November 14 marks the premiere of a new album by the Equilibrium String Quartet!
This time, the ensemble invited a special guest to collaborate—pianist Tobias Koch—to record a masterpiece of Polish chamber music: the Piano Quintet by Juliusz Zarębski. For the first time, the work has been recorded on period instruments.
This release is already the fifth album in the discography of the Equilibrium Quartet, an ensemble specializing in bringing Polish music of the 18th and 19th centuries back to the concert stage. The group has previously recorded works by Elsner, Żeleński, Kurpiński, Lessel, and Noskowski. The four musicians forming Equilibrium—Sulamita Ślubowska, Małgorzata Malke, Anna Nowak, and Tomasz Pokrzywiński—have this time turned their attention to piano chamber music, inviting to collaborate an outstanding specialist in historical pianos, the German pianist Tobias Koch.
Together, the artists recorded one of the most important works of Polish nineteenth-century music: the Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 34 by Juliusz Zarębski. The uniqueness of this recording lies in the fact that it is the first ever made on historical instruments, with the solo piano part performed by Tobias Koch on a historic Kerntopf piano from 1894—the very instrument on which Ignacy Jan Paderewski once performed concerts in Lviv.
The recording is released on vinyl and in digital distribution across all major streaming platforms. Celebrating its eighteenth anniversary this year, the International Early Music Festival All’improvviso in Gliwice has, for several years now, been actively developing a program supporting Polish artists in their recording activities. The record label established for this purpose presents new albums each year featuring Polish nineteenth-century music performed on historical instruments. Premiering on November 14, the recording of Zarębski’s Piano Quintet performed by the Equilibrium String Quartet and Tobias Koch is the fifth release in the All’improvviso catalogue.
The album was made possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, within the framework of the “Muzyczny Ślad” (“Musical Trace”) program run by the National Institute of Music and Dance, as well as the Association of Performing Artists STOART.
