* Serenade for strings Op.2

DUX 0868 / 2012
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MERCADANTE, DOPPLER, KARLOWICZ
Saverio MERCADANTE (1795-1870)
* Concerto in E minor for flute and orchestra
Albert Franz DOPPLER (1821-1883)
* Andante and Rondo Op. 25 for two flutes and piano
(transcription for chamber orchestra: Adrianne Greenbaum)
* Duettino hongrois Op. 36 for two flutes and piano :
(transcription for chamber orchestra Marzena Diakun)
Mieczysław KARLOWICZ (1876-1909)
* Serenade for strings Op.2
***
Łukasz DLUGOSZ – flute
Agata KIELAR-DLUGOSZ – flute
Elbląg Chamber Orchestra
Marzena DIAKUN – conductor
Marcin SOMPOLINSKI – conductor
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DUX Małgorzata Polańska & Lech Tołwiński ul. Morskie Oko 2, 02-511 Warszawa
tel./fax (48 22) 849-11-31, (48 22) 849-18-59
e-mail: [email protected], www.dux.pl
Aleksandra Kitka-Coutellier – International Relations [email protected]
The emancipation of music from the dominant influence of the word is sometimes considered to be one of the key features of 19th-century instrumental music. In line with this interpretation, sonatas, symphonies, concertos and serenades
were the first truly mature manifestations of music which did not express anything else but itself. The ideal of the art of
sound liberated in this manner – absolute music – is given to the students of music and to music lovers as a dogma pertaining to the almost entire musical legacy of that period. True enough, it helps us to understand to a certain degree the
specific character of the instrumental music of Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann and Brahms, providing proof of its alleged
superiority over the vocal music of its time. While shedding new light on one of the faces of European Romanticism, it
obscures its other face, the one for which the link with the word is an inseparable part of the age-long tradition.
This does not concern the underrated operatic output by 19th-century composers nor the better-known and highly valued tradition of the Romantic song, in which pride of place goes to the historic oeuvre of Franz Schubert. For one can
hardly imagine a situation in which a coherent world of ideas which ruled the minds of Romantic composers would produce two parallel realities, not only unconnected with one another but organically divergent in the principles of their construction. After all, Schubert composed both Der Erlkönig (The Erl-King) and the Unfinished Symphony, works that have
much in common, not only in the manner of their developing musical narration but in the compositional technique itself.
It has long been observed that the evidently pianistic melos of Chopin’s compositions is deeply rooted in the aesthetics of
the opera bel canto, something which in no way belittles the merits of the Polish composer’s oeuvre. One can notice similar convergencies in the outputs of many other Romantic composers, both those of the highest calibre and those of lesser importance.
The pieces on this CD seem to prove the point. And even though they are purely instrumental, they all exhibit, each in its
own specific way, integral links with the opera, solo song and symphonic poem of their time. The first work is the Concerto in E minor for flute and orchestra by Saverio Mercadante (1795-1870). This is the only piece which is associated
these days with the name of this Neapolitan composer who devoted the better part of his life to opera. It is symptomatic,
however, that few people remember that this highly talented student of Rossini had almost 60 operas to his credit, produced in the prestigious theatres of Naples (San Carlo), Mantua (Nuovo), Rome (Valle, Argentina), Bologna (Comunale),
Milan (La Scala), Venice (La Fenice), Turin (Regio), Bergamo (Riccardi), Vienna (Kärntnertortheater), Lisbon (San Carlos),
Cadiz (Principal), Madrid (Principe) and Paris (Théâtre Italien). Mercadante’s operas, overshadowed by those of Donizetti
and Bellini, deserve to be rediscovered, primarily because of their role in the history of the genre. His proposed changes
in the construction of the opera predated Verdi’s reforms by several decades. What Mercadante wanted to achieve was
to enrich tangibly the dramatic component of opera, while maintaining structural uniformity in line with the Romantic
ideal of ‘unity in diversity’. Exactly the same aesthetic programme can be found in the composer’s Flute Concerto in E minor. Written with a virtuoso sweep, it is at the same time perfectly balanced in its classical architecture. The contrasting
themes of the opening sonata allegro (Allegro maestoso), the Largo cantilena and the final Rondo russo may appear to
an imaginative listener like extraordinarily painted operatic scenes, which lack only the words and…colourful sets.
