Piano trio in E major op. 22
1. I. Allegro. Vivos voco!
2. II. Andante sostenuto. Mortuos plango!
3. III. Allegro deciso. Fulgara frango!

4. Romanze op. 40 for cello and piano 
5. Lyrischer Waltzer op. 15 for cello and piano
6. Berceuse op. 32 for cello and piano

Les Explorateurs:
Joanna Ławrynowicz – piano
Lucyna Fiedukiewicz – violin
Łukasz Tudzierz – cello

Les Explorateurs is a chamber ensemble based around pianist Joanna Ławrynowicz, with guest musicians coming in according to the requirements of works at hand. Ławrynowicz has recorded over thirty CDs for Acte Préalable (AP) spanning more than a decade, and was apparently the first Pole to record the complete works of Chopin - also for AP. For these two new releases she and cellist Łukasz Tudzierz combine in genial, committed performances to reveal to the world another batch of forgotten gems from seriously neglected composers. The Żeleński recording is the fourth and last volume in AP's revelatory series dedicated to his complete chamber music for strings.

Władysław Żeleński is one of 19th-century Poland's most important opera composers, but as a younger man he concentrated on instrumental works. Much of his music has sadly been lost and what remains has proved difficult to parse in chronological terms, with lost dates, misleading opus numbers, misattributions and so on. One corollary of this is that, in contradistinction to the Dobrzyński disc, there are no work dates given for Żeleński.

The four works heard here are all clearly influenced by Mendelssohn, sharing the same classical elegance and gentle lyrical beauty, even if not quite reaching the same acme of genius. The Trio, Lyrical Waltz and Romance all warrant a firm place in the repertoire - these are works that etch themselves on first hearing into the memory. Ławrynowicz and Tudzierz, joined now by violinist Lucyna Fiedukiewicz, once again play with clarity and sensitivity. It is Fiedukiewicz who is the star of the show here, thoughtful and expressive throughout, especially in the delectable Romance and Lyrical Waltz. ---Byzantion, musicweb-international.com

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1. Goplana: Act I-II & III		2:20:03

Edyta Piasecka - Goplana
Karolina Sołomin - Skierka
Anna Bernacka - Pixie
Katarzyna Trylnik - Alina
Wioletta Chodowicz - Balladyna
Małgorzata Walewska - Veuve
Arnold Rutkowski - Kirkor
Rafał Bartmiński - Grabiec
Mariusz Godlewski - Kostryn
Jan Żądło - Halberdier
Remy Lamping – Danseur

Chorus of Polish National Opera
Orchestra of Polish National Opera
Grzegorz Nowak – conductor

Opera in three acts
Libretto: Ludomił German after Balladyna by Juliusz Słowacki
In the original Polish

‘I prefer silence to music,’ Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński remarked in his Słówka [A Word or Two]. Does this have anything to do with the person of his father, composer Władysław Żeleński? We cannot say for sure. Władysław was expected to become a successor to Moniuszko. He did, but as a teacher of harmony and counterpoint at the Warsaw Conservatoire and not Poland’s national composer. However, his Goplana is a very fine piece, its lyricism showing affinity with Moniuszko’s works. Żeleński wove Polish motifs into the music: the polonaise, kujawiak, mazurka and oberek. He and Ludomił German, who based the libretto on the text of Słowacki’s Balladyna, made this almost Shakespearian drama more like a fairy tale. The protagonist is a goddess of the lake, a fantasy character with a lyrical coloratura voice. However, the tale retains its cruelty: there are three corpses and evil reigns. Director Janusz Wiśniewski has blended everything into the very distinctive world of his rich imagination. His original productions: Panopticum à la Madame Tussaud, Koniec Europy [The End of Europe] and Walka karnawału z postem [The Fight between Carnival and Lent] brought a new tone to Polish theatre in the 1980s. --- teatrwielki.pl

After Stanisław Moniuszko, Żeleński was the most outstanding Polish opera composer of the late 19th century. Discover this unfamiliar jewel live from Warsaw with a fairy tale plot; an opera run through with Polish motifs and touching lyricism.

Władysław Żeleński, a composer and teacher at the Warsaw Conservatoire, remains slightly in the shadow of Moniuszko. His GOPLANA is however a very fine piece, its lyricism showing affinity with Moniuszko’s works. Żeleński wove Polish motifs into his music: the polonaise, kujawiak, mazurka and oberek.

