Joseph Szulc (1875-1956) was primarily a composer of operetta, although his body of works includes music for chamber ensembles, piano pieces, and songs; however, almost all are totally forgotten today. Jaroslaw Pietrzak and Julita Przybylska-Nowak have worked together for several years to rediscover and perform the music of forgotten Jewish composers, giving concertos at the Mazel Tov Festival, the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw (in tribute to the Jewish Symphony Orchestra in the Jewish Ghetto), the Singer's Warsaw Festival, and the Under the White Stork Synagogue in Wroclaw (to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day).

“Kalinowski and Szlezer (The Cracow Duo), friends since childhood, have a wonderfully natural rapport and there is an arresting quality to their playing that gives life to the music.” – The Strad Cellist Jan Kalinowski and pianist Marek Szlezer started to perform together as the Cracow Duo almost ten years ago. They have received high critical acclaim since then, both in Poland and abroad, and gained the affection of listeners. Dedications: Works for Cello and Piano, features six 21st c. chamber pieces from six active Polish composers, born 1933 to 1984.

Fantaisie

Karlowicz: Symphony in E minor, "Rebirth", Op. 7

World Premiere Recording.

Le Streghe

KURPIE SONGS

Andrejs Osokins- laureate of the world’s most prominent piano competitions, including the Leeds, Rubinstein, Long-Thibaud and Queen Elisabeth, London-based musician Andrejs Osokins is one of the most sought-after Latvian pianists. He was described by critics as impeccably stylish, praised for his powerful intellect and magnetic personality, wide expressive sound palette, notably convincing in many different styles of music. Born in 1984, he began playing piano at the age of five and gave his first solo recital at the age of 14. After graduating from the Latvian Academy of music and winning the Yamaha Scholarship Award, Andrejs moved to London and began his studies at Trinity College of Music, where he received both Licenciate and Fellowship Diplomas. In 2008 he joined the Royal Academy of Music, studying under the guidance of Hamish Milne and Christopher Elton. He has won the Lillian Davies Prize and the Christian Carpenter Piano Recital Prize and graduated Master of Arts in Performance in July 2011. Talent and intelligence have won him acclaim in a number of prestigious international competitions. In recent years these include becoming the Audience Awardee of the 5th International German Piano Award presented by International Piano Forum, winning the 4th prize in the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Masters Competition, the 4th Prize in the Leeds International Piano Competition, and others. Dedication features the work of Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt.

The present album seeks to acquaint the listener with highly interesting works by Warsaw artists of the young and middle generation connected with the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. +All the compositions have in common the person of saxophonist Paweł Gusnar, for whom the works subject to recording were composed, and who was the first to perform them.

Jezusa Judasz przedal

SYMPHONIC WORKS

This next release in the Dux series devoted to Witold Lutosławski focuses on four works with strings as their emphasis and composed over a more than thirty year span: Little Suite for chamber orchestra (1950), Funeral Music for string orchestra (1958), Chain 1 for chamber orchestra (1983) and Chain 2 for violin and orchestra (1985). The 44-member Orchestra of the Opera at the Castle in Szczecin, led by Jerzy Wołosiuk, has made many foreign tours with opera and operetta shows across Europe. Its recording of Moniuszko’s Paria was awarded the Orphée d’Or of France’s l’Académie du Disque Lyrique.

During her studies in Vienna, Seoul, Korea-born pianist Won-Sook Hur won several prizes in international piano competitions. In 1988 she was appointed professor of music at Hoseo University, Korea. She maintains an active solo and chamber career alongside her professorial duties. She has made several CDs since 1995 with works by Brahms, Schubert, Chopin and Liszt that were released in Korea. This recital features works of Franck, Rachmaninov, Ravel and Geonyong Lee (b. 1947), a Korean composer and educator whose style is to harmonize Western contemporary and Korean traditional music.

A recital of guitar transcriptions, from young guitarist Piotr Przedbora. Playing the guitar is Mr. Przedbora's life's passion: he successfully performs repertoire from Classical to contemporary. He is laureate of over 20 international and national competitions, receiving 19 First Awards, and 3 Grand Prix.

VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1 IN D MAJ