V 29: MUSICA CLAROMONTANA

Another album presenting achievements of Pawel Lukaszewski (DUX Lukaszewski Collection). The characteristic stylistic language of Lukaszewski is close to artists such as Arvo P�rt, John Tavener, and Mikolaj G�recki, and at the same time it strongly refers to the pre-modern traditions of Renaissance vocal music and Gregorian chant. The key feature of this release is the cycle titled Beatus vir, composed in 1996-2007. It consists of eight songs recalling - successively in this recording - the following characters: Saint Adalbert, Saint Martin, Saint Stanislaus, Saint John of Dukla, Saint Paul, Saint Anthony, Saint Zygmunt Szczesny-Felinski, and the Venerable Servant of God Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.

Another album presenting the output of Pawel Lukaszewski (DUX Lukaszewski Collection). The characteristic stylistic language of Lukaszewski is close to artists such as Arvo P�rt, John Tavener and Mikolaj G�recki, and at the same time it strongly refers to the pre-modern traditions of the Renaissance vocal music and Gregorian chant. "Among Polish composers younger than Penderecki and Lutoslawski, Lukaszewski has become by far the best known. Although he has composed orchestral and chamber music, his reputation is based on his sacred music. He is an ardent Roman Catholic and sets texts mostly in Latin, which, whatever it's difficulties, is for English-speaking listeners more accessible than Polish. He has accumulated an extensive discography and this latest album is listed as the fifth in a series called Musica sacra - though the earlier albums are not in fact all of sacred music." (Stephen Barber, MusicWeb)

Recorded with Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO), under the baton of Mihhail Gerts, Mihkel Poll's new album features the Everest of piano repertoire - Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.3 along with the Concertino by pianist's compatriot, Eduard Tubin. The release follows the album featuring Artur Lemba's Piano Concerto No.1 recorded equally with ERSO under Neeme Jarvi. This is Mihkel Poll's third album released by DUX Records. Born in 1986 in Estonia, Mihkel Poll studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with Prof Ivari Ilja, recently receiving the PhD in Music, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Prof Ronan O'Hora. He has also attended the masterclasses by prof Eliso Virsaladze at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Italy. Mihkel Poll has won several prizes in important international competitions including 1st prize at the Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition in Italy, 1st prize at the Tallinn International Piano Competition in Estonia and 1st prize at the Ferrol International Piano Competition in Spain.

The church used by members of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri upon their arrival on the Holy Mount in Gostyń most probably contained an organ made in the local workshop of Wojciech Libowicz, who around 1670 is known to have built the instruments in various nearby localities. Regarding the new organ for the basilica of the Oratorian Fathers, historical sources speak of an instrument from the workshop of Jan Bernard Zitner from Głogów. It was installed in the church choir in the years 1766–1768 and remained there until it was replaced in 1855 by an organ made by Konstanty Kamiński from Opalenica. The present -day organ case, with its Classicist prospect, probably dates from that time. In 1958, the Biernacki workshop installed a new instrument inside it, using some of the old pipes. With the passing of time, it ceased to be used and eventually was dismantled in 2016. A new organ was built in 2016–2017 as part of a major project to revitalize the church’s Baroque interior. It has a mechanical action and a timbral aesthetic modelled on the Baroque-Classicist pattern. The historic case has been restored to its former shape and colors. The organ was built by Marek Cepka from Popowo, near Wronki. The works featured in this recording demonstrate the richness of sound of the organ of the Gostyń basilica, while drawing upon the musical tradition of the sanctuary and the two-centuries old musical community at the monastery of St. Philip Neri. These works were written by composers who were known on the Holy Mount from their vocal-instrumental music, as well as by those who participated in the spiritual life of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri.

Maksym Rzeminski graduated from the music school in Kielce in the piano class of Janina Wozniak and from the Academy of Music in Krakow in the piano class of Marek Koziak. In 2015 he released his first album “Inception,” which received the patronage of RMF Classic. He followed with the 2018 album “Maximus” which showcased new interpretations of film music. On this new solo release, he has gathered another program of recognizable and moving works by artists such as Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, Whitney Houston, and many others.

