WITOLD LUTOSŁAWSKI (1913–1994)

COMPLETE PIANO MUSIC


GIORGIO KOUKL

‘Lutosławski is known for his symphonic production, but his piano music has, for a long time, been neglected, despite its many appealing qualities, like its logical, quasi 'geometrical' structure, and its richness of melody and charm. I find all these qualities already in the youthful sonata, which is recorded here for the first time in its original, autograph form.’ – Giorgio Koukl

Listen to an excerpt from
Piano Sonata: II. Adagio ma non troppo
LUTOSŁAWSKI, W.: Piano Music (Complete)
GP768
Witold Lutosławski
WITOLD LUTOSŁAWSKI
(1913–1994)

About this Recording

Witold Lutosławski’s few surviving apprentice works are suffused with the elegance of Ravel and the lush effusiveness of Szymanowski, and this is particularly true of the early Piano Sonata, heard here in Giorgio Koukl’s new and corrected edition based on the original manuscript. Further premières include the wistful A Kiss of Roxanne and the technically complex Invention. Including all of the folk-music tinted pedagogical miniatures, works for piano four hands and other occasional pieces, this is the most comprehensive edition of Lutosławski’s works for solo piano ever recorded.

PIANO SONATA (PAUL SACHER FOUNDATION MANUSCRIPT /
ED. KOUKL (1934) ** (30:13)
1
I. Allegro (12:59)
2
II. Adagio ma non troppo (08:17)
3
III. Andante – Allegretto (08:54)
BUKOLIKI (‘BUCOLICS’) (1952) (06:08)
4
I. Allegro vivace (01:13)
5
II. Allegretto sostenuto (01:10)
6
III. Allegro molto (00:47)
7
IV. Andantino (01:31)
8
V. Allegro marciale (01:26)
TRZY UTWORY DLA MŁODIEŻY
(‘THREE PIECES FOR THE YOUNG’) (1953) (04:23)
9
I. Czteropalcowka (‘Four-Finger Exercise’) (00:57)
10
II. Melodia (‘An Air’) (01:47)
11
III. Marsz (‘March’) (01:38)
12
POCAŁUNEK ROKSANY (‘A KISS OF ROXANNE’) * (01:25)
13
ZIMOWY WALC (‘WINTER WALTZ’) (1954) * (02:52)
MELODIE LUDOWE (‘FOLK MELODIES’) (1945) (12:19)
14
I. Ach, mój Jasieńko (‘O, my Johnny’) (00:31)
15
II. Hej, od Krakowa jadę (‘Hey, I come from Kraków’) (00:43)
16
III. Jest drożyna, jest (‘There is a path, there is’) (00:50)
17
IV. Pastereczka (‘The Shepherd Girl’) (00:57)
18
V. Na jabłoni jabłko wisi (‘An apple hangs on the apple tree’) (00:46)
19
VI. Od Sieradza płynie rzeka (‘A river flows from Sieradz’) (01:41)
20
VII. Panie Michale (‘Master Michael’) (01:32)
21
VIII. W Polu lipeńka (‘The lime tree in the field’) (01:23)
22
IX. Zalotny (‘Flirting’) (01:10)
23
X. Gaik (‘The Grove’) (00:33)
24
XI. Gąsior (‘The Gander’) (00:50)
25
XII. Rektor (‘The Schoolmaster’) (01:15)
DWIE ETIUDY (‘TWO ÉTUDES’) (1940–41) (05:11)
26
I. Allegro (02:13)
27
II. Non troppo allegro (02:57)
28
INWENCJA (‘INVENTION’)
(UNDATED PAUL SACHER FOUNDATION MANUSCRIPT) * (01:14)
29
INWENCJA (‘INVENTION’) (1968) (00:59)
30
ZASŁYSZANA MELODYJKA (‘AN OVERHEARD MELODY’)
(FOR PIANO 4 HANDS) (1957) (02:04)
31
MINIATURA (‘MINIATURE’)
(ORIGINAL VERSION FOR PIANO 4 HANDS,
PAUL SACHER FOUNDATION MANUSCRIPT) (1953) (02:09)
* WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING
** WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING
OF THE AUTOGRAPH SCORE

TOTAL TIME: 69:45

Giorgio Koukl

Giorgio Koukl is a Czech pianist/harpsichordist and composer. He studied in Prague at the State Music School and Conservatory, and continued his studies at both the Conservatories of Zürich and Milan, where he took part in the masterclasses of Nikita Magaloff, Jacques Février, and Stanislaus Neuhaus, and with Rudolf Firkušný, friend and advocate of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů. It was through Firkušný that Koukl first encountered Martinů’s music. Since then he has developed these into an important part of his concert repertoire and is now considered one of the world’s leading interpreters of Martinů’s piano music. Koukl has also recorded the complete solo piano works of Paul Le Flem, Alexander Tcherepnin, Arthur Lourié, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Witold Lutosławski, and, most recently, Alexandre Tansman.

Virginia Rossetti

Virginia Rossetti (b. 1988) began her piano studies with Massimiliano Ferrati, later attending the ‘Antonio Buzzolla’ Conservatory in Adria. In May 2013 she obtained her Master of Performing Arts with distinction at the Hochschule für Musik in Basle with Filippo Gamba, and in 2014 at the Royal Flemish Conservatoire of Brussels with Aleksandar Madzar. She was recently awarded a Master in Pedagogy at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana in the class of Anna Kravtchenko. She is a prize winner of several national and international piano competitions.

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