Karol Szymanowski: Masques, Etudes, Fantasy, Metopes

1. Etudes (4), for piano, Op. 4, M3
Composed by Karol Szymanowski
with Dennis Lee

2. Metopes, 3 poems for piano, Op. 29, M31
Composed by Karol Szymanowski
with Dennis Lee

3. Fantasy, for piano in C major, Op. 14, M13
Composed by Karol Szymanowski
with Dennis Lee

4. Masques (3) for piano, Op. 34, M35
Composed by Karol Szymanowski
with Dennis Lee

Tracks:

Nine Prlds, Op.1: I. Andante Ma Non Troppo
Nine Prlds, Op.1: II. Andante Con Moto
Nine Prlds, Op.1: III. Andantino
Nine Prlds, Op.1: IV. Andantino Con Moto
Nine Prlds, Op.1: V. Allegro Molto, Impetuoso
Nine Prlds, Op.1: VI. Lento, Mesto
Nine Prlds, Op.1: VII. Moderato
Nine Prlds, Op.1: VIII. Andante Ma Non Troppo
Nine Prlds, Op.1: IX. Lento, Mesto
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Tema: Andantino Tranquillo E Semplice
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. I: L'istesso Tempo
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. II: Agitato
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. III: Andantino Quasi Tempo Di Mazurka
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. IV: Con Moto
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. V: Lento Dolce
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. VI: Scherzando Vivace Molto
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. VII: Allegro Agitato Ed Energico
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. VIII: Meno Mosso. Mesto
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. IX: maggiore Tempo Di Valse. Grazioso
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. X: Andantino Dolce
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. XI: Andantino Dolce Affettuoso
Vars in b flat, Op.3: Var. XII: Allegro Con Fuoco
Four Studies, Op.4: I. Allegro Moderato
Four Studies, Op.4: II. Allegro Molto
Four Studies, Op.4: III. Andante In Modo D'una Canzona
Four Studies, Op.4: IV. Allegro (Ma Non Troppo)
Son No.1 in c, Op.8: I. Allegro Moderato
Son No.1 in c, Op.8: II. Adagio
Son No.1 in c, Op.8: III. Tempo Di Minuetto/Comodo-Trio Poco Meno Mosso
Son No.1 in c, Op.8: IV. Finale-Intro: Adagio-Fuga A 3 Voci: Allegro Energico

Tracks:

Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Andante Doloroso Rubato
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Tema: Andantion Semplice
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. I: Meno Mosso
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. II: Agitato
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. III: Lento, Mesto Ma Poco Agitato
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. IV: Allegro Molto Agitato
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. V: Andantino
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. VI: Andante Dolcissimo
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. VII: Piu Mosso
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. VIII: Marcia Funebre
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. IX: Piu Mosso. Allegro
Vars On A Polish Folk-Theme in b, Op.10: Var. X: Finale-Allegro Vivo
Fant in C, Op.14: I. Grave
Fant in C, Op.14: II. Non Tropppo Allegro, Ma Molto Passionato E Affettuoso-Lento. Mesto
Fant in C, Op.14: III. Allegro Molto, Deciso, Energico
Prld And Fugue in c#: I. Prld-Lento, Ma Non Troppo, Rubato
Prld And Fugue in c#: II. Fuga A 4 Voci-Andante
Son No.2 in A, Op.21: I. Allegro Assai. Molto Appassionato
Son No.2 in A, Op.21: II. Tema-Allegretto Tranquillo. Grazioso--Poco Piu Vivace-Poco Meno...

Tracks:

Metopes, Op.29: I. L'ile Des-Sirenes Lento
Metopes, Op.29: II. Calypso-Lento
Metopes, Op.29: III. Nausicaa-Allegretto Grazioso
Etudes, Op.33: 1. Presto
Etudes, Op.33: 2. Andantino Soave
Etudes, Op.33: 3. Vivace Assai. (Agitato)
Etudes, Op.33: 4. Presto.-Delicatamente
Etudes, Op.33: 5. Andante Espressivo
Etudes, Op.33: 6. Vivace. (Agitato E Marcato. Vigoroso)
Etudes, Op.33: 7. Allegro Molto. (Con Brio. Burlesco)
Etudes, Op.33: 8. Lento Assai Mesto. (Espressivo)
Etudes, Op.33: 9. Animato. (Capriccioso E Fantastico)
Etudes, Op.33: 10. Presto. (Molto Agitato) Tempestoso
Etudes, Op.33: 11. Andante Soave (Rubato)
Etudes, Op.33: 12. Presto. (Energico)
Masques, Op.34: I. Scheherazade-(Lento Assai-Languido-Allegretto-Andantino-Vivace-Andantino-Tempo I)
Masques, Op.34: II. Tantris Le Bouffon
Masques, Op.34: III. Ser De Don Juan (Vivace)
Pno Son No.3, Op.36: Presto-Meno Mosso-A Tempo-Andante-Adagio-Allegretto-Assai Vivace-Fuga Allegro..

