Description
In 1855, as he set about sketching his Second Violin Concerto in D minor, Opus 22, Henryk Wieniawski was only 20 years old, and his career had just taken off.
After an extensive tour of Europe, he was hailed as' the new Paganini'. That success was based on his phenomenal virtuosity and outstanding gift for interpretation. The young composer's new concerto proved to be a highly mature, profound work, bearing all the hallmarks of his later output.
Ignacy Feliks Dobrzynski (1807–1867), a generation older than Henryk Wieniawski, is perhaps the most interesting composer among Fryderyk Chopin's Polish contemporaries. It is almost certain that Chopin became familiar at that time with Ignacy's earlier compositions, including the Concert Overture, Op. 1, which some sources say was conducted by Karol Kurpinski at its premiere .
Ten years later, around 1831, Dobrzynski wrote his Second Symphony in C minor 'caracteristique', Op. 15 ('Characteristic in the spirit of Polish music'). In this work, we find the composer at the peak of his creative powers.
Karol Kurpinski takes us back in history by a whole generation. The son of a country organist, in 1810 —the year of Chopin's birth—he was appointed second conductor of the orchestra of the National Theatre in Warsaw, at the recommendation of Józef Elsner. Part of his preparation for taking up that post was a study trip of several months around Europe, undertaken in 1823, during which Kurpinski became acquainted with the foremost musicians of his day.
The many eminent figures from the musical world whom Kurpinski met on his European travels included Luigi Cherubini, Louis Spohr and Carl Maria von Weber.
During that European journey he was working in his free time on the score of his Clarinet Concerto, which he had been unhurriedly composing for some time. He completed the work in Paris within three months of meeting Weber.
Unfortunately, only the first movement of the Clarinet Concerto has come down to us, although we know that, in line with convention, it consisted of three movements, with a rondo finale. The extant movement of the Concerto, lasting almost ten minutes, delights one above all with the charm of its three themes and the admirable elegance with which the dialogue between soloist and orchestra is led.
All three works are performed on this new recording by Alena Baeva (Violin), Erich Hoeprich (Clarinet) and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century conducted by Jose Maria Florencio.
