Ernest Bloch - Concerti Grossi; Concertino; Four Episodes (Agnieszka Duczmal)

Information

Composer: Ernest Bloch

• Concerto Grosso No. 1, for string orchestra & piano obbligato
• Concertino, for flute, viola & strings orchestra
• 4 Episodes, for chamber orchestra
• Concerto Grosso No. 2, for string quartet & strings

Amadeus Chamber Orchestra

Agnieszka Duczmal, conductor

Date: 1992

Label: CPO

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Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer known for blending post-Romantic and neoclassical styles with Jewish musical themes. He studied in Switzerland and Belgium, taught at the Geneva Conservatory, and moved to the U.S. in 1916. Bloch became the first director of the Cleveland Institute of Music and later led the San Francisco Conservatory. He taught at UC Berkeley until retiring in 1952. Bloch's compositions, influenced by Debussy, Mahler, and Ravel, include Schelomo, Baal Shem, Avodath Hakodesh, Concerto Grosso No. 1, and Israel Symphony, among others.

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Agnieszka Duczmal (born 7 January 1946) is a Polish conductor. Educated at the Poznan Academy of Music, she began her career as an assistant conductor at the Poznan National Philharmonic and gained recognition through international competitions and awards. In 1968, she established a chamber orchestra that evolved into the Polish Radio and Television Chamber Orchestra, later renamed 'Amadeus'. She served as its artistic and managing director until 2024, when her daughter Anna Duczmal-Mróz succeeded her. Duczmal conducts orchestras at home and abroad, and was the first woman to conduct at La Scala.

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