Ignacy Paderewski

This second Warner Classics album from the Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus sheds light on two of Poland’s greatest composers: Ignacy Jan Paderewski (with a high-energy performance of his famed Piano Concerto in A Minor Op.17 featuring British pianist Jonathan Plowright) and the lesser-known Zygmunt Stojowski (with the world-premiere recording of his Symphony Rhapsody for piano and orchestra Op. 23).

The album contains recordings of two compositions by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, which the pianists gladly played – Concerto in a minor and Fantasia Polska.

Matthias Kirschnereit, a German pianist who decided to emigrate to Mallorca, and Francisco Fullana, a violinist from Mallorca, met in Poland in 2018 and began a close musical collaboration. The result is their new album, 'Cosmopolitan'.

Matthias Kirschnereit, a German pianist who decided to emigrate to Mallorca, and Francisco Fullana, a violinist from Mallorca, met in Poland in 2018 and began a close musical collaboration. The result is their new album, 'Cosmopolitan'.The album comprises works from three different eras and styles. It opens with the powerful G minor Sonata by Claude Debussy, followed by the Violin Sonata by Leos Janacek, which Fullana describes as "music from another planet".

C’est la relation maître à élève qui est ici exaltée avec la présentation de trois sonates pour violon et piano de deux compositeurs polonais. Le premier, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, est bien connu grâce à son gracieux (et fâcheux) Menuet qui a caché tout le reste de sa production, mais aussi par son exceptionnelle carrière de pianiste qui fascinait les foules et par son engagement politique qui le mènera à la tête du nouveau gouvernement polonais en 1919 au lendemain de la Première Guerre mondiale. Sa Sonate en la mineur, Op. 13, composée à un moment particulièrement difficile de sa vie démontre à la fois sa maîtrise dans l’art de la composition et l’étendue de la connaissance de ses contemporains, comme Saint-Saëns, Grieg ou César Franck. Le violoniste Piotr Plawner et le pianiste Piotr Sałajczyk en donnent ici une traduction sensible et passionnée.

The three works on this album were all composed between 1943 and 1953. Despite the extreme experiences and difficulties she faced during this undoubtedly most tragic time in Poland’s history, Grażyna Bacewicz managed to compose outstanding works which constitute splendid testimony to the vibrant creative potency for which she was renowned.

Eunho Chang's passion is to express, with contemporary techniques, the various spontaneous timbres, patterns and gestures originating from traditional Korean music.