Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński - Piano Concerto; Symphony No. 2 (Emilian Madey; Łukasz Borowicz)

Information

Composer: Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński

CD1

• Overture to 'Monbar, or Te Filibusters', Op. 30
• Piano Concerto in A flat major, Op. 2

CD2

• Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 15 'Characteristic'
• Original slow movement of Symphony No. 2 (Andante grazioso)

Emilian Madey, piano

Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Łukasz Borowicz, conductor

Date: 2013

Label: Chandos

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Review

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (1807-1867) was a slightly older contemporary of Frédéric Chopin and a classmate of his at the Warsaw Conservatory in the 1820s. Dobrzyński was a pianist and conductor as well as a composer, but unlike his far more famous compatriot, he chose to remain in Poland rather than further his career in western Europe, and as a result found his opportunities increasingly limited.

Most of his music therefore dates from the 1820s and 30s. It includes his two symphonies, a piano concerto, a variety of chamber music and what is reckoned to be his greatest achievement, the opera Monbar, or the Filibusters. This pair of discs from the Polish Radio Symphony under Lukasz Borowicz provides a valuable introduction to the music of a composer who may hardly be known outside Poland nowadays, but who on this evidence deserves much more exposure.

For all its fluency, the least interesting of the pieces here is the early piano concerto, which Dobrzyński composed when he was just 17, but which apparently was never played in public in his lifetime. Stylistically, it's derived from Hummel above all, though there are just occasional hints that Chopin may have seen the score before he composed his own F minor concerto five years later. But as Borowicz's performances show, it's in the overture to Monbar, completed in 1838, and in the second symphony, the "Characteristic" that Dobryzyński composed in 1834 but revised near the end of his life in 1862 , that his real voice emerges.

With its dark-hued opening, the overture has distinct echoes of Weber about it, while the symphony borrows Polish dance forms – kujawiak, mazurka, krakowiak – that are incorporated into a style clearly indebted to Mendelssohn. But Dobryzyński does it with such panache – the finale of the symphony is exhilaratingly exuberant – that it seems all of a piece. It's a very convincing early romantic symphony that's well worth a place in the repertoire, while the overture is striking enough to suggest that the whole of the opera would be well worth investigating.

— Andrew Clements

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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.

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Emilian Madey (born 1975) is a Polish pianist and composer. Born in Warsaw, he studied composition, piano and conducting at the Academies of Music in Warsaw and Łódź. A piano prodigy, he made his orchestral debut at age 11 and won prizes at international competitions in Vilnius and Paris. Madey has performed widely across Europe and Asia, appearing with leading orchestras and in major concert halls. His compositions have been presented internationally and recorded on several albums. He is a lecturer at the University of Music in Warsaw and has taught piano at the Fryderyk Chopin Secondary School of Music since 2002.

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Łukasz Borowicz (born 25 September 1977) is a Polish conductor. A graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy in Warsaw, he studied with Bogusław Madey and Antoni Wit and won four international conducting competitions between 1999 and 2004. From 2007 to 2015 he was Chief Conductor of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Warsaw. Borowicz has also conducted major orchestras and opera companies across Europe while championing neglected Polish repertoire through acclaimed recordings. His discography has received numerous international awards, including the Diapason d'Or and Fryderyk Prize.

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