With his librettist Ludomił German, who was inspired by the text of Słowacki’s BALLADYNA, they made an almost Shakespearian drama into something of a fairy tale. The protagonist is a goddess of the lake, a fantasy character with a lyrical coloratura voice. The tale nonetheless retains its cruelty: there are three corpses and evil reigns. Director Janusz Wiśniewski has blended these elements into the very distinctive world of his rich imagination. Wiśniewski emerged as leading figure in Polish theatre in the 1980s. ---theoperaplatform.eu

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Piano Quartet Op. 61 in C minor
1. Allegro Con Brio
2. Romanza: Andante Sostenuto
3. Intermezzo: Allegretto
4. Finale: Allegro Appassionato

5. Variations on an original theme Op. 21 in G minor

Ławrynowicz Joanna, piano
Four Strings Quartet:
Fiedukiewicz Lucyna, Ist violin
Witek Grzegorz, IInd violin
Raszewska Beata, viola
Tudzierz Łukasz, cello

If one has heard much or anything about him at all, Wladyslaw Zelenski has garnered a reputation as a composer for the voice. Nevertheless this label has been actively promoting his music for chamber forces and for piano as well, so it’s good to encounter his compositions once more.

Briefly, as I wrote in a previous review, he was born near Cracow and studied there and in Prague and Paris. Back in Cracow he began a distinguished pedagogic career - succeeding Moniuszko as composition teacher - before moving to an even more distinguished position in Warsaw. He was soon back in Cracow however and was eventually to become Director of the Music Conservatoire. So, a strong academic pedigree and clearly an important teacher – his most famous pupil was Zygmunt Stojowski.

The big work in this release is the Piano Quartet. In its rugged, sinewy direction it recalls, as so often in his music, the influence of Brahms. This is particularly true of the piano writing, which is strongly muscular and full of urgent power. Material is nicely contrasted in the extensive and impressive opening movement, though I hear distinct reminiscences of Brahms’s First Piano Concerto. In addition to this influence, Zelenski leans strongly to stern Slavic models and this, combined with his gift for melody and very busy writing, gives the music an attractively clotted feel. In the Romanza the cello sings a Song without Words, and here one feels the impress of Zelenski’s powerful vocal qualities. Noteworthy is the terse B section and also the songful reprise, now decorated by elegant piano figuration. Witty piano chimes animate the scherzo, whilst the sheer sweep of the composer can be gauged by the finale which, whilst rather disappointingly conventional, is still well laid out.

The companion work is the Variations on an original theme in G minor for string quartet, written significantly earlier — though neither work, unfortunately, is dated in the notes. The yearning theme is rather lovely, and we pass through eight variations, including a fugal section, a Siciliana and an Alla Polacca. Throughout, the string writing is idiomatic and effective, not least the rising unison effect produced and the quietly withdrawn way Zelenski ends the piece. It’s by no means a major work but at a quarter of an hour in length an attractive one.

The major work is the Piano Quartet, extremely well performed and recorded, which once again advances the claims of this Polish composer as a valued follower of Brahms. ---Jonathan Woolf, musicweb-international.com

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1. Deux Morceaux op.63, I Toccata
2. Deux Morceaux op.63, II Idylle in B major
3. Ode to Youth, Solemn March op.51
4. March in Honour of the Immortal National Bard Adam Mickiewicz op.44
5. Deux Mazurkas op.31, Mazurka no. 1 in C sharp minor, Moderato
6. Deux Mazurkas op.31, Mazurka no. 2 in A major, Non troppo vivo, ma con gran brio
7. Sonata in E minor op. 20 in Seinem Freunde Stanislaus Tomkowicz, I Allegro con moto
8. Sonata in E minor op. 20 in Seinem Freunde Stanislaus Tomkowicz, II Adagio
9. Sonata in E minor op. 20 in Seinem Freunde Stanislaus Tomkowicz, III Scherzo
10. Sonata in E minor op. 20 in Seinem Freunde Stanislaus Tomkowicz, IV Allegro moderato

Joanna Ławrynowicz – piano

Jan Jarnicki’s admirable – one might say heroic - work in service of the great Polish musical heritage has already led him to publish scores of some of the compositions of Władislaw Żeleński. He has also issued at least two previous CDs entirely devoted to Żeleński – one containing organ preludes played by Julia Smykowska, the other a selection of songs performed by the soprano Anna Michalska-Przybysz and the pianist Malgorzata Wielgolinska. Now here is what is labelled as ‘Volume One’ of the Piano Works.

