About this Release
“Maria Szymanowska was one of the first professional virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Her compositions typify the stile brilliant of the ear preceding Chopin. We don't know if she ever met Chopin in person, but she certainly had influence on him both as a pianist and a composer. All of her favorite genres - mazurkas, waltzes, polonaises, nocturnes, etudes - were later glorified by Chopin. All of her compositions belong to the tradition of salon music, but they all vary in depth and display different stylistic features. Mazurkas are typical dance pieces of that time - this is actually music to dance to. Polonaises are more complex - they contain sections that are lyrical, virtuosic, or dramatic. Minuets contain stylistic references to the preceding era - certain passages even remind me of Beethoven... Overall, I find this music very pleasant and refreshing.” — Alexander Kostritsa
SZYMANOWSKA, MARIA (1789–1831)
Complete Dances for Solo Piano
- Alexander Kostritsa, piano
Displaying exceptional musical precocity, the young pianist Maria Szymanowska proved a sensation in Warsaw’s salons, before moving to Paris where her fame spread. Greatly admired by her contemporaries, who included Beethoven, Cherubini, Field and Tomášek, she later also cast a spell over the elderly Goethe during one of her many long European tours. Before her early death, from cholera, she was employed by the Russian imperial court as First Pianist to the empress. Written for the aristocratic salons of the day, Szymanowska’s collections of dances are, for the most part, pleasing and light, yet always inventive. These beautifully written miniatures also include more challenging pieces such as the Polonaise No. 4 and the Mazurka No.17 whose darker moments foreshadow the early German Romantics.
This recording was made on a Hamburg Steinway Model D (1915, restored 2006)
Tracklist
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18 Danses () (00:33:32 )
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1
No. 1. Polonaise in C Major (00:03:09)
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2
No. 2. Polonaise in E Minor (00:02:18)
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3
No. 3. Polonaise in A Major (00:03:01)
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4
No. 4. Polonaise in F Minor (00:03:57)
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5
No. 5. Valse in E-Flat Major (00:01:26)
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6
No. 6. Valse in A Major (00:01:58)
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7
No. 7. Valse in B-Flat Major (00:01:28)
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8
No. 8. Valse in F Major (00:00:50)
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9
No. 9. Anglaise in E-Flat Major (00:00:46)
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10
No. 10. Anglaise in B-Flat Major (00:00:35)
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11
No. 11. Anglaise in A-Flat Major (00:00:44)
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12
No. 12. Anglaise in E-Flat Major (00:00:46)
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13
No. 13. Contre-danse in B-Flat Major (00:01:11)
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14
No. 14. Contre-danse in A-Flat Major (00:00:48)
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15
No. 15. Quadrille in E-Flat Major (00:01:02)
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16
No. 16. Quadrille in F Major (00:01:22)
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17
No. 17. Mazurek in C Major (00:01:14)
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18
No. 18. Cotillon in A-Flat Major (00:07:05)
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24 Mazurkas (1826) (00:15:00 )
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19
Mazurka No. 1 (00:00:38)
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20
Mazurka No. 2 (00:00:54)
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21
Mazurka No. 3 (00:00:48)
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22
Mazurka No. 4 (00:00:41)
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23
Mazurka No. 5 (00:00:32)
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24
Mazurka No. 6 (00:00:33)
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25
Mazurka No. 7 (00:00:40)
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26
Mazurka No. 8 (00:00:36)
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27
Mazurka No. 9 (00:00:34)
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28
Mazurka No. 10 (00:00:37)
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29
Mazurka No. 11 (00:00:17)
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30
Mazurka No. 12 (00:00:39)
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31
Mazurka No. 13 (00:00:31)
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32
Mazurka No. 14 (00:00:31)
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33
Mazurka No. 15 (00:00:33)
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34
Mazurka No. 16 (00:00:30)
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35
Mazurka No. 17 (00:00:53)
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36
Mazurka No. 18 (00:00:39)
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37
Mazurka No. 19 (00:00:38)
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38
Mazurka No. 20 (00:00:31)
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39
Mazurka No. 21 (00:00:16)
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40
Mazurka No. 22 (00:00:13)
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41
Mazurka No. 23 (00:00:22)
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42
Mazurka No. 24 (00:00:51)
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6 Minuets () (00:15:59 )
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43
No. 1 in A Minor: Allegretto (00:02:36)
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44
No. 2 in G Minor: Quasi allegro (00:02:34)
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45
No. 3 in E-Flat Major: Moderato (00:02:13)
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46
No. 4 in G Minor: Vivace agitato (00:02:28)
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47
No. 5 in E Major: Allegro (00:03:42)
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48
No. 6 in D Minor: Vivace (00:02:29)
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49
Polonaise sur l'air national favori du feu Prince Joseph Poniatowsky (1819) (00:02:33)
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50
Danse polonaise () (00:03:39)
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51
Cotillon ou valse figuree () (00:04:09)
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The Artist(s)
Alexander Kostritsa received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Alexander Kostritsa is a prizewinner of international piano competitions, including the Premio Rovere d’Oro (Italy, 2007, 1st prize), the Slavic Music Festival (Ukraine, 2007, laureate), and the Paul Badura-Skoda (Spain, 2010, finalist). He made his international début when he was eight years old with a concert tour to Japan. Since then he has been performing as a soloist in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, and the United States. He has appeared with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra “The Seasons”, the Kursk University Orchestra, the Vidin Philharmonic and other orchestras. He studied with Mikhail Petukhov in Moscow and with Antonio Pompa-Baldi in Cleveland.
The Composer(s)
The young Maria Wolowska displayed extraordinary musical precocity and she quickly became a sensation in the Warsaw salons. To broaden her musical horizons, it was decided to send her to Paris, where her fame spread. There she impressed such luminaries as the composers Gioachino Rossini and Luigi Cherubini (who dedicated a piano fantasia to her). Reviews
“…Kostritsa’s work in collecting these dances is commendable, as is his approach. In the Polonaises, his straightforward playing captures well the simple phrasing, form, and rather nondescript melody. …these works are pleasing.” – American Record Guide
Also Available
Grand Piano has gained a reputation for producing high quality recordings of rare keyboard gems. Dedicated to the exploration of undiscovered piano repertoire, the label specialises in complete cycles of piano works by many lesser-known composers, whose output might otherwise have remained unknown and unrecorded.
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