Starting in the second half of the 18th century, keyboard (especially piano) music was a peculiar area of artistic work developed mainly for the purpose of music-making in bourgeois homes. An important part of this repertoire is comprised of transcriptions intended originally for larger ensembles; thus, the texture of works for four hands is closer to that of compositions for orchestra than for piano. The fact that the works were performed in a home environment or in a situation of master-student contact also assumes a certain intimacy manifest in the frequent crossing of the left hand of the performer playing the primo part and the right hand of the performer playing the secondo part. The aforementioned two elements are quite visible in the first masterpieces of the genre: the sonatas written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for himself and his sister Nannerl. De facto, the later 19th-cen-tury literature for four hands follows in considerable measure the trail blazed by Mozart. Of course, in many works, there is also no lack of virtuosic elements. The expansion of the piano keyboard range was also conducive to systematic and complete exploration of the freshly-gained areas of the instrument’s range. The broad four-hands texture represents a superb field for this type of procedures, as is quite visible, for example, in one of Ferdinand Ries’ polonaises. The present album presents a stylistically diverse selection of works composed in the first half of the 19th century, selected to display as fully as possible the capabilities of the piano built between 1845 and 1847 by the Traugott Berndt company, an instrument whose sound characteristics are eminently appropriate to the works being performed, despite its being of later date relative to these works.

This album is the Polish phonographic premiere of works by three outstanding contemporary composers: Gubaidulina, Liebermann and Proto. The album presented by the performers is the outcome of ten years of cooperation, quest for a common sound, discovering new areas in music, artistic trips and creative interpretations. In their activities, double bass player Marek Romanowski and pianist Hanna Holeksa are guided by their common will to popularize new repertoire for this seemingly unobvious instrumental combination, proving its enormous potential.

Marek Szlezer, who is well known to the Polish audience, is highly appreciated for his interpretations of Fryderyk Chopin’s works. In 2015, on the occasion of the composer’s 205th birthday, he performed at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York. On a number of occasions, he has also been nominated for the most important music award in Poland, Fryderyk. In 2021, the pianist from Cracow expands his discography with another album with piano works by Karol Szymanowski. The nearly 80-minute release covers pieces written over ten years (1924–1934), although belonging to different periods in Szymanowski’s output.

The undeniable traits of Felicjan Szopski’s output are the following: folk music and works by Fryderyk Chopin as his sources of inspiration; nurturing national elements while striving to discover new musical means, different musical narratives, and innovative harmonic solutions; attention to every detail of the composition; well-thought-out, consistently implemented ambitious musical thought remaining in a permanent and unbreakable contact with words. Szopski would select his texts with extraordinary reverence, very consistently, only by Polish writers he knew personally. Szopski’s musical thought conveys the message and the mood of the words, fully reflecting the character of the text. This selection of his songs are performed by soprano Agnieszka Niewiadomska and pianist Szymon Blaszynski.

The history of writing music for the piano is linked to the creation, in 1711, of the prototype of the present day piano and to its evolution from the pianoforte- an instrument suited for salon music-making- to the modern concert grand. The tradition of home music-making dates back therefore to the middle of the 18th century, with piano-playing for four hands very soon becoming its all important element. This gave rise to the development of a repertoire that lent itself to arrangement and performances in such a chamber environment. Compositions of this type had already been penned by Johann Christian Bach, Joseph Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. By the end of the 18th century, compositions for piano four hands had achieved extraordinary popularity. However, only a small amount of the output by Polish composers was published. Thanks to the interest of present-day Polish publishers these forgotten pieces, several of which are presented here, can now be enjoyed by performers and enthusiasts alike.

Nicholas Copernicus once wrote: “What can be more beautiful than the sky, which of course contains everything beautiful.” At the inauguration of the 72nd artistic season of the Symphony Orchestra of the Silesian Philharmonic, Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki presented one of the most important works of his Patron- the monumental 2nd Symphony- Copernicus, composed for New York’s Kosciuszko Foundation, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus. In the symphony, which is characteristic of Gorecki’s works, the non-literal literary theme of biblical quotations and the Treaty of the rotation of celestial spheres is of great importance. The words in the Symphony No. 2 were not only significant as inspiration or a starting point, but they became what was directly addressed to the listener. He does not have to read them on the show or in the score, but he directly and explicitly hears them.

This unique album features two fine pianists, John Tilbury and Zygmunt Krauze, exploring the works of interesting composers Cornelius Cardew, Terry Riley, Tomasz Sikorski, and Christian Wolff. Especially notable is the inclusion of Krauze’s own composition, One Piano Eight Hands. For this piece the duo is joined by Szabolcs Esztenyi and Hubert Zemler. British pianist John Tilbury is known as one of the world’s finest experimental pianists. Since 1980 he has been a part of the free improvisation group AMM. Zygmunt Krauzeis most known for his compositions, which favor the piano above all other instruments as Krauze is also a performing pianist. In 2012 Krauze was given the title of Coryphaeus of Polish Music in the category of Personality of the Year.

