Polish pianist and conductor Krystian Zimerman was in London last October to receive his seventh Gramophone Award. While in the UK, he recorded a podcast for Gramophone Magazine with James Jolly, touching upon such wide-ranging subjects as the music of Karol Szymanowski, conducting and retirement. The Gramophone Award honors his latest Deutsche Grammophon album, one…Continue Reading Zimerman: Gramophone Award for Szymanowski CD
The Meccore String Quartet, an ensemble long devoted to the chamber music of Krzysztof Penderecki, has just released a new album. This album consists of Penderecki string quartets, trios, and one of his clarinet concertos, featuring the guest appearance of acclaimed Polish clarinetist Jan Jakub Bokun. As a commemoration, this album was released on the…Continue Reading Meccore String Quartet Plays Penderecki
As a part of their project “Anothology of Polish A Cappella Works,” the Polish Chamber Musicians of Collegium Cantorum has just released their latest album: “Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz – Choral Works.” Released on the DUX label, the album focuses on the music of Polish composer Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz. Aside from being a decorated composer, Paciorkiewicz is considered…Continue Reading New Album of Paciorkiewicz Works
USC Thornton professor, pianist Bernadene Blaha, and Swiss violinist Laurence Kayaleh are featured on a new album of Polish romantic music released in December on Naxos (8.574220). These internationally renowned artists perform the unjustly neglected violin sonatas of Władysław Żeleński (1837-1931)and Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909). From the Naxos website: Both Zygmunt Noskowski and Władysław Żeleński were…Continue Reading Blaha and Kayaleh Perform Żeleński and Noskowski
Exciting Library Additions Sławomir Dobrzański, concert pianist, professor at Kansas State University and a biographer of Maria Szymanowska (PMHS Vol. 9), recently sent us several very interesting publications and recordings that will enrich our holdings. First, there are two orchestral scores, Canto di Aspirazione for Orchestra by Felix Łabuński (1892-1979) and Magnificat for soprano and…Continue Reading PMC Gifts: August 2023
By Marek Zebrowski Christmas in July! Amazingly enough, this rather overused turn of phrase in this particular instance actually correctly describes the shower of amazing gifts and donations that the Polish Music Center received throughout the month of July. The first and historically most significant among them is a tranche of correspondence between Nancy Fierro,…Continue Reading July 2023 Gifts
Leading classical music label NAXOS has several exciting new releases featuring Polish creativity. This month NAXOS highlights Polish opera and string quartets. Janek by Żeleński Described by period writers and fellow composers, Zygmunt Stojowski and Jarosław Zieliński, as the most influential Polish composer of the fin-de-siècle, Żeleński was the teacher of a generation of composers…Continue Reading New on Naxos June 2023
By Marek Zebrowski Warsaw Autumn Sounds Mieczysław Kominek, President of the Polish Composers’ Union (ZKP) and Director of the Polish Music Information Centre in Warsaw (POLMIC), recently sent us the sound chronicles of the 2020 Warsaw Autumn Festival. This time around it is a set of three CDs, featuring the highlights of concerts that took…Continue Reading PMC Gifts: Spring 2023
Polish composer Joanna Bruzdowicz, a great friend and benefactor of the Polish Music Center, would have been eighty years old this May 17. Unfortunately, she unexpectedly passed away at her residence in the south of France on November 3, 2021. Since then, her three sons—Mark, Jan and Jörg Tittel with their families—had generously donated a…Continue Reading Sounds of History
Pump Out the Music! Virtuoso accordionist Wiesław Ochwat (above) teamed up with maestro Maciej Tworek and the Sinfonietta Cracovia ensemble to record two new concertos for accordion and orchestra for the Opus label (86 | 2022). Their CD features Maciej Zimka’s Concerto for Accordion and Chamber Orchestra and Mikołaj Majkusiak’s Concerto In Between for the…Continue Reading Feb 2023: PMC Gifts