Paderewski: Vocal Works

Featuring

Mariusz Smolij
Alina Adamski
Agata Schmidt
Capella Bydgostiensis
Ignacy Jan Paderewski

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Recording & Production

The orchestral translation of Paderewski's Douze Mélodies, Op. 22, recorded here for the first time, enhances the aesthetic of ambiguity and exoticism, comparable to Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande.

Critical Reception

Paderewski's Six Songs, Op. 18, were highly approved by audiences and critics at their 1893 London premiere, with one reviewer calling them 'very beautiful, very Polish'.

Performer Biography

Alina Adamski, the soprano on this recording, won first prize at the Paderewski Vocal Music Competition in Bydgoszcz in 2015.

Composition History

The Suite in G major for string orchestra, composed in 1884, was only discovered in 1986 by Polish musicologist Małgorzata Perkowska-Waszek and is presented here in its first commercial recording.

Composer Biography

Jan Ignacy Paderewski, the composer, was an internationally celebrated virtuoso pianist, a prominent advocate for Polish independence, and later served as Prime Minister.

Compositional Technique

Paderewski's Douze Mélodies, Op. 22, composed in 1903, marked a significant departure from his earlier tonal language, embracing harmonic ambiguity, dissonance, and chromaticism.

Interpretation

Conductor Mariusz Smolij rearranged the movements of the unfinished Suite in G major to create a more coherent flow, as the intended fourth movement was never completed or has been lost.