Roman Statkowski (1859-1925)
Piano Works - Volume 3
Krakowiak-Rêverie in G major Op.23 No.2
Oberek in E flat major Op.22 No.4
Dumka
Four Mazurkas Op.24
Nieśmiertelniki Op.19
Krakowiak in F minor Op.23 No.4
Anna Paras (piano)
rec. 2021, Filharmonia Koszalińska, Poland
ACTE PRÉALABLE AP0536 [54]
Here is yet another Polish composer that had fallen by the wayside only to be admirably brought to fresh life by Jan Jarnicki's enterprising label Acte Préalable. This is the third CD of the solo piano music that has been released and I find it as delightful as Jonathan Woolf found the second volume (Acte Préalable AP0176 review). The pianist on the present album, Anna Paras, recently recorded Stakowski's works for violin and piano with violinist Natan Dondalski (Acte Préalable AP0537 review) and has been persuaded to record the remaining piano works and complete the fine work that pianist Barbara Karaśkiewicz began in 2004 (Acte Préalable AP0126 is the first volume). In his introduction to this CD Jarnicki points out that these are all the piano works that could be tracked down at this time though I note that a score of his Mazurkas op.2 is available on polona.pl. Given that there are at least 18 opus numbers unrecorded of which 6 are likely to be String Quartets that we know he wrote (his op.40 is his 5th quartet for example) it is to be hoped that more piano works will surface.
Roman Statkowski was born near to Kalisz in central Poland; his initial studies were with composer Władysław Żeliński in Warsaw then moved to St Petersburg where he studied with Nicolai Soloviev, Anton Rubinstein and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in composition, piano and instrumentation respectively. He stayed for several years in Kyiv and Moscow before settling in Warsaw where he became a respected teacher; his pupils include Apolinary Szeluto (1884-1966), one of the members of the artistic Young Poland movement.
The works on this album, all undated, fall into two categories; Polish dance forms such as the Mazurka, Krakowiak and Oberek, the latter being the liveliest of the traditional Polish dances alongside the mostly more reflective character pieces such as his Dumka and the eight pieces that make up his Nieśmiertelniki or Immortals. These are only general guides as the first item on the disc, the Krakowiak-Rêverie, the second of his four Krakowiaks op.23 is a gently lyrical song without words whose theme has an imaginatively varied accompaniment; I especially like the lighter writing in the final incarnation. The four Mazurkas are strong works with a great range of dramatic contrast and beautiful melodies. They have much of the harmonic subtlety of Chopin's Mazurkas and indeed reflect the older Poles works impressively. Along with a couple of the Mazurkas by Aleksander Michałowski these are works that I feel would be satisfying to hear alongside Chopin's mazurkas in a recital. The Krakowiak that ends the recital is the fourth of the set that includes his Krakowiak-Rêverie that opens the recital but this has much more of a stirring military feel to it while the Oberek, true to its name, is a jaunty, boisterous waltz.
His Immortals were published by an English company, Willcocks & Co. around 1900 so probably date from the 1890s. There are hints of Chopin and even Schumann but Stakowski is creative and individual enough that you can appreciate the drama and beauty of these short pieces. Schumann's influence is strongest in the figurations of the brief but stormy fifth while it is the Chopin of the nocturnes that is suggested most; the somewhat desolate third has a sparse melody over a slow insistent accompaniment and a more optimistic hymn-like chordal central section while the sixth is like a relaxed homage to Chopin's A flat etude from op.10 with surprising shifts of harmonic direction along the way. Melancholy hangs over the slow waltz of the opening piece while the second's innate lyricism belies its contrapuntal style; its left hand melody flows from bell-like repeated notes in the right hand before the lines start to interweave. The fourth is a gentle, graceful waltz with a more dramatic heart and the seventh, another nocturne like piece, has delicate contrasting textures high in the keyboard. The set closes with a yearning piece in E flat minor in which the sadness of the melody is emphasised by the left hand's falling chromatic harmonies.
Anna Paras plays these works with an acute sense of style and is sensitive to the contrasting dramatic currents that flow through many of these pieces, virtuosic where needed but marvellously attuned to Statkowski's lyricism and melodic gift. She also wrote the informative booklet notes. Of the unsung composers from post-Chopin Poland that I have recently become aware of I think Statkowski has impressed me most with his melodious, idiomatic, communicative and richly romantic music.
Rob Challinor
Previous review: Philip R Buttall
