The First Concerto for Piano & Orchestra (of 1890) is quite an original piece. After a rather sombre opening (Andante poco mosso), the following passage (Allegro un poco maestoso) asserts itself with majesty and dramatic impetus. But the bold yet unexpecting entry of the piano demonstrates Stojowski's unrelenting creative spirits. The poetic rhetoric has flair and the idiom is quite unlike anything I've heard before. The rapt poetry, nobility, and beauty behind the music are spellbinding (think of Bortkiewicz' Lamentations and Consolations as well as his Quatre Morceaux). Thinking of possible influences behind this gorgeous score was no easy task & I've came up rather empty (Chopin comes to mind, but vaguely). The Concerto happened to be dedicated in homage to Anton Rubinstein and the second movement demonstrates that Stojowski was not stranger to the music of his Russian counterpart, like, say, his First Piano Concerto. It's a captivating movement, dreamingly so, and the finale is as fine as the previous movements: heroic, exciting, but with the quiet passages (again evoking Rubinstein somewhat) that simply fail to escape me.
The Second Piano Concerto, written in the Summers of 1909 and 1910, never fails to escape me either. It's marginally a finer piece, with the structure as unusual and original as his language. The opening bars of the Prologue (Andante con moto) is as beautiful and noble as those of Busoni's momentous Piano Concerto of 1902-1904. The rapt poetry @ say, 2'22" have me drawn back onto it to a point of redundancy. Awesome stuff, even in the Scherzo (Presto), which is quite Hollywoodish in character quite suitable for a Disney film. But turn to the set of variations, and you'll witness Stojowski's inventiveness at his very best. They are finely wrought, with a compelling lightness of touch and flair that bring to mind the variations Ernst von Dohnanyi used in his large scaled works, like the Variations on a Nursery Theme, the two symphonies, and the Suite in F sharp op. 19. I confess I cannot choose one variation over the other, as they are all equally well written. Sample, if you will, any of them, and you'll be convinced of the workings of such a creative mind of Poland's outstanding composer since Chopin. Little wonders then that this piece created quite a sensation during a performance in New York City on March 4th, 1915 by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Penderewski himself. As Joseph Herter mentions in his highly informative sleeve notes, Penderewski's approach was in fact so spacious (45 minutes in duration) that the critics, while praised the work wholeheartedly, criticized its supposedly longwindedness (one critic suggested that some of the variations should be omitted). Stojowski, perhaps reluctantly, concurred, and therefore omitted the sixth variation before his next performance as pianist with Willem Van Hoogstraten conducted the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall (which took place on November 16th, 1924).
I have a feeling that this warmly, incandescent recorded CD will continue to create sensations in its own right. The music shall be given most of the credit here. But, the renderings of Jonathan Plowright is flawless and full of artistry. He has the scores in full measure, and his approach is full of imagination and verve. The quiet pages are simply spellbinding under his hands. It's as though a narration is being told in the way the themes are allowed to blossom in their natural ways. The support of the BBC Scottish Symphony under Brabbins is likewise spellbinding and narrative also. After praising them in their exhilarating, warm-hearted renditions of Lyapunov's Piano Concerti and the Bortkiewicz' two symphonies, I continued to be awed by their understanding of, advocacy on behalf of, and commitment towards the rarests of repertoire. It's definitely a re-assuring, uplifting feeling in the midst of the precarious crisis that's confronting the music industry as we speak. Dare I hope for Hyperion and, if applicable, the same enterprising team to embark on more of Stojowski's works like, say, his Caprice-Oriental, his symphonies, and even his songs?
Humm...like I'm going to be surprised of what Hyperion have up its adventurous, enterprising sleeves.
Armed with that information, I would have assumed that Stojowiski's music would have had the flavor of over-the-top Late Romantic museum pieces, with all of the attendent excess that often accompanied Late Romanticism at the turn of the century. However, I found these to be surprisingly original works, relatively free of clichés, familiar only in as much as they sounded similar to works by some of his comtemporaries like Karlowicz, for example. They may not stand head & shoulders above other compositions of the period, but they are certainly decent pieces that deserve more attention than they have gotten.
A pleasant surprise is the excellent orchestral accompaniment to a top-notch performance by Jonathan Plowright. One of my complaints with a number of Hyperion's other entries in this collection is that excellent performances by the soloist have been undermined by listless, disengaged performances by the orchestra. That is definitely not the case here; the orchestra very much does justice to Stojowski, and makes the listening experience all the more satisfying.
