KAROL SZYMANOWSKI – PIANO MUSIC
Karol Szymanowski: Nine Preludes, Op. 1; Four Études, Op. 4; Masques, Op. 34; Two Mazurkas, Op. 62
Barbara Karaśkiewicz – piano
Divine Art Records DDA 25151 (June 16, 2017)
Barbara Karaśkiewicz is a Polish pianist of consummate skill with a natural empathy for Polish music, demonstrated by her critically acclaimed disc of music by Roman Statkowski (DDA 25129). She turns to the composer that she considers the most important in Poland and one for whose music there is a high demand.
To many, Szymanowski was the most important composer from Poland – taking the Romantic tradition of Chopin, and transforming it into a style which retained the Romantic ideals but firmly within the 20th century, approaching modernism with music of enormous vitality and requiring virtuoso performance. This selection of works from the beginning, middle and end of Szymanowski’s career follows the critically acclaimed disc of works by another Polish post-Romantic, the lesser known but equally skilled Roman Statkowski (DDA 25129).
[Source: press release]