Romantic violon - Volume 15

Description

Volume 15 of the Hyperion series Romantic Violin Concertos takes us to Poland, with two concertos by Mlynarski and two works for violin and orchestra by Zarzycki. A Lithuanian by birth, Emil Mlynarski was Artur Rubinstein’s father-in-law and was appointed director of the Warsaw Philharmonic in 1900. He pursued an intense conducting career around the world, notably with the LSO in London, the Scottish Orchestra and the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company. His Violin Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 11, dedicated to Leopold Auer, was composed in 1897 and won a prize at the Paderewski Composition Competition. Mlynarski took as his model the virtuosic works of Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski, and the impression it gives is fresh and full of youthful lyricism. Even so, after an initial success, this Concerto ceased to be performed until its revival by Piotr Plawner in 2011. His Violin Concerto No. 2 was premiered by the Warsaw Philharmonic in April 1920, with Pawel Kochanski as soloist and Mlynarski conducting. This Concerto, for its part, has remained in the repertoire of Polish violinists. Like most Polish composers, including Chopin and Mlynarski, Zarzycki also wrote pieces in the form of a krakowiak, a relatively fast dance in 2/4 time, originating from the Kraków region. It became popular in Vienna under the name Krakauer and in Paris as the cracovienne. Although much appreciated in its day by violinists, the Introduction and Cracovienne in D major, Op. 35, was not recorded until the CD era. By contrast, the Mazurka is the composer’s best-known work and was recorded by Oistrakh among others.