One can gain a similar impression while listening to the chamber compositions by Albert Franz Doppler (1821-1883):
Andante and Rondo Op. 25 or Duettino hongrois Op. 36. Even though both fit perfectly into the convention of virtuoso
functional music of mature Romanticism, they exhibit far-reaching similarities with the rhetoric of the coloratura arias of
that time. It is worth recalling that Doppler, born in Lemberg, Polish Lwów; now L’viv in Ukraine, began his musical career, like Mercadante, as a flautist. As a composer, he focused on the opera and ballet, writing on commission for the
theatres in Budapest and Vienna, but he continued to play flute in the orchestra of the Vienna Opera and to work as a
professor of flute in the city’s Conservatory. The operatic style of narration is noticeable in his instrumental compositions,
the bulk of which is naturally for flute (or flutes) and piano. One is bound to appreciate in them Doppler’s perfect compositional craft, in which the experience gained in the instrumentation for opera and ballet undoubtedly had its share. Like
Mercadante, who skillfully introduced to his concerto threads alluding to the traditions of the national schools of later
decades (Rondo russo!), Doppler, too, did not shun similar devices. This is true not only of his operas, which, in line with
the conventions of the time, contain a profusion of elements of German music (Judith) and Russian music (Beniowski),
but also of his instrumental music. A student of Franz Liszt for a brief period, Doppler orchestrated his Hungarian Rhapsodies to a very good effect. The sensuous mood of the Hungarian csárdás can also be found in his flute pieces, including Duettino hongrois. In it, however, the development of musical material is rather Viennese in character. It will not be
an exaggeration to observe that a similar practice is evident in some works by Chopin.
The music of Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876-1909), a composer representing the neo-Romantic aesthetics of the fin de
siècle, introduces us into an entirely different world of emotions. Karłowicz matured as a composer at a time when Europe’s musical capitals had moved from Naples and Vienna to Berlin. It was there that he began his musical studies, supplementing his training as a violinist with lessons in composition. The Serenade for strings Op. 2, written as a graduation
piece, is still the work of a student but it already shows the young composer’s aesthetic inspirations. Pride of place here
goes to Richard Strauss, who was a strong influence on Karłowicz’s later symphonic poems. Yet, the modest beginnings
of this kind of compositional idea can be noticed in the seemingly ‘absolute’ music of his Serenade of 1897, incidentally
one of the finest symphonic compositions in the history of Polish music. It exhibits the composer’s extraordinary talent
for melodic writing, no doubt the fruit of his experience as a violinist. Moreover, the four-movement work has a perfectly
balanced architectural design, consciously drawing on the classical form of symphony. And even though the titles of its
movements (March, Romance, Waltz, Finale) do not point directly to any extra-musical inspiration, one cannot exclude
such a possibility, bearing in mind not only Karłowicz’s further creative development but also the very manner of its musical narration. It is only in the final Allegretto non troppo that Karłowicz seem to speak with a full voice. Despite its brevity, this is music which is renowned for its sense of panache, coming close to the idiom of his later symphonic poems.
