Jerzy Gablenz; Ignacy Jan Paderewski - Piano Concerto; Polish Fantasy (Jonathan Plowright)

Information

Composer: Jerzy Gablenz; Ignacy Jan Paderewski

• Gablenz - Piano Concerto in D flat major, Op. 25
• Paderewski - Fantaisie polonaise sur des thèmes originaux, Op. 19

Jonathan Plowright, piano

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Łukasz Borowicz, conductor

Date: 2019

Label: Hyperion

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Review

Even by the fascinatingly obscure standards of Hyperion’s long-running Romantic Piano Concerto series (this is Vol. 83), Jerzy Gablenz’s Piano Concerto in D flat is quite a collector’s item. The Kraków-born Gablenz (1888-1937), who is not even remembered by Grove, was reasonably prolific but responsibilities in the family food factory (which under his stewardship specialised in canned cucumbers) got in the way of compositional fulfilment. His only opera, Bewitched Circle, was completed in 1920 but not premiered until 1955, and his Piano Concerto had to wait even longer – 51 years – for its first performance, given in 1977 in the Dominican Republic, where one of his sons was living.

Striking in places and an enjoyable listen, but hardly a rediscovered masterpiece, it is sometimes ungrateful for the soloist to play and brassily orchestrated. Jonathan Plowright makes the best possible case for it in partnership with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Łukasz Borowicz, a champion of neglected Polish music. The slow movement features occasional notes on the glockenspiel – to modern ears disconcertingly like the ping of a text message landing in the middle of a performance.

Paderewski’s Polish Fantasy (1893), his last work for piano and orchestra, is an altogether more refined work, the whole of which could fit into Gablenz’s long first movement. If less memorable than Paderewski’s own Piano Concerto, it is still by turns melancholy and glittering across its four connected movements, and Plowright – who has made Paderewski a speciality – delivers all the required virtuosity.

— John Allison

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Jerzy Gablenz (23 January 1888 – 11 November 1937) was a Polish composer who was born into a musical family in Kraków. Although he studied law at Jagiellonian University and later managed his father's industrial company, he continued intensive musical activities, performing as a flutist and organist while studying composition under prominent Polish musicians. His major works included the opera Zaczarowane koło, symphonic poems, a suite, a symphony and a piano concerto. Gablenz died tragically in a passenger-aircraft crash near Piaseczno, before his opera was performed and before receiving wider recognition.

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Ignacy Jan Paderewski (6 November 1860 – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman. He studied music in Warsaw, Berlin and Vienna, and gained international fame with his performances in major cities like Vienna, Paris, London and New York. Celebrated for his passionate interpretations of Chopin, Bach, Beethoven and Schumann, he inspired deep devotion from his audiences. Despite a demanding touring schedule, he composed over 70 works, including the opera Manru and a symphony. A dedicated patriot, Paderewski served as Poland's prime minister and signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

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Jonathan Plowright (born 1959 in Yorkshire) is an English classical pianist. He studied with Alexander Kelly at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and with Julio Esteban at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Plowright has performed worldwide as recitalist, appeared with leading orchestras and ensembles, made many commercial recordings and appeared on radio and TV broadcasts. He champions neglected music from Polish Romantic composers, such as Zygmunt Stojowski, Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Juliusz Zarębski, which he has recorded for Hyperion Records and Warner Classics.

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