STOJOWSKI Violin Concerto. Romance
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Zygmunt (Denis Antoni) Stojowski, Henryk Wieniawski
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 08/2016
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 55
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDA68102
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra |
Zygmunt (Denis Antoni) Stojowski, Composer
Bartłomiej Nizioł, Violin BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Łukasz Borowicz, Conductor Zygmunt (Denis Antoni) Stojowski, Composer |
Romance |
Zygmunt (Denis Antoni) Stojowski, Composer
Bartłomiej Nizioł, Violin BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Łukasz Borowicz, Conductor Zygmunt (Denis Antoni) Stojowski, Composer |
Fantaisie brillante on themes from Gounod's 'Faust |
Henryk Wieniawski, Composer
Bartłomiej Nizioł, Violin BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Henryk Wieniawski, Composer Łukasz Borowicz, Conductor |
Author: Jeremy Nicholas
Composed probably in 1899, the concerto is, to apply a useful critical adjective, elusive in the sense that the listener, anticipating in a Romantic concerto a strong first subject, memorable second subject and ravishing orchestral colours will have to be satisfied, on this occasion, with just the latter. Stojowski’s motifs and figures pass by in a rapid kaleidoscopic procession while the structure, as Nigel Simone notes in the booklet, ‘feels free, unfolding in a way that is almost rhapsodic’. Few will be able to resist the soaring rapture of the second movement or the lively finale. Throughout, there are few bars when the soloist is not playing. The concerto is followed by Stojowski’s delightful Romanze (6'40"), written at about the same time and dedicated to Jacques Thibaud.
The premiere recordings of both works were recorded by the excellent Agnieszka Marucha in 2008. While her student orchestra is not quite the BBC Scottish and the sound is not Hyperion’s, she includes Stojowski’s not insubstantial (28'09") Sonata No 2 for violin and piano on a disc that is very much worth considering.
The Hyperion programme is completed by the Fantaisie on Gounod’s Faust, a work by Wieniawski (a Polish composer from an earlier generation) which, unlike the Stojowski pieces, is an unabashed showpiece. It ends with an exquisitely challenging treatment (partly in harmonics) of the famous Act 2 waltz, featured by Liszt in his better known Faust Paraphrase for piano solo. Nizio despatches this with the same jaunty good humour (but in a brighter sound picture) as Vadim Brodsky and Antoni Wit back in 1988.
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
SubscribeGramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.