Tomasz JeŜ
Translated by Michał Kubicki
Łukasz DŁUGOSZ has been hailed by the critics as ‘one of the most prominent flautists of his generation’. He is a graduate of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse
in Paris and Yale University in New Haven. He is the winner of seventeen prestigious international competitions, including
the Jean-Pierre Rampal Competition in Paris (2008), the Theobald Boehm Competition in Munich (2006), the Carl Nielsen
Competition in Odense (Denmark, 2006) and the Leonardo De Lorenzo Competition in Viggiano (Italy, 2005). He has developed a fine career as a soloist and chamber musician, touring widely in Europe, Asia and the United States. He has
performed with many leading European orchestras and appeared in such prestigious venues as the Carnegie Hall in New
York, the Musikverein-Goldener Saal and the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Munich Philharmonic
Gasteig-Carl-Orff-Saal, the Herkulessaal in Munich and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. He performed alongside such famous
conductors as Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Mariss Jansons, Krzysztof Penderecki, Jacek Kaspszyk and Helmuth Rilling. He
has made numerous recordings for radio and television, as well as for various labels in Poland and abroad. They have
been highly acclaimed by Polish and European critics. Many of his concerts have been broadcast by BBC Radio 3, SWR,
BR4, Deutschlandradio Kultur, Polish Radio 2, NDR, Radio France and RMF Classic. He has sat on the juries of international flute competitions and has given masterclasses in Europe and Asia. He has received many prestigious distinctions,
in Poland (the award from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage) and Germany (Gasteig-Musikpreis, Zeit-Preis
and Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben). In 2010 he made his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra (CD recording of
Michael Colin’s Concerto). A television film about him, sponsored by the National Bank of Poland, has been shown on Polish state television TVP1 and TV Polonia.
Agata KIELAR-DŁUGOSZ is a graduate of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich and Yale University in New
Haven. She perfected her skills attending masterclasses given by such flute virtuosos as Peter Lukas Graf, James Galway,
Jeanne Baxtresser, Jean Claude Gérard, Jacques Zoon, Peter Lloyd and Ransom Wilson. She is a prizewinner of many
prestigious competitions including those in Viggiano (the Leonardo De Lorenzo Competition), Padua, Ovada, Uelzen (the
Friedrich Kuhlau Competition) and Timisoara (Romania). She was Principal Flute of the Bayerisches Symphonieorchester
in Munich, also working closely with the city’s Kammerorchester and Bach Collegium. She performed alongside such famous conductors as Sir Colin Davis, Mariss Jansons, Helmuth Rilling and Christoph Poppen. She performs regularly as a
soloist and chamber musician in Europe and the United States. She has given first performances of several flute concertos which were dedicated to her by Polish and foreign composers. Their recordings have been broadcast by leading European radio stations. She also pursues a teaching career as a member of faculty of the Music Academy in Kraków (since
2007). She has given masterclasses in Poland, Germany and the United States. In 2006 she became a member of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. She has received numerous grants and awards for her artistic achievements from DAAD, the
Fulbright Commission, KAAD, the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, All Flutes Plus, Jeunesses Musicales,
Top Wind and the Stiftung für Musik Zürich.
THE ELBLĄG CHAMBER ORCHESTRA based in Elbląg, northern Poland, the city’s chamber orchestra is one of Poland’s
youngest ensembles of its kind. Founded in 2007, it has a broad repertoire, spanning music from the Baroque to the
present, by such composers as T. Albinoni, G. Bacewicz, J.S. Bach, L. van Beethoven, B. Britten, F. Chopin, A. Corelli, A.
Dvorak, E. Elgar, H.M. Górecki, E. Grieg, F. Handel, J. Haydn, M. Karłowicz, W. Kilar, W. Lutosławski, F. Mendelssohn, W.
A. Mozart, K. Penderecki, G.B. Pergolesi, G. Rossini, D. Shostakovich, P. Tchaikovsky, G. Telemann and A. Vivaldi. The
orchestra has worked with many outstanding soloists and conductors, including Beata Bilińska, Bartosz Bryła, Kai Bumann, Krzesimir Dębski, Marzena Diakun, Łukasz Długosz, Bogusław Furtok, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Robert Kabara, Adam
Klocek, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Piotr Kusiewicz, Wiesław Kwaśny, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Leszek MoŜdŜer, Marek Moś, Andrzej Mysiński, Michał Nesterowicz, Zbigniew Pilch, Piotr Pławner, Wojciech Rodek, Zbigniew Rychert, Marcin Sompoliński,
Jan Stanienda, Agata Szymczewska, Sławomir Wilk, Filip Wojciechowski, Tytus Wojnowicz and Marcin Zdunik. The orchestra has taken part in many prestigious events, such as the 39th anniversary of the December 1970 workers’ protest
on the Baltic coast (organized by the European Solidarity Centre), the Festival of Sacred Music in Gdynia (2009, 2010,
2011) and a concert to mark the beatification of Pope John Paul II (Bach’s Mass in B minor). The Elbląg Chamber Orchestra is also active in the field of popular music, appearing together with artists and groups representing a wide range
of styles (Leszek MoŜdŜer, Krzesimir Dębski, Grzegorz Turnau, Anna Jurksztowicz, Edyta Górniak, Justyna Steczkowska,
Andrzej Piaseczny, Seweryn Krajewski, Dorota and Henryk Miśkiewicz, Adam Sztaba, Motion Trio, Raz Dwa Trzy, Kameleon Septet, Zakopower). Paweł Kukliński is the Artistic Director and leader of the Elbląg Chamber Orchestra. The
present recording is its debut CD.
