This album was recorded at the Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Studio from November 12 to 14, 1996.
Composer Biography
Mieczysław Karłowicz, the composer, was described as a slender, young man with a reserved nature and a precociously mature mind, who favored solitude.
Performer Biography
Ewa Pobłocka, the pianist, was a prizewinner at the 10th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1980, also winning a special prize for the best performance of Chopin's mazurkas.
Composition History
The majority of Mieczysław Karłowicz's songs, including ten settings of his favorite poet Kazimierz Tetmajer, were composed in 1896 during his studies in Berlin.
Performer Biography
Jadwiga Rappé, the alto, won First Prize at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1980 and a Gold Medal at the Young Soloists Festival in Bordeaux in 1981.
Compositional Technique
Karłowicz's songs are characterized by a masterful economy in handling musical material, including the development of piano motifs and the close correlation between vocal phrases and accompaniment.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Karłowicz, the composer, was greatly impressed by the neo-Romantic style of Wagner's successors and national school composers, finding it more appealing than Brahms's classical restraint.