Tracks:

Mazurkas, Op.50: I. Sostenuto
Mazurkas, Op.50: II. Allegramente
Mazurkas, Op.50: III. Moderato
Mazurkas, Op.50: IV. Allegramente, Risoluto
Mazurkas, Op.50: V. Moderato
Mazurkas, Op.50: VI. Vivace
Mazurkas, Op.50: VII. Poco Vivace
Mazurkas, Op.50: VIII. Moderato (Non Troppo)
Mazurkas, Op.50: IX. Tempo Moderato
Mazurkas, Op.50: X. Allegramente. Vivace. Con Brio
Mazurkas, Op.50: XI. Allegretto
Mazurkas, Op.50: XII. Allegro Moderato
Mazurkas, Op.50: XIII. Moderato
Mazurkas, Op.50: XIV. Animato
Mazurkas, Op.50: XV. Allegretto Dolce
Mazurkas, Op.50: XVI. Allegramente. Vigoroso
Mazurkas, Op.50: XVII. Moderato
Mazurkas, Op.50: XVIII. Vivace. Agitato
Mazurkas, Op.50: XIX. Poco Vivace
Mazurkas, Op.50: XX. Allegramente-Con Brio
Deux Mazurkas, Op.62: I. Allegretto Grazioso
Deux Mazurkas, Op.62: II. Moderato
Four Polish Pieces: 1. Mazurka (Tempo Di Mazurka, Animato)
Four Polish Pieces: 2. Krakowiak (Allegretto Graziozo)
Four Polish Pieces: 3. Oberek (Vivace E Agitato)
Four Polish Pieces: 4. Polonise (Moderato. Festivo, Pomposo)
Romantic Waltz: Tempo Di Valse. Con Moto. Animato

Customer Reviews:

Naxos for the occasional hearer, Nimbus for the collector! I finally got this beautiful set instead of the single Naxos CD's :-).......2006-08-08

If you are interested in the complete piano music by Szymanowski, you can choose between four single Naxos CD's with Martin Roscoe, or a 4 CD Set by Nimbus Records with Martin Jones. The Nimbus box costs a bit more than 4 x Naxos but with a free coupon code (virtual voucher) the prices end up equal, so price cannot matter. What does matter is the artist's performance, and the manner of the disc compilations. Roscoe needed 12 years (1994-2006) to complete the Naxos project and has won numerous awards and praise for it during that period, whereas Jones needed 1 year (1992-1993) only with no significant award; so objectively speaking, Roscoe's performance is 'better'..although there is nothing to criticize regarding Jones's perfect playing. In my crusty ears both performances sound very much alike, to be honest; so who plays should not matter either. Finally the most distinctive feature of the two releases is the compilation on each disc: Jones's is 100% chronological (op.1,3,4,8,10,14,etc.), so that you can find all(!) of the middle-Szymanowski on disc three; CD1&2 represent the early, and CD4 the late (CD4 has 100% the exact compilation as Marc-Andre Hamelin's recording on hyperion records!) composer. This makes listening to the CD's very very easy and comforting. In opposition, Roscoe seems to have mixed all operas arbitrarily on the discs and he even splitted the Mazurkas Op.50 and spread them on all four CD's. Strange thing to do! Sorry, i cannot detect any kind of logical order within the Roscoe release. You might like the element of surprise when listening to a Roscoe disc..but I find these illogical couplings with its arbitrary doses of early-middle-late Szymanowski rather irritating than enjoyable. It somewhat spoils the collector's edition *IMHO*. And that's maybe exactly the point of Naxos: Roscoe's CD's aim at the occasional listener who only wants *one* disc, representative for Szymanowski's oeuvre, and no matter which disc he chooses, it will always contain a similar dose of early, middle, and late. In our case, such devised marketing did not work for me! :P The booklet for Jones@Nimbus has 12 pages of true reading, excellent and detailed; the total times for his four CD's are 69.06, 66.06, 66.06, 67.34 (sum=4h29min); produced and copyright 1999.
A last word on the music itself, if Bortikievich (Bortkiewicz) was the 'Russian Chopin', then Szymanowski must be called the 'Polish Scriabin^2': early-Szymanowski sounds like early-Scriabin, just with squared virtuosity and complexity; middle-Szymanowski sounds like late-Scriabin with double frenzy and intensity. So, if you enjoy Scriabin, you will like most of Szymanowski, bet?!