Tempus Fantasy
Fantasy on Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Sonate F minor Op. 80 No. 1; Fantasy on Claude Debussy’s “Pour l’Egyptienne”; Fantasy on Gregorian chant “Dies Irae” & Franz Liszt’s “Totentanz”; Fantasy on Sergei Rachmaninov’s “Vocalise”; Fantasy on Sergei Rachmaninov’s Prelude C sharp minor Op.3 No.2; Fantasy on Frederic Chopin’s Prelude F sharp major Op. 28 No.13; Fantasy on Claude Debussy’s “Jimbo‘s Lullaby”; Fantasy on Issac Albeniz’s “El Albaicin” from the Iberia Suite; Fantasy on Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s “Three pieces in old style”; Fantasy on Maurice Ravel’s “Le Gibet” from Gaspard de la nuit
Katarżyna Borek, piano; Wojciech “Vojto Monteur” Orszewski, electronics & guitar [2]; Natalia Grosiak, vocal [3]; Łukasz Sobolak, live drum samples & beats [1, 2, 3, 4, 7]; Mateusz Walerian, saxophone sampling [2]; Oleg Dziewanowski, marimba [2]; Karolina Piątkowska-Nowicka, violin [1]
Warner Classics 136-9952 (available at merlin.pl)
This album project presents the new sounds of classical music in an unconventional arrangement with electronic music, which, in the 20th and 21st centuries, has become part of both the most avant-garde trends in arts as well as the trend in mass culture. The album by Katarżyna Borek and Wojciech Orszewski presents the works of the most outstanding composers of the 19th- and 20th-century piano classics. These compositions are performed in their original versions and improvised along with computer electronics or other instruments, which in real time influence the sounds of the piano, thanks to the use of technologically advanced effect processors.
According to Borek and Orszewski:
Conceptually, only few artists in the world have taken up a similar challenge, which makes this project highly attractive not only because it’s unconventional, but also because our aim is to break the stereotypes about the role of the artists representing both music genres in the 21st century. Combining two significant and at the same time contrasting genres is not only an interesting experiment but it is also of high educational value. It introduces the listeners of both music genres into the diverse worlds.
Influencing so many music trends, electronics became an inseparable element of the artistic work of the leading representatives and composers of 20th-century classical music. Then, there emerged the independent, strictly electronic forms such as industrial, ambient, techno. They have become part of the mainstream music scene.
Watch the trailer for the album at www.youtube.com. More information is available at www.pianoelectronica.eu.
Katarzyna Borek is an outstanding pianist of the Polish young generation. She studied at the F. Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz/Poland, Hochschule fur Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover and Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels. She proved her artistry by receiving awards in many prestigious international piano competitions among others: International Ignacy Jan Paderewski Competition in Bydgoszcz, the International Chopin Competition in Moscow, Gottingen and Szafarnia and a finalist of The International Busoni Competition in Bolzano.
Wojciech Orszewski has had an interest in music since his childhood. Already at the school age, he co-founded music bands who participated in numerous popular music contests and festivals. He has graduated from the Wrocław School of Jazz and Popular Music. He has participated in many music workshops, where he was learning to play the guitar under the supervision of outstanding guitarists (Artur Lesicki, Martin Schaberl).
[Sources: press release, pianoelectronica.eu]