The artists once again reach for lesser-known Polish nineteenth-century repertoire. The album features solo music by Maria Szymanowska and chamber works by Józef Krogulski. This is the first recording of these pieces performed on historical instruments.
Katarzyna Drogosz, a pianist specializing in historical keyboard instruments, and the musicians of Arte dei Suonatori have known each other and collaborated for many years, meeting frequently on concert stages in programs featuring the historical fortepiano. The result of this artistic partnership is another joint album devoted to two outstanding figures of their era, somewhat unjustly pushed into the background of Polish music history.
On the new album we hear the solo cycle Vingt Exercices et Préludes pour le Pianoforte (Twenty Exercises and Preludes for the Pianoforte) by Maria Szymanowska, composed by this first Polish pianist of European renown in the years 1819–1820. In the second part of the album, Katarzyna Drogosz is joined by musicians of Arte dei Suonatori, performing in a chamber ensemble, to present the Octet in D minor, Op. 6 by Józef Krogulski—an impressive work by an outstanding pupil of Józef Elsner, who, despite his short life of just twenty-seven years, left behind a substantial compositional legacy.
The album was released by the All’improvviso label, founded several years ago in connection with the International Early Music Festival “All’improvviso” in Gliwice.
Performers:
Katarzyna Drogosz – piano
Arte dei Suonatori (chamber ensemble):
Anne Freitag – traverso flute
Toni Salar-Verdú – clarinet
Ewa Golińska – violin I
Aureliusz Goliński – violin II
Anna Krzyżak-Siarkowska – viola
Monika Hartmann – cello
Anna Bator – double bass
Listen to the album:
