Alfons SZCZERBIŃSKI (1858-1895)
Complete Piano Works 1
4 Chansons Sans Paroles, Op 3 [9:16]
2 Chansons Sans Paroles, Op 5 [7:52]
4 Chansons Sans Paroles, Op 12 [10:43]
4 Chansons Sans Paroles, Op 14 [8:56]
Chanson Sans Paroles, Op 36 [2:23]
Chanson Sans Paroles in D Minor [1:42]
Andante Cantabile [5:55]
3 Valses, Op 17 [12:18]
Mazurka [2:21]
Giorgio Koukl (piano)
rec. 11 April 2021, Studio Bottega del pianoforte, Lugano, Switzerland
Premičre Recordings
GRAND PIANO GP876 [62:04]
Is it not the cruellest irony that someone who was considered by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin as showing so much talent and potential at his audition that it was hoped by the commission who heard it that he might become the new Beethoven, should fade into such obscurity that every one of the works on this disc is a World Premičre recording? Yet this was the fate of Alfons Szczerbiński. It was said of Miklós Rózsa that while you could take the composer out of Hungary you could not take the Hungarian nature of his compositions out of him and the same goes for Szczerbiński whose engrained Polish spirit is always evident and in saying this I am clearly in disagreement with the booklet’s writer. This was true despite Poland being virtually non existent at the time Szczerbiński was living, it having been subsumed piece by piece into the empires of Austro-Hungary, Prussian-led Germany and Russia. This fiercely independent musical spirit was shared by other composers such as Maria Szymanowska and Frederyk Chopin and it was also a feature of Polish literature and the visual arts.
The Chansons sans Paroles which make for the bulk if the compositions on the disc are delightfully simple and all the better for it. They are harmonically rich with beautifully constructed melodies whose refinement make for joyous listening. There are many moments when the elegance of Chopin’s music is brought to mind and it is obvious that Koukl agrees as his playing emphasises this aspect.
I have commented several times in the past as to the determined and intrepid nature of pianist Giorgio Koukl’s commitment to unearthing and placing before the listening public the startling discoveries he has made and this disc is the result of yet another of these since he found these works languishing in a Polish monastery where no doubt they would otherwise have remained in total obscurity.
Nobody would claim that these are ‘great’ works but that goes for myriad other works by thousands of composers; not everyone can be a Bach, Mozart or Beethoven but suffice it to say that these little pieces are charming and lovely to listen to and hats off once again to Giorgio Koukl for putting them before us.
Steve Arloff
