Karol Szymanowski: Piano Works

Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman returns to his roots and dedicates his new album to his compatriot Karol Szymanowski on the 140th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Having studied his solo piano works for decades, Zimerman presents a new album of richly varied repertoire spanning the period from 1899 to the mid-1920s. He reveals the multifaceted nature of Szymanowski’s pianistic language and sheds new light on this less familiar aspect of composer’s output. The album combines the recording captured in 2022 at the Fukuyama Concert Hall designed by world-renowned acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota with Zimerman's previously unreleased recordings in 1994. "Karol Szymanowski: Piano Works" thus completes Zimerman's journey through Szymanowski's solo piano music that began in 1994. The album offers listeners a fascinating insight into Szymanowski's sound world, from the glitter and opulence of the "Masques" to the exquisite “Variations on a Polish Folk Theme Op. 10” and earthy folk idioms of the "Mazurkas."

Tracklist:

KAROL SZYMANOWSKI (1882–1937)

LP 1 SIDE A

from Préludes op. 1

1) No. 1. Andante ma non troppo (in B minor)

2) No. 2. Andante con moto (in D minor)

3) No. 7. Moderato (in C minor)

4) No. 8. Andante ma non troppo (in E flat minor)

SIDE B

Masques op. 34

1) No. 1. Shéhérazade. Lento assai. Languido

2) No. 2. Tantris le Bouffon. Vivace assai

3) No. 3. Sérénade de Don Juan. Vivace

LP 2 SIDE A

from Mazurkas op. 50

1) No. 13. Moderato

2) No. 14. Animato z elegancją i grandezzą

3) No. 15. Allegretto dolce. Naiwnie i sentymentalnie

4) No. 16. Allegramente. Vigoroso

SIDE B

Variations on a Polish Folk Theme op. 10

1) Andante doloroso rubato

2) Var. 1. Meno mosso

3) Var. 2. Agitato

4) Var. 3. Lento mesto, ma poco agitato

5) Var. 4. Allegro molto agitato

6) Var. 5. Andantino

7) Var. 6. Andante dolcissimo

8) Var. 7. Più mosso

9) Var. 8. Marcia funebre

10) Var. 9. Più mosso (Allegro)

11) Var. 10. Finale. Allegro vivo