K. Szymanowski  ~ photo copyright Lipnitzki-Viollet
K. Szymanowski  ~ photo copyright Lipnitzki-Viollet
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Karol Szymanowski The Complete Songs for voice and piano

Available at CHANNEL CLASSICS RECORDS

Karol Szymanowski ~ copyright: Lipnitzki-Viollet, Roger-ViolletOn the 1st of May 2004 Poland joined the EU. On this occasion we thought it would be time to bring out Poland's great composer Karol Szymanowski’s Complete Songs. Never recorded before, this unique box of 4 CD’s contains a real treasure of ravishing songs.
In a co-production with the Dutch label Channel Classics Records we have engaged three of the best Polish singers of our time, tenor Piotr Beczala, mezzosoprano Urszula Kryger and soprano Iwona Sobotka, joined by Juliana Gondek, American soprano of Polish descent. Accompanied by the Dutch pianist Reinild Mees, they will convince the listener of the high quality of this rarely heard song repertoire.

In 2004 Reinild Mees won the Szymanowski - Award and the Medal 'Merit of Polish Culture' for her achievements in promoting the song repertoire of Karol Szymanowski. Recently the Szymanowski CD's won the FRYDERYK AWARD, the most prestigious music award in Poland for the best recording of Polish music in 2004.

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CCS 19398 Karol Szymanowski The Complete Songs for voice and piano
   
Volume 1
Piotr Beczala, tenor
Reinild Mees, piano
Volume 2
Juliana Gondek, soprano
Reinild Mees, piano


 
Volume 3
Urszula Kryger, mezzo soprano
Reinild Mees, piano
Volume 4
Iwona Sobotka, soprano
Reinild Mees, piano


 
Listen to excerpts from the CD's:
Volume 1 Jestem i placze (I am and I weep)
Piotr Beczala, tenor
Reinild Mees, piano
   
Volume 2 Sleep now
Juliana Gondek, soprano
Reinild Mees, piano
   
Volume 3 Z maurytanskich spiewnych sal (From Moorish singing halls)
Urszula Kryger, mezzo soprano
Reinild Mees, piano
   
Volume 4 Piesn o fali (The Song of the Wave)
Iwona Sobotka, soprano
Reinild Mees, piano

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  Szymanowski (1882-1937), as many composers of his generation, was an ‘eclectic’ composer, which meant he let himself inspire by several cultural influences to write in many different styles. Traditional romantic songs on classical Polish poems by Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer and Jan Kasprowicz alternate with subtle impressionistic cycles on oriental themes ( The Songs of the Infatuated Muezzin, Songs of the Fairy-Tale Princess, The Love Songs of Hafiz), and passionate expressionistic German songs with witty nationalistic folksongs. Next to Polish poems Szymanowski used English texts by James Joyce and German texts by the great Viennese ‘Jugendstil’ poets, as well as paraphrases of Arab texts and translations of poems by the famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore.




 
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