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Monday, February 22, 2021

Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński - Complete Chamber Works (The Warsaw Trio)


Information

Composer: Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński
  • (01) Violin Sonata in G major
  • (05) Dumka for Violin and Piano
  • (06) Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 2

The Warsaw Trio
Andrzej Gębski, violin
Jarosław Domżał, cello
Joanna Ławrynowicz, piano

Date: 2004
Label: Acte Préalable

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Review

Henryk Melcer was born near Warsaw in 1869. He was a highly talented pianist who won competitions and toured extensively, eventually studying with Leschetizky. As a result of the renown generated by his playing he accepted a pedagogic position in Helsinki before, as the new century dawned, he moved to Lvov, firstly as pianist and thereafter as a conductor. A Viennese interlude (at the Meisterschule – Melcer was an inveterate traveller) was followed by return to Warsaw and a gradual ascent of the professorial ladder until he became director of the Conservatory. He and the entire teaching team resigned in 1926 protesting at political interference and into this void came Szymanowski to take Melcer’s place. He retained his piano professorship however but died in 1928 during a lesson.

Whilst piano music was clearly an important facet of his compositional life Melcer also turned his hand to chamber music. In this enterprising disc we have three world premieres and two big works. The 1907 Violin Sonata is steeped in cleverly integrated Polish dance rhythms. The Oberek galvanises the first movement and the folksy scherzo is flavoursome. Pure lyricism is the Adagio’s creed, a lied, increasingly passionate and embracing some fulsome double-stopping. The finale is frolicsome and clean limbed. The ethos here is strongly influenced by Grieg – it’s the Polish equivalent of the Second and Third sonatas rolled together, though without the immediacy of ideas or the mastery of form and texture. Little of Brahms, maybe some sense of Franco-Belgian cyclical form – Franck in other words, though the predominant influence is Grieg.

The trio is a much earlier work – his Op.2 in fact – written when Melcer was in his early to mid twenties. It’s a big, solid work and Brahmsian. It builds up a strong late-Romantic steam though Melcer tends to rely on repeated figures too much. This is a particular fault of the slow movement, which may be finely lyrical, indeed wistful in places, but is overlong. The most engaging of the four movements is the scherzo, a real rustic affair with a gallant feel to it as well, and thoroughly engaging, taking the trio back to its roots. The finale has terpsichorean twists a-plenty.

There’s the bonus of a Dumka for violin and piano, which turns out to be little more than a paraphrase of an influential song by Stanislaw Moniuszko.

The Warsaw Trio play well. They’re canny enough not to underplay the more passionate outpourings of the Trio and the duo of Andrzej Gębski and Joanna Ławrynowicz do well by the folksiness of the sonata. Very reasonable recording quality and some helpful notes completes the package. If you’re keen to find how far Grieg’s influence spread into continental Europe try the sonata first.

-- Jonathan WoolfMusicWeb International

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Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński (September 21, 1869 – April 18, 1928) was a Polish composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher. His works include two piano concertos, one in E minor (1892-4) and one in C minor (1898); a violin sonata (1907),[1] and a piano trio in G minor (probably written 1892-4); a tragedy "Protesilas i Laodamia" (1902, libretto by S. Wyspiański), and a Symphony in C minor. Both piano concertos were recorded in the past on Olympia and on Muza, and in 2007 on Hyperion. The Violin Sonata for Violine in G major, the Dumka for Violin and Piano and the Piano Trio, Op. 2 were recorded by the Warsaw Trio for the AP label.

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Andrzej Gębski is a Polish violinist.

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Jarosław Domżał is a Polish cellist.

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Polish pianist Joanna Ławrynowicz was born in Warsaw and graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy (now Chopin University of Music). She is a prize winner of many prestigious international piano competitions, and has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and New Zealand. Ławrynowicz prides herself on enormous discography: she has already recorded over 30 albums for Acte Préalable, and is the only Polish artist has ever recorded a complete set of solo and chamber works by Frédéric Chopin. Her albums are highly appreciated by music lovers and critics alike.

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6 comments:

  1. Choose one link, copy and paste it to your browser's address bar, wait a few seconds (you may need to click 'Continue' first), then click 'Skip Ad' (or 'Get link').
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  2. Thank you , this Post is absolutly marvellous .. I hope that Acte Prealable period isn't over yet

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    1. It's over, for now. I will surely return to this label in the future, though.

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  3. wHAT A SPLENDID AP cycle!!! 1.ooo thanks!!!!!

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