Artist: Jonathan Plowright, Jakub Drygas, Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, Łukasz Borowicz
Album: Bergson: Orchestral Works
Genre: Classical
Release Date: 2021
Audio Format:: FLAC (tracks) 24 bit, 96 kHz
Duration: 01:00:04
Total Tracks: 10
Total Size: 1,06 GB

Tracklist:

01. Jonathan Plowright, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra & Łukasz Borowicz – Concert symphonique, Op. 62: I. Allegro con fuoco ed agitato (12:36)
02. Jonathan Plowright, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra & Łukasz Borowicz – Concert symphonique, Op. 62: II. Andante sostenuto (05:15)
03. Jonathan Plowright, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra & Łukasz Borowicz – Concert symphonique, Op. 62: III. Allegro vivace, alla zingarese (05:22)
04. Jonathan Plowright – 4 Mazurkas, Op. 1 (Excerpts): No. 1 in A Minor (03:36)
05. Jonathan Plowright – 4 Mazurkas, Op. 1 (Excerpts): No. 4 in G-Sharp Minor (04:12)
06. Jonathan Plowright – Grande polonaise héroique précédée d’un air slave, Op. 72 (Version for Piano) (09:40)
07. Jonathan Plowright – Polonia (02:13)
08. Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra & Łukasz Borowicz – Luisa di Montfort, Op. 82 (Excerpts): Introduction (03:53)
09. Jakub Drygas, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra & Łukasz Borowicz – Luisa di Montfort, Op. 82 (Excerpts): Scene & Aria [Version for Clarinet & Orchestra] (08:28)
10. Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra & Łukasz Borowicz – Il ritorno (04:46)

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Michal Bergson’s piano concerto receives its world recording premiere — thanks to a chance discovery. Polish composer and pianist Michal Bergson (1820-1898) spent most of his life abroad, retiring to England.

The manuscript for this 1868 concerto was recently discovered in a London antiquarian bookstore. Little is known of the circumstances surrounding the composition, save that Bergson was the soloist for the premiere in Paris.

Pianist Jonathan Plowright specializes in the Polish Romantics. He makes this concerto his own. Bergson’s concerto isn’t quite as big as Grieg’s (premiered a year later), but it points in that direction.We live in the age of musical discoveries. The history of Polish music, which for many years has been defined by the output of only the most outstanding composers, regains its full image – we meet forgotten, underestimated and sometimes even ignored artists (despite their great achievements for Polish culture). It is particularly the history of the Polish music composed in the time of Partitions that is being rewritten. For the history of European music, the 19th century is the time of the greatest changes – a bumpy road from late Classicism through the heyday and twilight of Romanticism, to the beginning of all modern trends. For generations of younger composers Chopin’s genius was a source of inspiration; his shadow, on the other hand, became for many an obstacle they were unable to surmount (among those who complained about the difficulty to break away from the “post-Chopinesque” tradition we find such names, as Mieczyslaw Karlowicz and Karol Szymanowski).

The present album was directly inspired by the discovery of the manuscript of the Concerto symphonique pour piano avec orchestre, Op. 62 by Michał Bergson. In addition, soloist Jonathan Plowright made an original selection of Bergson’s solo piano pieces that complement the piano section of the album.