Polish

This DVD contains pieces of two polish romantic composers, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz and Emil Mlynarski, performed by Nigel Kennedy accompanied by the Polish Chamber Orchestra, recorded live during various concerts in Poland.
While Nigel Kennedy is one of the leading violinists of his generation, he is also among the most controversial of musicians before the public, owing to his flashy persona, unconventional interpretations, and his seemingly innate sense to capture attention. Kennedy's rock-star-like appearance in concert (glittering jewelry, spiky hair, etc.) and his controversial politics (he has boycotted Israel, comparing that nation with South Africa) have often drawn sharp criticism.

After restoring his first name, Nigel Kennedy (aka, the artist formerly known as Kennedy), released a series of recordings on EMI as virtuosic and eccentric as himself: East Meets East, Inner Thoughts, The Vivaldi Album, and the Blue Note Sessions. But despite the enormous musical diversity of those records, little could have prepared one for the album that followed: Polish Spirit, featuring violin concertos by Emil Mlynarski and Mieczyslaw Karlowicz and arrangements of Chopin's 2 Nocturnes, Op. 9.

Although Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor was the first of his two concertos to be published, it was actually composed shortly after No. 2. Stirring, beautiful and with a fiery Rondo finale, the concerto is especially notable for its radiant slow movement, which Chopin said was a “meditation in beautiful spring weather, but by moonlight.” The other two works on the programme are the Fantasy on Polish Airs, which Chopin called his ‘Potpourri on Polish Themes’, and the Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante, a dance-inspired showpiece. They’re performed in this classic 1972 VOX recording by Abbey Simon, the great American pianist and eloquent exponent of Chopin’s works. The Elite Recordings for VOX by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestral recordings.

This recording, made in 1991, contains two fine performances. Indeed the performance of Hamlet is better than fine, it is positively thrilling. The Polish orchestra are well able to deliver on this and Leaper shows considerable empathy for the music. The recording is good, if a little lacking in absolute clarity at the bottom end which tends to be just a touch inclined to 'muddiness' at moments of greatest demand. This should not be over-emphasised in view of the excellence of the music making and the general acceptance of the recording. Indeed, the weighty sound-stage and quite close balance suits the heavier approach of Leaper when compared to Karajan on DGG for example, and to a lesser extent, Jansons on Chandos.

Jenö Jandó and his Polish colleagues strike me as getting the balance just about right.

Gone are the days when the Dvorak Violin Concerto was neglected on disc. Among the 20-odd rival recordings listed in the catalogue there are many outstanding versions, including at least one, Tasmin Little's on CfP, at bargain price. Naxos now offer another, with the Dvorak Concerto generously coupled not only with the Romance (often the only extra on recordings of this work) but with another high-romantic, Slavonic violin concerto, the Glazunov. The disc makes an outstanding bargain despite some reservations.

Karol Szymanowski spent his early years in Ukraine (where many affluent Polish families still owned land at the time). An injury to the leg forced young Karol into a life of relative inactivity, and, from age seven on, attendance at school was replaced by rigorous musical studies (first under his father's tutelage, and then, from 1892 on, at Gustav Neuhaus' music school in Elisavetgrad). Although early training focused on the piano, Neuhaus was quick to observe his young student's potential as a composer. While in Elisavetgrad, Szymanowski was introduced to the German classics as well as to Chopin and Scriabin. After studies with Noskowski in Warsaw from 1903 to 1905, Szymanowski lived for a time in Berlin, helping to found ……

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