Various Composers - The Polish Violin, Vol. 2 (Jennifer Pike; Petr Limonov)

Information

1. Karol Szymanowski - Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 9: I. Allegro moderato
2. Karol Szymanowski - Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 9: II. Andantino tranquillo
3. Karol Szymanowski - Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 9: III. Finale. Allegro molto
4. Karol Szymanowski - La Berceuse d'Aïtacho Enia, Op. 51
5. Karol Szymanowski - Trois Caprices de Paganini, Op. 40: I. À Paul Kochanski (Caprice No. 20)
6. Karol Szymanowski - Trois Caprices de Paganini, Op. 40: II. À Paul Kochanski (Caprice No. 21)
7. Karol Szymanowski - Trois Caprices de Paganini, Op. 40: III. À Joseph Oziminsky (Thème Varié. Caprice No. 24)
8. Irène Poldowski - Violin Sonata in D minor: I. Andante languido
9. Irène Poldowski - Violin Sonata in D minor: II. Scherzo. Vivace
10. Irène Poldowski - Violin Sonata in D minor: III. Finale. Presto con fuoco
11. Grażyna Bacewicz - Kaprys polski (Polish Caprice)
12. Irène Poldowski - Tango

Jennifer Pike, violin

Petr Limonov, piano

Date: 2021

Label: Chandos

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Review

Szymanowski’s early music is semantically elusive – despite moments of explosive 19th-century rhetoric, one can already sense an underlying tendency towards the chromatically intensified exotic. His opulent sound world leads the ear to expect outbursts of melodic prolificity, yet although his writing is predominantly lyrical in essence, Szymanowski shows no inclination to fall back on indelible melody. The challenge is to make sense of the music – most notably the op.9 Sonata (1904), included here – which appears stylistically to look backwards and forwards at the same time.

This is where Jennifer Pike and Petr Limonov really come into their own, discovering a magical interpretive path that indulges the music’s luxuriant tendency with exquisite subtlety and musical focus. This becomes still more revelatory in the three Paganini caprice realisations, in which Pike refocuses her glistening virtuosity to create a dream world of haunting reminiscences. So musically entwined are Pike’s and Limonov’s fine-tuned responses to La Berceuse d’Aïtacho Enia, that one wishes this trance-like miniature would go on unfurling indefinitely.

The real discovery, however, is the D minor Sonata by Wieniawski’s daughter Poldowski (pseudonym of Irène Régine Wieniawska, later Lady Irène Dean Paul), whose delicious Tango (also included here) was famously recorded by Jascha Heifetz and Emanuel Bay. Composed only a few years after Szymanowski’s Sonata, ‘Poldowski’ demonstrates at this stage an even surer absorption of late Romantic creative tendencies. In between comes a dazzlingly playful performance of Bacewicz’s solo violin Kaprys polski from Pike, who nonchalantly negotiates its pyrotechnical hurdles. Exemplary annotations from Nigel Simeone and alluringly radiant sound provide further inducements to purchase.

— Julian Haylock

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Jennifer Pike (born 9 November 1989) is a British violinist. She studied at the Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and graduated with First Class Honours in Music from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she is now the Artist-In-Residence. Since winning the BBC Young Musician of the Year Award in 2002, Pike has performed extensively as soloist with major orchestras worldwide and appearing frequently on radio and television. Her prolific and widely-acclaimed discography on Chandos, Sony and ABC Classics. She plays a 1708 violin by Matteo Goffriller.

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Petr Limonov (born 1984) is a Russian-born British pianist. He began studying piano at the age of five and received early recognition after winning First Prize at the Nikolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Paris. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, where he trained with Alexander Satz, Hamish Milne, Dmitri Alexeev and leading pianists through masterclasses. Limonov has performed at major concert halls and festivals worldwide, collaborated with distinguished musicians and orchestras, recorded for prominent classical labels, and appeared on broadcasts.

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