her 1996 solo album Angels & Ordinary Men, also penned a song. It was produced and arranged by John Leftwich, who has recorded and performed with Lyle Lovett, The Chieftains, Tori Amos, Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson and Los Lobos. |
