Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński - Chamber Works with Piano, Vol. 2 (Les Explorateurs)

Information

Composer: Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński

1. Fantaisie, for violin and piano, Op. 32
2. Introduction and Variations, for violin and piano, Op. 9
3. Les Larmes, for violin and piano, Op. 41
4. Souvenir de Dresde, for violin, cello and piano, Op. 47
5. Introduction and Variations, for flute and piano, Op. 18
6. Andante e Rondo alla Polacca, for flute and piano, Op. 42

Les Explorateurs

    Joanna Ławrynowicz, piano

    Anna Orlik, violin

    Łukasz Tudzierz, cello

    Jagoda Sokołowska-O'Donovan, flute

Date: 2013

Label: Acte Préalable

-----------------------------------------------------------

Review

"The wonderful discoveries that I have made during my research on neglected repertoire often make me wonder why it is that so much beautiful Polish music has fallen into oblivion" - thus writes Acte Préalable (AP) impresario Jan Jarnicki in his customary preamble for the CD booklet. Music-lovers who have bought previous AP discs will have asked themselves the same question - how to account rationally for the big repertoire gap between Chopin and Szymanowski, and again between Szymanowski and Penderecki/Górecki. The names capable of filling those holes are legion, a fact to which many previous AP recordings are persuasive testimony. 

This new disc is the second and - for now at least - last volume dedicated to the chamber music of one of those composers, Ignacy Dobrzyński. Volume one itself only came out a few weeks ago. Jarnicki writes that he "discovered Dobrzyński left behind a vast legacy of chamber pieces", but this is something of an overstatement - the present volume and the first, incidentally one of AP's finest recordings to date, constitute the complete works of those written to include a piano, apart from a Clarinet Duo in A. According to Jarnicki, that work may yet appear on a future volume, but since last year it has actually been available on another entrepreneurial Polish label, DUX (0857). Roman Widaszek's account of this delightful piece would in fact be a difficult one to upstage.

 

For all that Dobrzyński continues to impress here - sounding at times not unlike early Schubert or Wieniawski - this second disc is less compelling than the first, despite its highly generous running time, for two reasons. First, three of the works, opp. 18, 41 and 47, are the same, bar a change of instrumentation - these are alternative versions, albeit the notes are not always clear which ones were made or sanctioned by the composer.

 

Second, the flautist Jagoda Sokolowska-O'Donovan is not convincing, especially in the Andante e Rondo alla Polacca, where she initially seems to let nerves get the better of her. Her wrong notes right at the beginning are the worst of it, but it takes her a long while to settle down. She is on improved form in the op.18 Introduction and Variations, but there are still articulatory and intonational impurities that make a second listen-through a less appealing proposition.

 

The other musicians all appeared on volume one, where they were excellent without exception. Les Explorateurs is a chamber ensemble based around pianist Joanna Ławrynowicz, with guest musicians coming in according to the requirements of works at hand. Ławrynowicz has recorded over thirty CDs for AP spanning more than a decade, and was apparently the first Pole to record the complete works of Chopin (also for AP). As previously, the performances of Ławrynowicz, Łukasz Tudzierz and Anna Orlik are poised and nicely coloured. 

Sound quality is very good once more - unsurprisingly, in fact, as some of the works were recorded alongside those on volume one. The accompanying Polish-English notes are informative, although the translation does come with a mild foreign accent. Performer biographies are effusive: Ławrynowicz, for example, is "considered one of the greatest Polish pianists". Also included is an extended biography of the talented cover art painter.

 

— Byzantion

-----------------------------------------------------------

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (15 February 1807 – 9 October 1867) was a Polish pianist and composer. After studying with his father, he trained under Józef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory alongside Frédéric Chopin. He gained recognition when his Symphony No. 2 'Characteristic', Opus 15 won second prize in a composition competition, with movements later conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Dobrzyński toured Germany as a pianist and conductor, founded a Polish orchestra in 1857, and helped establish a Music Institute. His works include operas, symphonies, concertos, chamber music, piano pieces and songs.

***

Joanna Ławrynowicz (born 16 April 1975) is a Polish pianist. Born in Warsaw, she studied at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy under Teresa Manasterska and later with Halina Czerny-Stefańska. An award winner at international competitions, she has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician across Europe, Asia, the Americas and New Zealand. Ławrynowicz has recorded more than 40 albums, many featuring world premiere recordings of Polish repertoire, earning international critical acclaim. She also teaches masterclasses worldwide and is a professor of piano at the Fryderyk Chopin University in Warsaw.

-----------------------------------------------------------