Czeslaw MAREK (1891-1985)
Piano Works
Triptyque, op.8 [20:03]
Two Meditations*, op.10 [13:16]
Ballade, op.7 [8:52]
Deux Morceaux, op.4 [6:18]
12 Variations on an Original Theme, op.3 [13:45]
Chorale and Allegro, op.11 [12:23]
Echos de la Jeunesse: Suite de Six Esquisses, op.9 [14:45]
Petite Valse, op.19 [2:31]
Sarabande and Toccata, op.27 [11:31]
Three Jazz-Caprices, op.29 [9:04]
Two Foxtrots, op.35 [5:02]
Three Dances, op.39 [9:22]
Chant Varié, op.37 [6:42]
Suite, op.40 [15:43]
Marie-Catherine Girod (piano)
rec. St George's Church, Bristol, England, 1998. DDD
GUILD GMCD 7364/5 [74:37 + 74:40] 
This release by Swiss label Guild of solo piano works by Polish-Swiss composer
Czeslaw Marek is in fact a reissue, as the recording date suggests. Actually,
it a composite re-issue, in that the two CDs are a re-jigged compilation,
with new notes, from two different discs previously published just over a
decade ago by the now 'assimilated' Austrian label Koch-Schwann in a multi-disc
series that was universally praised at the time.
The booklet notes seem to indicate that these are Marek's complete works for
solo piano, apart from the Petite Suite op.36a, which, along with two pieces
for two pianos, the Sérénade Italienne op.16a and Annemarie op.38a - both
in fact his own transcriptions of other works - appeared on a worthy companion
volume of chamber music, also released in 2011 - see review.
Guild have also now issued a third volume, this time of songs and choral works
(GMCD 7366/67).
Marek's corpus of works was fairly small; in fact, he had more or less stopped
composing, with less than 50 opuses to his name - including a fair bit of
judicious recycling - by the time he was fifty, preferring to spend the second
half of his very long life concentrating on pedagogy. The fourteen works in
French pianist Marie-Catherine Girod's extended recital are randomly ordered,
although CD2 features predominantly later works, not least a few items from
Marek's 'jazz' period, during which he used the pseudonym 'Mark Mat' and wrote
scintillating music surprisingly evocative of Gershwin. In any case, there
is no doubt that this volume represents far greater value for money than the
first, a generous 149 minutes versus a miserly 96.
Marek's post-war descent into relative oblivion is highly puzzling, but this
mini-series from Guild should go some way towards facilitating his musical
resurrection. This piano volume in particular must be considered one of the
best re-releases of the year. The silly claim in the booklet notes that "Marek's
piano oeuvre offers in its variety an entire cosmos of piano music history"
is brazen hype, but the music on these two discs amounts to much more than
a collection of salon music that many of the titles may suggest. The combination
of lyricism, pathos, sincerity and unostentatious invention - what Marek himself
described as "classically orientated late Romanticism" - may be
considered ‘old hat’ in more captious quarters, but for those who judge music
on its own merits, rather than by measuring it against what the avant-garde
was doing at the time, it is beguiling in its splendour.
The influence of Chopin and Szymanowski is self-evident but discreet, and
from outside Poland, Bach, Brahms, Debussy and Ravel feed into the cosmopolitan
Swiss musical culture Marek also absorbed. There is beautiful music at every
turn, and many of these works belong in every pianophile's collection and
in every pianist's repertory, from the lilting, Schumannesque nostalgia of
Echos de la Jeunesse op.9 to the rich textures of the Chorale and Allegro
op.11. The opening Triptyque op.8, likely a personal reflection of Busoni's
Fantasia Contrappuntistica, and the final Suite op.40 come from opposite ends
of Marek's composing career, but for sheer brilliance of imagination they
are quite unbeatable.
Sound quality is good throughout. The English-German booklet is neat and informative,
though purchasers should be forewarned that Jürgen Schaarwächter, author
of the new German-language notes, has also translated them into English with
an impressive competence not matched by an understanding of idiom. As a consequence,
the notes have their own definite 'German accent'. Much of the time it is
hardly noticeable, but at its worst it borders on the surreal: "Additionaly
[sic] Marek writes: 'Or order that my wife could make foot and leg exercises
that are useful for the therapy of her sick legs, we took some dancing hours.'"
When will labels finally comprehend that saving money through not employing
a native proof-reader is false economy? Incidentally, the spelling 'Tryptique'
in the track listing appears to be Guild's - Marek published his work in Polish
as 'Tryptyk'; in some sources it is accepted as an alternative to the expected
'Triptyque' (to which the editor has altered the spelling).
Marie-Catherine Girod's genial interpretations in the previous volume are
continued here, and, indeed, added to with sustained sparkle and insight,
a poetic pianism to match Marek's. Her profile may not be high on an international
scale - unusually nowadays, she does not appear to have her own website -
but in France she has continued to record and perform: an online interview
with a French pianophile site mentions a discography of around 30, from Mendelssohn's
complete oeuvre for piano for the Saphir label to works by French composers
obscure or modern, like Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Gustave Samazeuilh or the remarkable
Paul le Flem; and to fondly-recalled recordings of the likes of York Bowen
or Arnold Bax on the now defunct Opès 3D.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Sustained sparkle and insight, a poetic pianism to match Marek.