Pasquale Anfossi, the child of a Ligurian family with musical traditions, was schooled at the famous conservatory of S. Maria di Loreto in Naples, studying the violin and compositions. Of course, Naples has always cultivated a love of opera, and it was only natural that the young Anfossi developed an interest in this area. He wrote for the opera stages of Naples and Rome, in the opera seria as well as opera buffa conventions. His renown as an opera composer steadily grew across Europe. His oeuvre comprises 60 operas in the dramatic and comical conventions, 20 oratorios, and an assortment of liturgical and instrumental works. There are several moments within the present oratorio which are particularly memorable Some of these we owe to the choruses, beginning with the melancholy lament of the Roman people- simple and suggestive- which opens the composition. There is also the idyllic choir of Angels for two sopranos and an alto, with mild, enchanting melodies and a soft sound, whose euphonic chords occasionally disperse into dialogues in evocation of heavenly bliss.

The ‘time of breakthroughs’ contained in the title of the album, which is the key for the selection of the repertoire recorded on it, can be interpreted on multiple levels. On the one hand, it refers to the period of rebirth of Poland – to one of the most important turning points in the history of this country, which was ‘witnessed’ by music of the composers presented on the album. On the other hand, it points to the turn of the 20th century – an extremely colorful time in the history of the multicultural and vibrant city of Katowice, whose dynamic development, mainly related to its industrial aspect, also included the cultural sphere. One of the important points on the then cultural map of the city was undoubtedly the Evangelical church built in 1856, within the walls of which the material of this album was recorded.

On January 23, 2021, the music world celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the death of Władysław Żeleński, the founder and long-time director of the Music Conservatory in Kraków, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Romantic era in Poland. This album contains studio recordings of two great chamber works, showing the excellent compositional technique of the Polish composer. Recordings of both works make us aware of the enormous potential of Żeleński as a composer. What's more, each of the pieces, despite the apparent simplicity and formal transparency, is marked by a large dose of individualism and expressive and social distinctiveness. All this makes the above-mentioned works by Żeleński one of the greatest showpieces in the history of chamber music in the world.

Represented by the Ludwig van Beethoven Association, the Ksiazek Piano Duo is one of the most interesting piano duos in the world; the ensemble is made up of two outstanding Polish pianists, Agnieszka Zahaczewska-Ksiazek and Krzysztof Ksiazek. Since 2012, which marks the beginning of their cooperation, the multi-award-winning duo has given a number of concerts in Switzerland, France, Thailand, Great Britain and South Africa, winning recognition of the audience and critical acclaim. The present album contains works for two pianos by Anton Arenski and Sergei Rachmaninoff, which play an important role in the compositional legacy of both artists. In both cases, the formation of two pianos is an individually-approached creation, although in the case of Rachmaninoff it manifests itself to an exceptional extent; the said creations feature a piano technique using a wide range of possibilities and advantages of the instrument, a technique that both composers perfectly understand.

VIOLIN DUOS

EARLY EUROPE MUSIC

GLI UCCELLI IL TRAMONTO TRIT

“I am glad that together with the following artists: Marcin Halat, Piotr Lato and Marcin Maczynski, we undertook the premiere recording of two piano trios by Karol Rathaus: Trio, op. 53 from 1944 and Trio Serenade, op. 69 from 1953. Metaphorically speaking, reading a manuscript is like touching the reality of the composer himself, his thoughts, emotions and events from a world that surrounded him and that he missed, but still a world we can recreate thanks to interpretations of forgotten works. The main idea behind the whole process of being with Karol Rathauss piano trios, from reading the manuscripts to recording the compositions, is primarily the desire to discover the composers aim and read his intentions. The overriding idea was to show the listener the characteristic language of the artist and to create an individual work of art at the level of a piano trio. An intimate encounter with Karol Rathaus’s top class compositional art allowed us, the performers, to notice him: a brilliant, forgotten artist, an emigrant, whose output combines Polish, European, and American elements.” (Aleksandra Halat)

SACRED MUSIC IN POLAND -

AVE MATER, O MARIA!

Jean-Claude Henriot (b. 1949) was born into a family of musicians. As a child, Henriot fixated his conception of great music upon Beethoven. His first great musical experience was of listening to a recording of the ‘Emperor’ Concerto. For this album Henriot has opted to venture outside of the frequently performed piano sonatas by programming Beethoven’s Bagatelles, Fantasia in G minor, Andante Favori, and 32 Variations in C minor. All of the works on this release were composed between 1803 and 1825, during the composer’s late period when the fullness of his potential had been reached.

V 28: MUSICA CLAROMONTANA