Ignacy Jan Paderewski - Orchestral Works (Roland Bader)

Information

Composer: Ignacy Jan Paderewski

1. Manru, opera, Op. 20: Ouverture
2. Manru, opera, Op. 20: Prelude, Act 3
3. Manru, opera, Op. 20: Gipsy March
4. Fantasy from opera "Manru" for orchestra (arr. Walter Rabl)
5. Menuet célèbre, Op. 14 No. 1
6. Mélodie, Op. 16 No. 2
7. Cracovienne fantastique (Krakowiak), Op. 14 No. 6
8. Chant d'amour (Album de mai), Op. 10 No. 2
9. Melody (Chants du voyageur), Op. 8 No. 3

Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra
Roland Bader, conductor

Date: 1995
Label: Koch Schwann

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 7 / SOUND QUALITY: 7

Ignacy Jan Paderewski is better remembered today as a pianist and a statesman than as a composer. Things are changing slowly, as several recent CDs of his music testify. This newcomer explores the sideways of Paderewski’s symphonic production, gathering together orchestral arrangements of pianistic miniatures–among them the famous Menuet Op. 14, excerpts from the long-forgotten opera Manru, and the pastoral, Dvorakian Overture, tinged with Polish folk elements. The heroic, quasi-Wagnerian Prelude and the exciting Gipsy March from Manru are both vibrant, colorful advocates for a resurrection of the complete work. Less so the lengthy Fantasy arranged by Walter Rabl, no matter how skillfully it summarizes the themes from the opera. The lovely miniatures line up like encores at the end of the program, each one a perfect example of Paderewski’s heady melodic charm. The performances are impassioned and solid, but not always as polished as one could wish with this refined music, particularly in the Overture, where the excellent Antoni Wit on Naxos (coupled with the Piano Concerto and the Fantaisie polonaise) outclasses Roland Bader and the Cracow Philharmonic. Abundant resonance spoils the spacious sound recording. Let’s hope the symphony Polonia and the opera Manru will be among the next releases in the ongoing Paderewski series from Koch or Naxos.

-- ClassicsToday

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ignacy Jan Paderewski (18 November [O.S. 6 November] 1860 – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer, politician, and spokesman for Polish independence. As a pianist, he was a favourite of concert audiences around the globe, and his musical fame opened access to diplomacy and the media. As a politician, he was the prime minister of Poland and also Poland's foreign minister in 1919, and represented Poland at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Despite his relentless touring schedule and political engagements, Paderewski left a legacy of over 70 orchestral, instrumental and vocal works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_Jan_Paderewski

***

Roland Bader (born 24 August 1938  in Wangen im Allgäu) is a German choral conductor and music director. He studied first church music in Rottenburg am Neckar, then at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart with Johann Nepomuk David, and took private conducting lessons with Hans Hörner. Bader's artistic profile rose to new prominence in the 1980s when he served as chief guest conductor with the Krakow Philharmonic and choral director at Norddeutscher Rundfunk of Hamburg from 1983. Bader made numerous recordings throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including mainstream and the lesser-known, rarely performed works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Bader

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!