Information
Composer: Alexandre Tansman; Grażyna Bacewicz
- Bacewicz - Piano Quintet No. 1
- Bacewicz - Piano Quintet No. 2
- Tansman - Musica a cinque
Julia Kociuban, piano
Messages Quartet
Małgorzata Wasiucionek-Potera, violin
Oriana Masternak, violin
Maria Shetty, viola
Beata Urbanek-Kalinowska, cello
Date: 2022
Label: DUX
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Both Bacewicz and Tansman are well represented on disc but competing versions of works are valuable not merely in offering a choice – a choice of couplings, for example - but also for interpretative decision-making.
For example, the Silesian Quartet, on their Chandos recording of the Piano Quintets, offer further works by Bacewicz – the Quartets for violins, and for cellos. On their new Dux recording the Messages Quartet and pianist Julia Kociuban have opted to include Tansman’s Musica a cinque, for piano quintet.
Interpretatively, there’s a give-and-take quality at work. The Silesians’ greater speed in the introduction to the First Quintet’s opening movement allows a more seamless transition to the ensuing tempo whereas the Messages prefer more of an audible gear change. I would also note that the Chandos team manages to preserve some of the misterioso unease here whereas the Dux team, largely because of their more blatant recording, can sound a touch hard-edged. However, the Presto is appealingly done, suavely dispatched, and the slow movement is beautiful, its refined eloquence never in doubt. Similarly, the finale is truly Con passione - bright, biting and brilliant.
By the time of the Second Quintet, thirteen years later, Bacewicz’s language had undergone a change to her late style, which is altogether more jagged than before. This quintet was composed around the same time as her last string quartet and her final violin concerto, and it shares with them those qualities of accommodation with the Polish avant-garde. Textures are free and whilst mood changes are clear there’s an abruptness and turbulence that remains unsettling. As so often at this time she encodes material from her Partita for Violin in the slow movement, almost as her motto theme. There’s very little between the two performances.
Tansman’s piano quintet was written in 1955. It’s cast in five movements and opens with a smoky Praeludium, continues with the syncopated bravura of a Toccata, adds the compelling stillness of a complex Elegia, and a firefly Divertimento, and then unleashes a fugal finale. In every way it’s a more approachable, less intimidating work than Bacewicz’s Second Quintet though whether it’s greater openheartedness is a match for her more questing technique is another matter. It’s certainly finely played here and makes for a fine programmatic contrast.
The booklet is attractive and colourful and if the recording is a touch less warm that is ideal, it doesn’t limit enjoyment of these performances which are as up-front as the performers’ clothing sense.
— Jonathan Woolf
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Alexander Tansman (12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish-born French composer. Born in Łódź to Jewish parents, he studied piano, composition and conducting before earning a law degree from Warsaw University. After moving to Paris in 1919, he gained recognition as a pianist and composer, influenced particularly by Stravinsky and Ravel. His international career included performances and tours across Europe, Asia and America. During World War II, he fled to Los Angeles with his family. Although he continued composing prolifically after returning to Paris, his neo-Classical style gradually fell out of favor.
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Grażyna Bacewicz (5 February 1909 – 17 January 1969) was a Polish composer and violinist of Lithuanian origin. Educated in Łódź, Warsaw and Paris, she studied composition with Kazimierz Sikorski and Nadia Boulanger and violin with prominent teachers including Carl Flesch. She achieved early recognition as a performer and later devoted herself primarily to composition and teaching. Bacewicz produced a substantial body of neoclassical music, with particular emphasis on violin and string repertoire, including seven violin concertos and seven string quartets. Her works received numerous international and national awards.
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Julia Kociuban (born 18 January 1992) is a Polish pianist. She studied at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Universität Mozarteum Salzburg and the Royal College of Music in London. She earned a doctorate in music in 2019 and completed postgraduate studies in cultural management in 2020. Kociuban has performed extensively across Europe, America and Asia in major concert halls and international festivals. She regularly appears as a soloist and chamber musician and collaborates with leading orchestras and conductors. She also teaches at the Bacewicz University of Music in Łódź.
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Founded in 2014, Messages Quartet is an acclaimed Polish string quartet recognized for its commitment to Polish music, particularly contemporary and lesser-known works. The ensemble won prizes at the 2015 International Chamber Music Competition in Plovdiv and has since performed extensively across Europe, the Americas and beyond. Its critically acclaimed recordings include works by Laks, Moniuszko, Panufnik, Penderecki, Bacewicz and Tansman. Alongside an active concert career, the quartet premieres new compositions, collaborates with leading institutions, and contributes to music education at Polish academies.
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