Żeleński was born near Krakow and it was there that he initially studied music, before advanced studies in Prague and Paris - finding time along the way to attain a doctorate in philosophy from the university of Prague. From 1881 he was director of the Conservatory in Krakow and a central figure in the musical life of the city – and the country – as composer, teacher and conductor. As a composer his works included at least four operas, choral compositions, a symphony, five string quartets and many songs, in addition to his works for solo piano.

On the present CD the young pianist Joanna Ławrynowicz plays – with considerable insight – both small and large-scale works by Żeleński. The programme includes his second piano sonata, a work dedicated to Stanislaus Tomkowicz, one of the great historians of Krakow. This is a substantial piece in four movements, on the classical pattern. It is well made and polished, if perhaps a bit longer than it need be. The first movement has some attractive themes handled in orthodox sonata form. The adagio is a set of mostly rather stately variations, the scherzo has some interesting writing for the left hand. There is some adroit fugal writing in the final allegro. The whole is firmly in the classical/romantic tradition of the second half of the nineteenth century. It is enjoyable listening without being especially individual – one hears echoes of other composers and nothing happens to make one sit up in surprise.

The smaller-scale works elsewhere on the CD similarly suggest a composer with a pleasant gift for lyrical melodies and a ‘correct’, rather conventional harmonic sense. Tracks 3 and 4 consist of two somewhat solemn pieces which come close to overstaying their welcome. The Toccata which opens the programme entertainingly juxtaposes insistently rhythmic figures and a lyric grace. The Idyll is appropriately dreamy and suggestive and is presented affectionately and convincingly by Ławrynowicz. One is perhaps most aware of the shadow of Chopin in the two Mazurkas, particularly in the sentimentality of the shorter piece in C sharp minor; the second is perhaps the more interesting, in which a heroic theme frames an extended passage of quiet mysteriousness.

The music on this CD is not, perhaps, such as to make the blood race. It is not keyboard writing which demands fireworks from the soloist – though it is, in places, demanding enough. It isn’t music that startles or surprises by its individuality. But Żeleński is thoroughly at home in his chosen idiom and anyone fond of the piano music of this period will surely find things to enjoy in what is on offer here. ---Glyn Pursglove, musicweb-international.com

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1. Waltz from Goplana 	4:57 	
2. Humoresque und Gavotte - Zwei Stuecke fuer Klavier op.18 - I. Humoresque 	5:15
3. Humoresque und Gavotte - Zwei Stuecke fuer Klavier op.18 - II. Gavotte 	4:13 
4. Deux morceaux de salon op.11 - I. Romanza 	3:52 	
5. Deux morceaux de salon op.11 - II. Nocturne 	4:30 	
6. Valse-Caprice op.9 	8:20 	
7. Sechs Charakterstuecke op.17 - I. Praeludium 	4:19
8. Sechs Charakterstuecke op.17 - II. Promenade 	3:29 
9. Sechs Charakterstuecke op.17 - III. Tanz 	5:00 	
10. Sechs Charakterstuecke op.17 - IV. Canon 	2:40 	
11. Sechs Charakterstuecke op.17 - V. Scherzo 	6:23 	
12. Sechs Charakterstuecke op.17 - VI. Abschied 	4:53 	
13. Reverie op.48 	3:47 	
14. Potpourris from Goplana 	11:58 	

Joanna Ławrynowicz – piano

Joanna Lawrynowicz is an excellent performer in these charming pieces by Zelenski. I was impressed by her playing in volume 1 (Acte Préalable AP0124) but in this disc she reveals an even greater depth and craftsmanship in the composer's work. The title of the pieces might suggest a disk full of salon music, but this is not quite the case; whilst some of the works are light and brilliant, others are much more pensive, showing deeper shades of emotion and intellect. The recorded sound is first-rate. --- paulk, amazon.com

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String Quartet in F major, Op.28 (before 1885) [36:15]
1.1. Allegro
2.2. Andante Con Variazioni
3.3. Scherzo: Allegro Con Brio
4.4. Allegro Molto Con Brio

String Quartet in A major, Op.42 [35:13]
5.1. Allegro Con Brio
6.2. Intermezzo: Allegro Non Troppo E Scherzando
7.3. Molto Cantabile
8.4. Allegro Molto Vivace

Four String Quartet:
Fiedukiewicz Lucyna, 1st violin
Witek Grzegorz, 2nd violin
Raszewska Beata, viola
Tudzierz Łukasz, cello

Zelenski is one of a number of Polish composers championed by this label though he’s one of the more circumscribed compositionally. Born near Cracow he studied there and in Prague and Paris. Back in Cracow he began a distinguished pedagogic career - succeeding Moniuszko as composition teacher - before moving to an even more distinguished position in Warsaw. He was soon back in Cracow however and was eventually to become Director of the Music Conservatoire. So, a strong academic pedigree and clearly an important teacher – his most famous pupil was Zygmunt Stojowski. The foregoing derives from my review of his piano works on this label.

