Romantic piano concertos Archive

RÓŻYCKI: Ballade; Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 – Jonathan Plowright (piano)/ BBC Scottish Sym. Orch./ Łukasz Borowicz – Hyperion

by Audiophile Audition | Feb 1, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

A thoroughly recommendable release of late Romantic piano concertos. LUDOMIR RÓŻYCKI: Ballade;  Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 43;  Piano Concerto No. 2 – Jonathan Plowright (piano)/ BBC Scottish Sym. Orch./ Łukasz Borowicz – Hyperion CDA 68066, 63:09 or 96K/24-bit download [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] (2/5/16) ****: Ludomir Różycki (1883-1953) is the subject of Hyperion’s 67th volume in the ongoing series of Romantic Piano Concertos.  A somewhat unsung composer today, apart from in his native Poland, he is of the same generation as Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937), Mieczysław Karłowicz (1879-1909) and Grzegorz Fitelberg (1879-1953).  All four were taught by Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909) who had eschewed inspiration from Liszt, Brahms and Wagner instead concentrating on a Polish nationalist style, and his pupils belonged to the group known as “Young Poland”, artists in general who, among other aims, espoused the continuation of Romanticism. Today, these musicians’ output, apart from Szymanowski’s, may seem to some rather too old-fashioned compared with others of the generation such as Berg, Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Others will relish the colour and energy of the works of these composers, more comparable to Rachmaninov and Vaughan Williams than to the Second Viennese School. Różycki, like many of the Polish […]