Channel Classics' complete edition of Karol Szymanowski's songs is an
affectionate tribute to one of history's most stylistically
wide-ranging composers. As informative as it is musically rewarding, it
will be an important reference for anyone looking to familiarize
themselves with the composer's chameleon-like catalog of music for solo
voice and piano.
One only has to hear the Songs of the Infatuated
Muezzin, Op. 42, the Seven Songs on poems of James Joyce (Op. 54), and
the Songs of the Fairy Princess, Op. 31, to understand just how
far-reaching Szymanowski was in his song writing. The "Muezzin" songs
weave a tale of voyeuristic obsession together with the intonations of
an Islamic crier. The Joyce songs are set in the original English, and
sound like the work of a completely different imagination -- one that
shies away from musical pictorialism; if the English prosody were more
skillful, they could be confused with the work of any number of
twentieth century American composers. And the Fairy Princess songs are a
coloratura's dream -- more high-flying vocalizations than songs in the
usual sense, creating atmosphere and fairy tale magic through the
evocative power of the voice.
Of course those examples are the
extremes. The majority of Szymanowski's songs are settings of Polish or
German texts in a style that hovers beguilingly between the sounds of
Hugo Wolf, Maurice Ravel, and Richard Strauss: harmonically adventurous,
melodious, and pianistically intricate. Composed throughout his
creative life, they reflect the work of a composer who was constantly
trying new techniques and approaches, and who strove to stay relevant as
times changed.
To realize this dizzying variety of songs, four
singers are employed: tenor Piotr Bezcala, soprano Juliana Gondek, mezzo
soprano Urszula Kryger, and soprano Iwona Sobotka, all accompanied by
pianist Reinhild Mees. The decision to divide up the work pays big
dividends, allowing each singer to take on the songs to which he/she is
best suited, and giving listeners enough variety to make this collection
sound happily unlike a catalog, and more like a series of
well-constructed recitals. Mees and each of the singers is excellent:
Mees' plays with the tonal scope, precision, and warmth to keep pace
with Szymanowski's ever-changing musical landscape, and she is a
consummate musical partner; Bezcala's clean, well-focused tenor voice
puts an appealingly youthful face on the composer's earliest songs;
Gondek tackles works in German, Polish, English, and French with
proficient ease; Kryger has the perfect combination of gravitas and
vocal authority to realize the sprawling, demanding "The Grave of
Hafis"; and Sobotka revels in the high-flying trills of the Fairy
Princess songs. It would be hard to imagine a more skillful or heartfelt
survey. Allen Schrott All Tracks & Credits
quinta-feira, 14 de dezembro de 2023
KAROL SZYMANOWSKI : Complete Songs for Voice and Piano (2004) 4CD | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
Assinar:
Postar comentários (Atom)
https://nitroflare.com/view/003840E73399095/Szymanowski_—_Complete_Songs_for_Voice_&_Piano_(2004
ResponderExcluir_4CD_Channel_Classics_–_CCS_19398)_FLAC.rar
https://trbbt.net/25uae4ppyrqe/Szymanowski — Complete Songs for Voice & Piano (2004, 4CD Channel Classics – CCS 19398) FLAC.rar.html