In regard to the importance of Slavic influence in my music, I can readily say that I followed the same path as Bartók or Manuel de Falla: folklore imaginé. I did not use popular themes per se. I used, however, their general melodic contour. Polish folklore is abundantly rich. I think that, along with Spanish folklore, it is the richest in possibilities...
This beautifully realized set includes eight audio CD's and two visual music DVD with all material conceived, produced, composed and performed by Andrea Centazzo. All items are housed together in elegant cardboard box, measuring 6 x 8.5 x 6. Each volume of the set comes with its own DVD-type packaging, with extensive artwork, release information, and line notes . Each volume of the set has a specific and separate character reflecting the wide spectrum of Centazzo's artistic endeavors: from improvised jazz - to symphonic pieces - to compositions for percussion solo - to chamber music - to multimedia opera - to world music - to art movie making.
The night was magic: the music floated with joy, intensity and passion and we found a meeting point in a bled of minimalist patterns and sound explorations. (Andrea Centazzo)
"The heart of Wax" is a ballet music scored for strings quartet, clarinets, flutes, saxophones, piano, double bass, keyboards and percussion. Based on the surrealist painter Alberto Martini libretto and sketches, has been composed by Centazzo for the first staging of the un-issued ballet. A new dimension in ballet music. Re-mastered for this edition. First Dance: Great Dance of the Wax Statues - Prelude
Piano virtuoso Andrzej Ratusinski, is an graduate of Warsaw School of Music (Poland) and student of Arthur Rubinstein, Jorge Boleta and Vladimir Horowitz. Winner of 1973 25th International F. Busconi's Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy.
'Michelangeli, like a bolt of Lightning makes me suddenly understand the essence of the ....music. 'The best piano recording I have heard'
Carl-Johan Malmberg, Svenska Dagbladet – 8/4/2005
The Polish pianist Halina Czerny-Stefanska enjoyed a more substantial reputation among piano buffs than among music-lovers in general until she was unexpectedly shot to prominence by a mistake that got her talked about all around the world.
The Third Symphony "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" reflects both the composer's individual exploration of technique and his attempt to determine his own Christian spiritual identity. (Malgorzata Gasiorowska)
This 6-CD box-set, a part of ICTUS Records - Andrea Centazzo Complete Archives Series is a special endeavor. Each CD and DVD has a specific character reflecting the cultural influences of a time and place where the music and the images were composed and recorded: many artistic souls, one artistic vision.
Four masterly and extremely different string quartets by Polish composers: from the cornerstones of the sixties by Witold Lutoslawski and Krzysztof Penderecki to the recent Kronos Quartet commissions - works by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki and Pawel Mykietyn - in a visionary performance by the Kronos Quartet.
Jutrznia is a magnificent contemporary oratorio in five parts for two mixed choirs, five solo voices and symphony orchestra is a spine-tingling evocation of deep religious and otherworldly experience.
With comprehensive selection from Penderecki's masterpieces that can be regarded as samples of stylistic evolution of his music, this exclusive CD also includes 4-page booklet with detailed information about the recordings as well as essays in Polish and English languages.
Around the mid-1970s Penderecki's style began to change. The Violin Concerto No. 1 largely leaves behind the dense tone clusters with which he had been associated, and instead focuses on two melodic intervals: the semitone and the tritone. Some commentators went so far as to compare this new direction to Anton Bruckner. This direction continued with the Symphony No. 2, Christmas (1980), which is rather straightforward from a harmonic and melodic standpoint for a composer who had been one of the most experimental in Europe. It makes frequent use of the tune of the Christmas carol, "Silent Night".
The Polish Requiem of Krzysztof Penderecki, for for a quartet of soloists, choir and symphony orchestra, combines modern idion with tradition. Penderecki makes use of the vast possibilities of contemporary compositions in this missae pro defunctis (Mass for the Death), taken from the Church's Latin liturgy and Polish religious tradition. This exclusive 2-CD set includes 8-page booklet with detailed information about the recordings as well as essays in Polish and English languages.
Rozycki's music, to this one of the best known Polish stories ever told, is of characteristic form, drawing for its musical inspiration mainly from folklore, both Polish and foreign. It is the source of expressive motifs and dance forms (krakoviak, oberek, mazurka). The composition is richly instrumented, melodic, lively, interwoven with familiar childhood melodies of folk origin.
Highlights from the opera.
The music of Moniuszko's works is largely representative of the 19-th century opera, given the extensive use by the composer of arias, recitatives and ensembles. His music too, although stylistically distinct, evidently incorporates many national motifs: Polish dances popular among upper classes such as polonaise and mazurka, and folk tunes and dances such as kujawiak and krakowiak.
Wanda Wilkomirska is my choice for most underrated/underappreciated violinist of the 20th century.
She is the only violinist of whom I can say that EVERY piece I've heard her play (live or recorded) was either absolutely the best performance of that piece I had ever heard, or was right up there in a tie with the very best.(Terry King)