Marzena DIAKUN gained a diploma with distinction from the Music Academy in Wrocław, where she studied conducting with Mieczysław Gawroński. She continued her studies with Uroš Lajovic at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende
Kunst in Vienna. She also studied with Kerry Woodward at the Conservatorium Saxion Hogeschool in Enschede, The
Netherlands. She has attended courses for conductors under the guidance of Jerzy Salwarowski, Marek Tracz and Gabriel Chmura, the Orpheum Conductors Masterclass in Zurich given by Colin Metters, Howard Griffiths and David Zinman, as
well as Kurt Masur’s International Courses for Conductors. She also participated in an international course in contemporary music given by Pierre Boulez during the Luzerne Festival in 2011. She made her debut in 2002, as a second yearstudent, conducting the Koszalin Philharmonic Orchestra during the final concert of the 17th International Festival of Percussion Music. She has made several tours of Germany, Switzerland and Denmark with the Polish Opera Orchestra and
has performed as a guest conductor with the Warsaw Philharmonic, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice, the Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk, the symphony orchestras in Wrocław,
Kraków and Rzeszów, as well as the Czech Radio Orchestra in Prague and the Žilin Sinfonietta in Slovakia. She has
served as Artistic Director of the Wrocław Youth Orchestra (since 2007) and as Principal Conductor of Smash Ensemble, a
Spanish group specializing in contemporary music. She received an honourable mention at the Witold Lutosławski International Young Conductors’ Competition in Białystok (2006), the ‘Stoart’ Prize at the 8th Grzegorz Fitelberg International
Conductors’ Competition in Katowice (2007) and Second Prize at the 59th Conductors’ Competition during the Prague
Spring Festival (2007). In 2010 she received a doctorate from the Music Academy in Kraków.
Marcin SOMPOLIŃSKI completed his conducting studies at the Music Academy in Poznań, gaining a diploma in the
class of Witold Krzemieński (1989). He has served as Music Director of the Symphony Orchestra of his Alma Mater since
1993. In 1997-2002 he was a member of the Grand Opera company, with which he conducted, among other things, Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the festivals in Carcassonne and Xanten. He has appeared with many symphony orchestras in
Poland and abroad, including such prestigious venues as the Beethovenhalle w Bonn, the Festspielhaus in Salzburg and
the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. He has performed with such outstanding soloists as Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Jadwiga Kotnowska, ElŜbieta Chojnacka, Wiesław Ochman and Malcolm Bilson. The ‘composer-portrait’ concerts devoted to Arvo Pärt
were named by the ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’ and ‘śycie’ dailies as the cultural highlight of 1998 in Poznań. The highlights in
Sompoliński’s operatic career include the Polish premiere of Marcel Landowski’s Galina and the productions of Stanisław
Moniuszko’s Halka (2000) of Verdi’s Aida (2001). In 2006 he conducted the Opera Nova company from Bydgoszcz in the
Austrian premiere of Mozart’s newly-discovered opera Der Stein der Weisen (Fetsspielhaus Salzburg). He served as Music Director of the Music Theatre in Poznań (2005-2008), where he prepared the premieres of Franz Lehár’s Der Zarewitsch and Maury Yeston’s Phantom. Since 2008 he has served as Permanent Conductor of the Concerto Brandenburg in
Germany, an orchestra specializing in performing classical music on period instruments.