The transcripts of Sergey Rachmaninov enjoyed great respect among pianists during the composer’s lifetime. In addition to piano concertos, preludes, etudes and Variations on a Theme of Correlli, Rachmaninov’s arrangements were gradually becoming the composer’s showcase. On the one hand, each work of this kind enables the display of purely virtuoso skills, while on the other, due to the often dense texture, it prompts us to seek a way of presenting harmonic and polyphonic consonances. This album by Ivan Shemchuk includes a collection of these piano arrangements, enriched with the popular cycle of 6 Morceaux for 4 hands, op. 11.

In recent years, Mieczyslaw Weinberg has become one of the most recognizable Polish composers of the 20th century, which was significantly influenced by the hundredth anniversary of the composer’s birth in December 2019. The project of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio devoted exclusively to works by Mieczyslaw Weinberg perfectly reflects the peculiar revival related to the interest in the artist in Poland and in the world. This album is another proposal from the Amadeus Orchestra series, this time dedicated to selected symphonies of the Polish artist.

The present album is another in a series of albums featuring works by Andrzej Dziadekfor large instrumental and vocal-instrumental forces. Like the previous release in the series, it demonstrates a wide range of the composer's achievements in these genres. The album includes Poem for orchestra (1987), Concerto for violin and orchestra (1992), and Symphony No. 2 'Te Deum' (2000-2002). Arranged in chronological order, they give a cross-section of the com-poser's attainments achievements over a period of fifteen years. This is how the composer describes his music: "The style of my compositions is the consequence of my faith in the power of expression in music's fundamental elements: melody, rhythm, harmony. This is not to say that the impact of the music should be easy." Dziadek treats musical tradition as his source and has respect for it's refinement and identity. An ironic mix of styles and playing games with listeners are alien to him. In his distanced, intimate utterance, the composer builds a dialogue with long-gone conventions, evoking their various aspects with reverence.

The history of Polish music has seen many cases of instrumentalists and composers who enjoyed great success abroad while collecting a number of neutral or negative reviews in their home country. This group of distinctive, outstanding artists of the twentieth century undoubtedly includes Alexandre Tansman – an artist who would constantly win the hearts of listeners around the world with his works (including France, the United States, or Japan), whereas in Poland he was almost completely marginalized during his lifetime. This album by Julia Kociuban includes the Piano Concerto No. 1 of aforementioned Alexandre Tansman, very well received in France. For years, the popularity of Grazyna Bacewicz’s piano works has been dominated by the worldwide success of the Piano Sonata No. 2 composed in 1953, of which Julia Kociuban is an unsurpassed interpreter. In addition to Tansman’s work, the artist decided to familiarize the audience with the equally interesting, though almost completely forgotten, Piano Concerto by the Lódz composer.

The album "Midnight Stories" contains Polish contemporary music, which consists of completely new works of Polish composers of the young generation, specially created for the band Art’n'Voices. These different compositions combine the theme of the night common to all songs. These are compositions in different languages, including Polish, English, German, Latin and Kashubian, performed by the a cappella band. The vocal band Art’n’Voices was formed in 2010. It consists of musicians who have been associated with the choral scene of the Tri-City and Wejherowo and the Academy of Music in Gda?sk for years. The band's official seat is the Kashubian-Pomeranian Literature and Music Museum in Wejherowo. The octet specializes in performing a cappella music. In his repertoire he has music of different periods from the Renaissance, however, it is dominated by compositions of contemporary music, a significant part of which was written especially for the band.

The collections of the Polish Radio Archive are one of the most valuable business cards of our national music culture. Once again, we are pleased to present to you selected recordings of Roman Jablonski, one of the most recognizable Polish cellists from this collection. This album contains two masterpieces of 20th century Polish music. Cello Concerto No. 2 by Grazyna Bacewicz was composed in 1962 at the request of the world-famous Spanish cellist Gaspar Cassad�. The song is a clear nod to sonorist music. And although Bacewicz sometimes decided on a clear turn towards romanticism or even neoclassicism, the work is dominated by various sound clusters, strongly chromatized episodes and simultaneously developing, autonomous narratives of selected instrumental groups. In turn, Concerto per violoncello ed orchestra no. 2 (Concerto for cello and orchestra No. 2) by Krzysztof Penderecki was composed in 1982 at the request of the Berlin Philharmonic and dedicated to Mstislaw Rostropowicz and the Berlin Philharmonic. This is one of the most original and extensive concert works of the Polish artist, in which both elements identical to the composer's quasi-romantic thinking and strongly dissonant sonorist episodes are constantly interwoven.

Emil Mlynarski is most often associated with his huge commitment and contribution to the dynamic development of Warsaw’s musical life at the turn of the 20th century. What is more, the number of honorable and responsible functions he would hold for years ensured him the position of an undisputed authority. Today, unfortunately, hardly anyone remembers that during his lifetime the artist was also valued for his compositional output, which is confirmed by, for example, a prestigious award he received for the Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 11. The present album perfectly fits into promotional activities of unjustly forgotten Polish music.

