Karol KURPIŃSKI (1785-1857)
Elegy in C minor [8.19]
Ignacy Feliks DOBRZYŃSKI (1807-1867)
Symphony No 2 in C minor, Op 15 ‘Characteristic’ [38.03]
Stanisław MONIUSZKO (1819-1872)
The Fairy Tale (The Winter’s Tale) – fantastical overture for large orchestra [13.14]
Wrocław Baroque Orchestra/Jarosław Thiel
rec. 2020, Main Hall, Witold Lutosławski National Forum of Music, Wrocław, Poland
CD ACCORD ACD282 [59.57]
This recording is valuable in many ways, and not only for specialists in Polish music. There is much here to pique the interest of those who love music for its own sake and who want to explore new things. The three composers here represent different stages in the development of Polish music.
Best known outside Poland, perhaps principally through his attractive operas Halka and The Haunted Manor, is Moniuszko, but Karol Kurpiński may be seen as the founder of a distinctively Polish school. Composers of the Polish Baroque (worth exploring – there is a fine recent collection on Brilliant Classics 95955) were generally influenced by the Italian style, and were frequently educated in Italy. Kurpiński was the home-grown article, schooled in late classicism but with leanings towards the Romantic. He studied the organ with his father, and, at the age of 12, became organist at the church in Smowa, where his uncle was parish priest. In 1800, he became a violinist in the court orchestra at the estate of Count Feliks Polonawski, near Lviv, before settling in Warsaw in 1810, where he became conductor of the Warsaw Opera. Many of his compositions were operas, but I have tracked down only one recording, and his other works are also underrepresented in the catalogue. The new recording is of one of his two known orchestral Elegies. A single copy survived of the score of the C minor Elegy, and was copied by Mieczysław Krzyński, just before so much was destroyed in 1939. Gaps in the score were filled in by Jarosław Thiel, so this is a world premiere recording. And a very striking work it is: there is a weightiness in the construction (some patches are reminiscent of Beethoven in overture mode), with strong themes and an impressive tautness – a most rewarding experience.
No less enjoyable is the Characteristic Symphony of Dobrzyński, from 1831. This symphony was arguably his most distinctive work. In 1834 it was awarded a prize in Vienna, and Mendelssohn conducted it at Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the work was played at various times in the nineteenth century. The new recording has elements of reconstruction, based on a copy probably from the 1870s. The title ‘Characteristic’ refers to the fact that the themes are based entirely on Polish national motifs. In his note, Thiel speculates about whether this is the first such European work. Obviously, without having access to every pre-1831 European score, it is impossible to know, but given the early date in the development of nationalistic Romanticism, it is certainly a plausible thesis. It is not often that ignorance is a blessing, but as I did not recognise any of the motifs, I found myself listening to the work just as a symphony, rather than listening out for familiar themes. On its own, just as a symphony, it is very fine indeed, both beautifully constructed and with appropriate muscularity. This is well-worth exploring – and is highly enjoyable.
The Fairy Tale of Moniuszko is very popular in Poland – and one can hear why – and there are several available recordings. However, recordings with modern orchestras usually use the edition of the score prepared by Witold Rowicki, who loved the work and conducted it very often. His version presupposes the sounds of a modern orchestra, with the modulations available to instruments such as the horn or timpani. The new recording avoids these alterations – the textures are clean and clear.
Wrocław Baroque Orchestra is very fine indeed, and the advantages of virtuoso period playing on authentic instruments, with divided strings splendidly captured in fine sound, are evident throughout these fresh, committed interpretations of fascinating and enjoyable repertoire.
Michael Wilkinson
