The Kielce Symphony Orchestra - Anbild: Piano Concerto; Echoes of the Holy Cross Mountains for - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Stanley Cowell - Departure #2 [COMPACT DISCS] date 08/01/1994

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.

Both born in 1810, Schumann and Chopin nevertheless followed very different paths. One drew on literary and poetic sources and found inspiration in the turmoil of his own life; the other championed pure music and formal clarity. Schumann admired Chopin, while Chopin showed little more than polite indifference towards his contemporary's work. However, the Kreisleriana and Ballades brought together on this album share the same sense of fantasy and mystery, moving between impetuous outbursts, reverie and tenderness. Simon Bürki embraces their enigmas with virtuosity and depth.