The music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919 - 1996) is among some of the 20th century's greatest hidden treasures. Born in Poland, Weinberg emigrated to Russia in perilous circumstances, where he was to live out the rest of his days half-way between deserved fame and unjustified neglect. Often seen in the shadow of his close friend Dimitry Shostakovich, by whom he was regarded as one of the most outstanding composers of the day, Weinberg is slowly being rediscovered as a 20th century genius, a figure of immense significance in the landscape of post-modern classical music. Weinberg's musical idiom stylistically mixes traditional and contemporary forms, combining a freely tonal, individual language inspired by Shostakovich with ethnic (Jewish, Polish, Moldovian) influences and a unique sense of form, harmony and color. His prolific output includes no less than 17 string quartets, over 20 large-scale symphonies, numerous sonatas for solo stringed instruments and piano as well as operas and film-scores. With the constant stream of recordings, score publications and concerts over the last decade, many of these gems have been unearthed to finally receive the critical praise and attention they deserve. The present release showcases his flute concertos, performed by The Silesian Chamber Orchestra with flutist Lukasz Dlugosz.

Genesis, the debut album of accordionist Bartosz Glowacki, contains music from various eras and styles. On this release you can listen to baroque transcriptions alongside original accordion compositions. The album starts with Sonata in A major K.208 by Domenico Scarlatti followed by L'Egyptienne by J.P. Rameau. Composition for solo accordion The Ruined Cathedral, was written by Vaclav Trojan after the sight of the ruins of Dresden cathedral, destroyed in the 2nd World War. de profundis by Sofia Gubaidulina is one of the most significant in the accordion canon of the 20th century and refers to the opening of Psalm 130 - Out of the depths [I call to Thee, O Lord]. Performance of Pari Intervallo, by Estonian composer Arvo P�rt, originally written for four parts is the first version released for solo accordion. Double Concerto by Astor Piazzolla concludes this album, featuring a fantastic musician Rob Luft. The blend of electric guitar and accor-dion with chamber orchestra with improvised melodic ornaments is a homage to Nuevo Tango style in classical form of a concerto.

In September 2019, the Stanislaw Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music took place in Rzesz�w, whose main goal was to promote our native compositions and to draw the attention of musicians around the world to them. The auditions were divided into two categories (performances by pianists and chamber ensembles), which meant that, in less than 10 days, the audience had the opportunity to commune with countless extremely rarely performed gems of Polish music. We present you with selected competition interpretations of participants of auditions in both categories. In addition to the Patron's works, the albums include compositions by may Polish composers. The present album features the work of Josef Elsner, Ignacy Feliks Dobrzynski, and Zygmunt Noskowski.

Born on 12 February 1760, Jan Ladislav Dussek is one of the most recognizable artists at the end o f Classicism and beginning of Romanticism. His rich artistic output gained recognition mainly due to innovative, for that time, piano works and numerous symphonies. Dussek significantly contributed to the spread of English pianos in Europe, which implied further development of construction of these instruments. The album contains three Piano Sonatas, Op. 9 and the cycle The Sufferings of the Queen of France, Op. 23 performed by world-renowned Marek Toporowski.

DUX presents Piotr Banasik, an outstanding pianist who is fascinating in his interpretations, in this new album featuring the complete piano works of Mieczyslaw Karlowicz. The piano pieces featured here constitute a very interesting part of the Polish neo-romanticism movement. The album by Piotr Banasik distinctly reminds us that Karlowicz is an excellent composer, not only in his works for strings, but also in the field of piano music. Piotr Banasik is a musician who willingly and often propagates the work of Polish composers. When in 2005 he took part in the 15th International Chopin Piano Competition, many commentators were surprised that despite his great performances, he was not qualified for the final interrogations. His balanced, supported by refined technique interpretations (incl. The Etude in G-flat major, Op. 10 No. 5 and Bolero, Op. 19) turned out to be one of the most outstanding in the first stage of the event's edition.

This is definitely an album which for several reasons cannot be missed. A Landscape without You is a touching and honest dialogue, a genuine story and a special tribute to an outstanding Polish cellist who died last year - Dominik Polonski, who was privately the husband of Iza Polonska. Songs of the iconic and unsurpassed duo Jeremi Przybora and Jerzy Wasowski in completely new arrangements by accordionist Leszek Kolodziejski, with subtle vocals of Iza Polonska and the perfect accompaniment of the Polish Cello Quartet, make this album a must in the collection of every music lover.

Milda and Nijola, forgotten works by Stanislaw Moniuszko, whose content is based on Lithuanian mythological motifs, are a unique continuation of the cantata style and form in the Polish music. They are extremely successful pieces, and the shortness of their popularity can be probably explained only with the words of the author of the libretto of Milda, Józef Ignacy Kraszewski. If our critics were able to recognise Mr. Moniuszko’s talent, we would not envy Germans songs by Schubert and Mendelssohn Bartholdy (...), better than Mr. Moniuszko only because they were lucky to be born and gain fame abroad. It seems unbelievable that these cantatas have not yet been available on album. In this context, the double- album of the Poznan Philharmonic is an invaluable contribution to restoring Moniuszko to his rightful place in the forefront of 19th-century European composers, not only operatic.

Witold Friemann, author of around 1300 solo, chamber and orchestral works, belongs to the group of forgotten composers, which is largely a consequence of historical events and life choices of the composer, who spent the last years of his life as a teacher at the Institute for the Blind in Laski near Warsaw. The initiator of the recording project of selected works of the Polish artist is clarinetist Barbara Borowicz. Born in Poznan, currently closely associated with Kraków. She regularly performs in Europe, North America, Australia, Africa and Asia in prestigious concert halls, including the Sydney Opera House and Royal Concertgebouw. The album was recorded in cooperation with Marek Szlezer – one of the most frequently performing pianists. He has any times for the Polish Phonographic Awards Fryderyk and is actively involved in the promotion of the Polish music in Poland and abroad.