Solistka powiedziała, że przed każdym występem musi kilka minut odpocząć w ciszy.

Solistka means female soloist. The ending -ka shows that the noun is feminine.

• solista = male soloist / soloist (masculine form)
• solistka = female soloist

In this sentence, the speaker is referring to a woman, so solistka is used.

Powiedziała is the past tense, feminine singular form of powiedzieć (to say, perfective).

Because solistka is feminine, the verb in the past tense must match that gender:

• powiedział = he said
• powiedziała = she said
• powiedzieli / powiedziały = they said

So Solistka powiedziała means The soloist said / The female soloist said.

In Polish, a comma is normally required before że when it introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

• Solistka powiedziała, że... = The soloist said that...

This is standard Polish punctuation.

Że means that and introduces the content of what was said.

So:

• powiedziała, że... = said that...

It works very much like English that in sentences such as She said that she needs to rest.

After przed (before), when it refers to time or position, Polish usually uses the instrumental case.

That is why you get:

• przed
  • instrumental

Here:

• każdy występ = every performance
• instrumental singular: każdym występem

So:

• przed każdym występem = before every performance

Because każdym must agree with występem in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since występem is masculine singular instrumental, każdy changes to każdym.

Compare:

• nominative: każdy występ = every performance
• instrumental: przed każdym występem = before every performance

Because the preposition przed requires the instrumental case here.

So the noun changes:

• występ = performance
• występem = performance (instrumental singular)

This is just normal case change after przed.

Yes. Musi is the 3rd person singular present tense of musieć (to have to / must).

It can mean:

• he must
• she must
• it must

Polish usually does not need subject pronouns, so musi by itself can mean she must if the context already makes that clear.

Here the subject is solistka, so musi means she must.

Because Polish often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed. The verb form and context usually make the subject clear.

So instead of saying:

• ona musi

Polish often simply says:

• musi

Since the sentence already starts with Solistka, there is no need to repeat ona.

Kilka means a few / several, and it requires the following noun to be in the genitive plural.

So:

• minuta = minute
• genitive plural = minut

That gives:

• kilka minut = a few minutes

This is a very common pattern in Polish:

• kilka osób = a few people
• kilka dni = a few days
• kilka pytań = a few questions

Not really in the same way as a direct object like a book in read a book. Here kilka minut expresses duration:

• odpocząć kilka minut = rest for a few minutes

Polish often uses this kind of bare time expression without a preposition, where English would often use for.

This is a question of aspect.

• odpoczywać = imperfective, focusing on the process / repeated action
• odpocząć = perfective, focusing on a complete act of resting

After musi, both aspects are possible in some contexts, but they mean slightly different things.

Here musi kilka minut odpocząć suggests that before each performance she needs to take a short complete rest. That makes the perfective odpocząć sound very natural.

If you used odpoczywać, it would sound more like emphasizing the activity itself or a habitual process.

Yes, Polish word order is more flexible than English word order.

This sentence could also be arranged differently, for example:

• musi odpocząć kilka minut w ciszy
• musi w ciszy odpocząć kilka minut

But musi kilka minut odpocząć w ciszy sounds natural and balanced.

In Polish, word order often depends on:

• what is being emphasized
• what sounds most natural
• the rhythm of the sentence

So the sentence order here is normal, but not the only possible one.

W ciszy means in silence or quietly/in a quiet environment.

• cisza = silence, quiet
• w ciszy = in silence

It suggests that she wants calm and no noise before performing.

Because the preposition w here means in, and with that meaning it normally requires the locative case.

So:

• cisza = silence
• locative singular = ciszy

That gives:

• w ciszy = in silence

In theory, przed can mean both before and in front of, depending on context. But here the meaning is clearly before every performance because the sentence is about time, not physical position.

So in this sentence it is understood temporally:

• przed każdym występem = before every performance

It describes a repeated habit.

The clue is:

• przed każdym występem = before every performance

So even though odpocząć is perfective, the whole sentence means that this happens regularly each time she performs.

A natural English interpretation is: She said that before every performance she has to rest in silence for a few minutes.

You would mainly change the noun and the past tense verb:

• Solista powiedział, że przed każdym występem musi kilka minut odpocząć w ciszy.

Changes:

• solistka → solista
• powiedziała → powiedział

The rest of the sentence stays the same.

Yes, a few:

• powiedziała: the dzia part can be tricky
• przed: the cluster prz is very common in Polish
• występem: ę is nasal
• odpocząć: czą includes cz and nasal ą
• ciszy: sz is pronounced like English sh

A rough guide:

• solistka ≈ soh-LEEST-kah
• powiedziała ≈ poh-vye-JAH-wah
• przed każdym występem ≈ pshet KAZH-dim vi-STEM-pem
• odpocząć ≈ ot-PO-chohnch
• w ciszy ≈ f CHEE-shih

These are only approximations, but they can help at first.