PMRC WELCOMES NEW DIRECTOR: Dr. Maria Anna Harley has been appointed director of the Polish Music Reference Center and assistant professor of Music History and Literature at the USC School of Music beginning with the fall semester.
"We are happy to welcome Dr. Harley, not only for her broad qualifications as a musicologist, but also because her fervent dedication to promote Polish music matches mine." (Wanda Wilk).
The initiator of this event is Polish composer, Joanna BRUZDOWICZ, who lives in Belgium, is married to a German and she and her three children speak Polish, German, French, English at home.
In attendance at the festival: American composers Daniel KESSNER and StephenCOHN with pianist Dolly KESSNER, flutist Laura ORITI and percussionist Kevin MURPHY; the Pawel PERLINSKI JAZZ QUARTET from Poland; Polish violinist and pianist Robert SZREDER and Boguslaw STROBEL; the String Quartet "L'Estree Ensemble" from Lausanne; Catalonian musicians: the "COBLA" Ensemble; Francois Michel RIGNOL, pianist, Francisco ORTIS, guitar.
Fifty-two young virtuosi have qualified for the XII INTERNATIONAL WIENIAWSKI VIOLIN COMPETITION which will start on October 12th in Poznan, Poland. Eleven countries will be represented: Poland (17), Japan (15), Finland (6), USA (4), Russia (3), Korea (2), Israel (1), Moldavia (1), Germany (1), Norway (1) and Taiwan (1).
A new book on Artur RUBINSTEIN is out from Grove Press. The first biography of the Polish-Jewish pianist since his death in 1982 enlightens and enriches his own autobiography. By Harvey SACHS.
The WARSAW CHAMBER OPERA is the only theatre in the world that has MOZART's entire operatic output in its permanent repertoire?
You can have four of them transported by air to your city. Contact Stefan SUTKOWSKI, director.
The Concerto for String Orchestra and Overture.
She states that "what most pianists nowadays are playing has little to do with what Chopin actually wrote." (Gramophone, Aug '96). In her dedicated crusade the pianist studies original manuscripts from all over the world. "The resulting interpretations have an arresting power and make compelling listening."
Volumes I and II have been released on the APR label with Volumes III and IV to follow soon. Highly recommended by BBC Music Magazine.
PADEREWSKI was prime minister of Poland in 1919 and LANDSBERGIS is a musicologist who authored eight books on the "lone Lithuanian genius" Mikalogus CIURLIONIS, is now primarily known as a politician.
Reason for mentioning Lithuanian composers here is because of the close interaction between them and Poland. Information on these two musicologists has been consistently available in Polish publications and Poland published scores by Lithuanian composers during a time when they were not published in their own country.
The PHILIPS 442 533 is coupled with Lerchenmusik performed by the Schoenberg Ensemble and according to Ashby has a better performance of the Requiem than the NONESUCH release (79362), because of its greater sensitivity and more distant microphones. However, he prefers the Nonesuch issue because of the other Gorecki work, Good Night, a hauntingly, beautiful piece! Both discs will make excellent additions to anyone's collection.
Gorecki's Miserere has another recording. This time by the Swedish Radio Choir, Ericson Chamber Choir, Tonu Kaljuste conducting. CAPRICE 21515. The older release is John Nelson's on NONESUCH.
Writing about the Piano Concerto he states, "Traditional in four movements, the score displays a tremendous verve in the solo writing, intricate and luminous as Chopin, sensuous as Szymanowski -the two great Polish composers whom Lutoslawski succeeded, he now being the third great Polish composer."
Symphony no. 3, Chantefleurs et Chantefables. BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Tadaaki Otaka, cond.; Valdine Anderson, sop. BIS CD 743. Reviewed by Gramophone (Aug '96).
Other LUTOSLAWSKI recordings recently reviewed in American Record Guide: EMI 53853 (Preludes & Fugues, Poems by Michaux, Paroles Tissess and Postlude I).
KOCH SCHWANN 1523 (Chain II). Coupled with Schnittke's "Viola concerto." Isabelle van Keulen, violin.
. They also have the "Polish Virtuoso" featuring pianists Jozef HOFMANN, Ignaz FRIEDMAN & PADEREWSKI performing works by themselves and MOSZKOWSKI.
Polish Baroque music in Poland is excellently portrayed on MUSICON MCD 015 by the ensemble "Concerto Polacco" under Marek Toporowski. Polish music critic Bohdan POCIEJ believes this to be the most masterful performance of Polish Baroque music on Polish recordings ever. Played on instruments from that era.
Polish composers born in August:
KRZYSZTOF MEYER: August 11, 1943
ZYGMUNT MYCIELSKI: August 17, 1907
WLODZIMIERZ KOTONSKI: August 23, 1925
September 2, 1996: 15th Anniversary of BAIRD's death.
October 27, 1996: 5th Anniversary of PANUFNIK's death.
November 1, 1996: 95th Birthday of Szymon LAKS.
December 11, 1996: 120th birthday of Mieczyslaw KARLOWICZ.
COMPOSER OF THE MONTH: KRZYSZTOF MEYER
Born in Cracow in 1943, Meyer studied composition in his home town with Stanislaw Wiechowicz and Krzysztof Penderecki, and then in Paris with Nadja Boulanger. He is a prolific composer. In addition to 6 symphonies and other orchestral works, he has written 8 instrumental concertos, miscellaneous chamber music which include 9 String Quartets, a Piano Trio, Piano Quintet, and many piano works (Sonatas and Preludes). He has also written three operas anda ballet.
His last symphonic work, Carillon was commissioned by the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and was also performed at the Warsaw Autumn International Contemporary Music Festival in 1993.
As a pianist he performed with Ensemble MW2 in Warsaw and abroad.He was president of the Polish Composers' Union (ZKP) from 1985 to 1989. He has won numerous national and international prizes and awards. One of the first was the First Prize in the Grzegorz Fitelberg Competition in 1968. He has been teaching at the Hochschule fur Music in Cologne since 1987.