Polish

Solo lute music flourished in large parts of Europe in the first half of the 16th century. In Italy, its most important early exponents were Francesco Spinacino, Joanambrosio Dalza, Vincenzo Capirola and Francesco da Milano. The leading lutenists in France were Albert de Rippe and Guillaume Morlaye. Germanys composers of unaccompanied lute music were Hans Judenkünig, Hans Newsiedler and Hans Gerle. The second half of the century brought new composers to the fore: in Italy, Vincenzo Galilei, Giovanni Antonio Terzi and Simone Molinaro; in Germany, Hans Newsiedlers son Melchior above all.

This album features pieces for solo cello, displaying the extraordinary technical and tone colour possibilities of this instrument. The album is also a musical journey through a century of Polish chamber music composed for this instrument by outstanding artists.

Frédéric Chopin's songs, in Polish, certainly stand to one side of his piano repertory. The 19 songs presented here were composed for personal use, addressed either to friends and lovers or to emigrés who, like Chopin, sympathized with Polish nationalist causes. There was no market for Polish-language songs in Paris, and these were not published until after the composer's death. Yet they are recognizably products of his muse, and their specialized quality sheds the light of insight onto the composer's piano music.

Chopin's two piano concertos are almost always paired with each other on recordings, but this Naxos release, with Uzbek-born pianist Eldar Nebolsin and the Warsaw Philharmonic under Antoni Wit, offers a more inventive and even more illuminating program of early Chopin pieces. The Fantasia on Polish Airs, Op. 13, actually predated the Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, and it's quite rarely performed.

Does music need parity? Probably not, it defends itself. But it is worth noting and emphasising the artistic advantages of outstanding contemporary composers and their unforgettable predecessors - women in Polish music are a voice as separate as it is expressive. The album is the result of cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and more specifically the Polskie Heroiny Dźwięku (Polish Heroines of Sound) program conducted by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the wider Polska Music campaign. It aims to create and popularise a new canon of works by Polish composers. In this case, they are “Sonosphère V. Wanda Landowska” by Elżbieta Sikora, “Aisthetikos” by Hanna Kulenty, “In the Shade of an Unshed Tear” by Agata Zubel and “Contradizione”, a classic by Grażyna Bacewicz.

Handwritten ballet manuscripts found in the most unexpected way. Two world premiere recordings. A mysterious composer. And last but not least, electrifying Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra with a young, award winning director – Sebastian Perłowski. These releases definitely will not be forgotten!

Handwritten ballet manuscripts found in the most unexpected way. Two world premiere recordings. A mysterious composer. And last but not least, electrifying Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra with a young, award winning director – Sebastian Perłowski. These releases definitely will not be forgotten!