A master recital by violinist Krzysztof Jakowicz on the occasion of his 80th birthday took place on 28 January at the National Philharmonic. Accompanied by pianist Robert Morawski, Jakowicz performed works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Witold Lutosławski, Henri Vieuxtemps, Aleksander Zarzycki and Henryk Wieniawski.

For over 200 years, Polish composers have written sonatas for violin and piano, including Józef Elsner, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski, Grażyna Bacewicz, and Krzysztof Penderecki. Józef Elsner composed his Sonata in F Major, Op. 10 in 1798, towards the end of his seven-year stay in Lvov. It is an example of music where neither of the instruments is favored over the other. In Jan Paderewski’s Sonata in A Minor, the much more expansive piano part clearly shows the composer’s virtuosic aspirations. Violinists are equally fond of Aleksander Zarzycki’s (1834-1895) Mazurka in G Major, dedicated to violinist Pablo Sarasate, and Romance in E Major, a melodic piece where instruments can show off their highest registers. One of the final pieces composed by Witold Lutosławski was Subito for violin and piano from 1992. The title refers to the work’s structure – a series of violently changing and diverse episodes that move along at breakneck speed. His slightly earlier Partita (1984) conveys the flavors of the Baroque.

[Source: polmic.pl]