The two quartets here are not dated with any certainty in the booklet notes, which are rather skimpy in any case when it comes to matters compositional and analysis of the works. The earlier F major is dated to ‘before 1885’ when it was published. It’s in four conventional movements. The first has plenty of flurry but no great melodic distinction, whereas the second movement is rather more interesting. It’s a theme and variations, and the theme is recognisably Polish — not something that could be said of the ensuing Scherzo. The first violin is taken high over a loquacious, pizzicato-laced accompaniment and even when there are urgent, indeed military, calls to arms, it keeps sailing seraphically onwards. The fugal feints are knowing, and the hints of Brahms in both tonal density and syntax evident. The genial, bright finale has strong unison sections contrasting with more light-hearted material, and the earlier delayed fugal section duly appears.

The A major quartet was dedicated to Joseph Joachim, though it’s not disclosed whether his quartet played it. Its opening is rather more tautly argued than the earlier work, with an elastic urgency and some folkloric drone underpinning. These reappear in the very charming Intermezzo, forming a chain of links and resonances that mean that this work ranks decidedly higher than its companion in terms of construction. The considerable warmth of the slow movement comes perhaps as something of a shock, after the earlier writing, but it is undeniable. The melodic inspiration is high, albeit tinged with a slightly salon sentiment — which is not intended to be dismissive. The reprise, after an urgent B section, is genuinely lovely. The finale releases the tension with a degree of engaging ebullience.

The performances are good, though I can imagine that a brisker tempo in the finale of the F major might be advantageous. ---Jonathan Woolf, musicweb-international.com

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Władysław Żeleński - Violin Sonata in F major op. 30
1. 1. Allegro Non Troppo
2. 2. Allegretto
3. 3. Molto Sostenuto - Allegro Molto Con Brio – Molt

Zygmunt Stojowski - Violin Sonata in G major op. 13
4. 1. Allegro Non Troppo
5. 2. Allgretto Capriccioso
6. 3. Theme Varie

Barbara Trojanowska (violin)
Elżbieta Tyszecka (piano)

Two otherwise unknown violin sonatas by two Polish composers separated by a generation but joined by the relationship of master and pupil.

Trojanowski throws herself into these works with considerable abandon but at the expense of refinement. There are roughnesses and abrasions scattered about but with such a furiously Franckian work as the Żeleński one can forgive all. Things let up a little for the terpsichorean grace and charm of the Allegretto only to return to angst, tremors and black clouds in the molto sostenuto finale. His snatched ecstatic lyrical ideas are a Fauré-like delight (try III 3.09).

Stojowski has had some attention from Hyperion. Both his piano concertos have been recorded as has an anthology of his piano solos. Like the Żeleński this is a recording premiere for his Violin Sonata. The first movement is another high water mark example of late-romantic plunging ardour. It has a touch of salon sentimentality about it too; something Żeleński steered well clear of. What the two composers have in common is a folk accent which is clearly to the fore in the drone and slow dance of the Allegro capriccioso. Amid the wood-smoke there is also a hint of Mephistophelean enchantment. The sentimentality comes out again for the finale which veers towards Bruch.

It is interesting to compare master and pupil as represented by these works. Żeleński would never drop his guard and allow in sentimentality. Clearly Stojowski had a more accommodating faculty. However when you hear that soft-chiming Brahmsian piano at 2:02 in the finale of the Stojowski you know that it spells a suave melody for the violin. And so it arrives with the sob and the smile of a spiritual. Then again Stojowski steels himself for a stern determined ascent at 6:12 in the finale. Sparks fly to the four winds in the stamping last three minutes of the Stojowski sonata. Such is the savagery of this music I several times thought of Bartók.

The radio studio-originated recording is gamely - almost aggressively - resonant. It’s also a shade boxy.

Acte Préalable and these two artists handsomely prove that Poland was not in the dark ages between the death of Chopin and the rise of Karłowicz and Szymanowski. ---Rob Barnett, musicweb-international.com

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