Zygmunt Stojowski - Piano Concertos (Jonathan Plowright)

Information

Composer: Zygmunt Stojowski

• Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 3
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in A flat major "Prologue, Scherzo and Variations", Op. 32

Jonathan Plowright, piano

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Martyn Brabbins, conductor

Date: 2002

Label: Hyperion

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Review

Pianist Jonathan Plowright proves a remarkably adept and confident exponent of these two obscure piano concertos. Polish composer Zygmunt Stojowski (1870-1946) writes music in the ripe, late-Romantic tradition of Paderewski, and both works feature brilliant writing for soloist and orchestra as well as some really good tunes. Piano Concerto No. 1 has the traditional three movements and employs a touch of cyclical form, in that tunes from the preceding movements return at the end of the finale. Plowright plays the outer movements with the necessary bravura and turns in a poetic account of the lovely central Andante sostenuto.

The Second Piano Concerto commits a cardinal sin that has understandably doomed it to obscurity: it ends quietly. Composed in a single continuous arch of music consisting of a Prologue, Scherzo, and Variations (10 of them), it’s both more brilliant and more subtle than the First Concerto, and quite a discovery. The long final variation set also benefits from being based on a really memorable theme, and Jonathan Plowright again does an impressive job, putting over that quiet ending with a genuine sense of rightness. Martyn Brabbins does his usual professional job on the podium, the orchestra sounds fine, and Hyperion’s sound lives up to its usual high standard. A winner.

— David Hurwitz

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Zygmunt Stojowski (4 May 1870 – 5 November 1946) was a Polish pianist and composer. He studied in Kraków and at the Paris Conservatoire before moving to the United States in 1905, where he built a distinguished career as a performer and teacher. He composed extensively for piano, chamber ensembles and orchestra; notable works including a symphony, two piano concertos, a violin concerto and the cantata Spring. His late-Romantic style combined European influences with Polish musical traditions. Stojowski's music has experienced renewed interest through recent recordings, publications and performances.

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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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