II
Zdzisława Sośnicka

About:

29 August 1945

Born in the small village of Kalisz Zdzisława’s parents weren’t performing artist but were very active amateur musicians. As her mother bought a piano Zdzisława and her sister Eve learned to master the instrument. She attended several music schools and won first prize in a Chopin competition in 1961. Still Zdzisława was more interested in the vocal part of music then the piano so in 1962 she took up singing lessons and joined local singing groups. At the insistence of her friends she entered the Festival of Young Talents in Szczecin which she won. Many talent shows would follow, also during her school period at the Poznan conservatory.

In 1965 she appeared at the Student Jazz Festival Jazz on the Oder in Wrocław as a vocalist of the Poznan Jazz Quartet. And received an honourable mention. She won an award in the competition 'New voices' on Festival of Polish Song in Opole. After graduation she joined the group Bison in which she was noticed by the artistic director of Polski TV in 1971. He asked her to enter the Opole competition with the song ‘Dom, który mam’. Although it did now win it introduced Zdzisława as a solo artist to the Polish public. She was invited to perform at Midem, the yearly music fair in Cannes, in 1972 where again she performed the song. French composer Francis Lai was so taken by the performance that he invited her to join the International Festival of the Nueva Onda Caracas, Argentina. She accepted but everything that could go wrong did on that trip, from lost suitcases (they wound up in Tokyo) to changing musical arrangements and problems with money.

More international success came in 1973 when she joined Maryla Rodowicz and Andrzej Dabrowski for a show in Austria and a performance in Japan. Between 1974-77 she joined the formation Ergo Band as their vocalist. She also took up acting amongst others in the Rewiowym Friedrichstadpalast Theater in Berlin. In 1979 she returned to the Opole festival and started working on a new double album ‘Odcienie samotności’ ('Shades of solitude') the album featured covers from popular western hits like ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’ and Donna Summer’s ‘Once upon a time’. But to the public the key track was ‘Julia I ja’. Although Zdzisława wasn’t to sure about the song the public loved it and it soon became one of her signature tracks. After some years of silence she returned again mid-eighties with albums that were more electronic and new wave then her older material. She also started to work with young songwriters like Jacka Cygana and Romuald Lipko and Mark Dutkiewicz.

After the fall of the iron curtain Zdzisława was able to travel to New York to few the musicals in real she sang so many songs of. The trip inspired her to record a cd filled with musical tracks with a philharmonic orchestra. It was released in an English and Polish version. In 1993 Mrs. Zdzislaw appeared on national TV performing a new track called ‘Nikt nie błądzi sam’ ('No one wanders alone') as a preview of an album released later that year. But feeling her time had passed she pulled back from public life and it was not thanks to the efforts of Lipko and a ‘best of’ she appeared again on stage in 1998. The comeback inspired Lipko and Sośnicka to join each in the studio one more time for a new song ‘Nagrałaś to?’ enclosed in the compilation 'Złota Kolekcja – Kochać, znaczy żyć', released in 2000. In 2015, to everyones suprises after 17 years of silence, she teams up with some of her songwriters from the 80's for a brand new album. To much critical acclaim.

Although not a recording artists since then Zdzisława stays a notable TV personality on Polish TV.

On the web:

- Zdzisława's official website:http://www.sosnicka.com

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Helena Vondrakova ( Czech republic)

Dalida (France)

What do we think:

PA: Ah Zdzisława Sośnicka... This woman with the sad expression on her face, with the ABBA/like dresses, with the impressive hairdo's... she really is a class of her own! She truly is one of the few Polish diva's. She did not release any memorable albums exept for 'Realia'. She did sing sing some very nice songs, but they were usually mixed with lesser ones on her albums. Vocally she is a well-crafted singer, but outclassed by other European diva's like Vanoni or Croisille. But no other diva has that combination of facial expression, sweet, soft voice and personality like Zdzisława Sośnicka...

DB: If there is such a thing as Polish camp Zdzisława would definitely make a chance. With a repertoire consisting of disco, musical, orchestrated ballads and she is the Polish equivelant of Dalida. With a great voice but not so good as the French diva (sorry Zdzisława). We've been told that her song 'Aleja gwziad' is a gay anthem in Poland and we can imagine why. Note that Zdzisława made some great recordings over the years but they are scattered over her albums. If you buy one you'll get some great stuff and some not-so great stuff. Compilations won't do the trick because the great stuff is not always the commercial stuff.

Albums:

♪♪♪♪ - Zdzisława Sośnicka - 1972

Zdzisława Sośnicka 2 - 1974

Moja muzyka - 1977

♪♪♪ - Odcienie samotności - 1980

♪♪♪♪ - Realia - 1984

♪♪♪ - Aleja gwiazd - 1987

♪♪♪ - Serce - 1989

♪♪ - Musicale - 1990

♪♪♪ - Magia Serc - 1998

♪♪♪ - Tańcz choćby płonął świat - 2015

------------------------------------------------------------------------
♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided