Zygmunt Stojowski - Piano Music (Jonathan Plowright)

Information

Composer: Zygmunt Stojowski

• Deux Pensées musicales, Op. 1
• Deux Orientales, Op. 10
• Quatre Morceaux pour piano, Op. 26
• Fantasie, Op. 38
• Aspiration, Op. 39
• Variations et Fugue sur un thème original, Op. 42

Jonathan Plowright, piano

Date: 2003

Label: Hyperion

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Review

The Polish pianist, composer, and pedagogue Sigismond Stojowski (1870-1946) gained renown as a highly regarded piano teacher (Oscar Levant counted among his pupils) and an activist for the Polish cause during both world wars. Like his better-known compatriot Paderewski, Stojowski wrote a considerable amount of music that, while not terribly original, proves more substantial than the usual pianist/composer salon fluff of the era, and it’s chock-full of memorable, long-limbed tunes that would serve any weepy Hollywood classic well. Of the two Pensés musicales Op. 1, the Mélodie survived as a classical music “greatest hit” for decades via numerous instrumental arrangements and kitsch adaptations. The following Prélude’s yearning left-hand chords and intense central climax might be described as a ménage between Chopin’s E minor Prelude, Scriabin’s C-sharp minor Etude Op. 2 No. 1, and Max Steiner. Chopin’s F minor Fantasy gets radically updated harmonically, replete with a weighty fugue, in the Op. 38 Fantasie. And pianists looking for a large-scale set of variations packed with technical challenges, scintillation, and the bracing neo-classical harmonic language familiar from Rachmaninov’s later works should get to know Stojowski’s Op. 42.

As in his brilliant Hyperion recordings of Stojowski’s piano concertos, Jonathan Plowright’s glittering, forward moving interpretations and supreme pianistic command make these long-dormant works come alive for a new generation of listeners. Listen to his vivacious alternating chords in the Caprice Orientale, or to his ricochet octave technique in Op. 42’s seventh variation, abetted by his exquisite legato and instinct for color, and you’ll wonder if today–rather than the 1920s–represents the Golden Age of Romantic Pianism. Highly recommended.

— Jed Distler

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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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