News

The workings of inspiration are truly inscrutable. Karol Szymanowski sought it in the Antiquity, the Orient, and in Polish folklore. The artists of to-day, though cast from a different mould, are in turn inspired by the oeuvre of Szymanowski. They take up anew what the giant of Polish music left off nearly a hundred years ago and use his works as a point of departure for more explorations, a journey into the unknown.

A creative clash of artistic individualities is always a high-risk venture that might only seem fit for a one-time success. Contrary to expectations, collaboration between one of Poland’s most eminent 21st-century composers and one of the best contemporary writers continues to develop, producing ever more surprising results.

When cinema’s great visionary Francis Ford Coppola is calling – the director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now – who would hang up on him? Wojciech Kilar took up the offer of cooperation, which resulted in his soundtrack (now of cult status) for the tale of the Transylvanian monster whose love was a bit too strong. Years later, this pathetic-lyrical cantata for mixed choir and symphony orchestra has been turned inside out by pianist Piotr Orzechowski and saxophonist Kuba Więcek. The album THEMES OF DRACULA, comprising deconstructed themes from Dracula, will go into distribution as of 19th August, as part of the catalogue of PWM Edition’s label ANAKLASIS.

“I’ve focused on chamber music in order to bring out as much colour in the violin itself and its changing sound as possible,” says virtuoso Adam Bałdych about his vision of Wieniawski’s music. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called Bałdych “technically the most accomplished violinist of our time”. Technical proficiency and thorough education (which includes an honours degree from Katowice’s Academy of Music and a scholarship to Berklee College of Music) do not stop Bałdych from taking an unorthodox approach to the time-honoured music of old masters.

There are plenty of ideas for how to play Chopin, ‘iron rules’ for Chopin performance, and hypotheses concerning possible ways of interpretation. In the 3CD-box FRYDERYK CHOPIN – PIANO CONCERTOS / ÉTUDES / CHAMBER WORKS from ANAKLASIS we present treasures from archive recordings: a veritable pageant of artists who made the history of 20th-century Polish pianism.

‘Easy as it is to appreciate contemporary works after they have become classics – why wait so long? The ANAKLASIS label has asked this question for two years now, encouraging audiences to explore Polish contemporary music of the highest calibre.

The tandem of opera authors, Aleksander Nowak and Szczepan Twardoch, have already won the audience’s hearts and received numerous accolades, as well as releases on CDs and LPs. Drach. Dramma per musica inaugurated the OPERA series from ANAKLASIS. In the same series, we now present their second joint project, Siren. Melodrama aeterna, on a compact disc. It will be premiered on 5th November during the AUKSODRONE festival in Tychy.

Forgotten forms of sound are more and more frequently rediscovered and restored to the music world in fresh, modernised ways. This is also the case with ANAKLASIS new CD in the SOUNDS series. CONTEMPORARY CARILLON is a unique attempt to demonstrate the contemporary sound of bells as envisaged by the most outstanding Polish composers. The album will go on sale as of 3rd September, and two of the works recorded on it will be premiered live just two days later.