Karol Szymanowski - Sonata in C minor op.8, Tempo di Minuetto from Culture.pl on Vimeo.
Szymanowski wrote Sonata in C minor, his first big cyclic work, in 1903-04, while he studied under the composer Zygmunt Noskowski. He dedicated it to his friend, famous painter, dramatist and writer Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. Sonata in C minor has a traditional, four-movement structure, with a minuet as the third movement and a three-voice fugue in the finale. There are some clear references to the style of Fryderyk Chopin, particularly to his late sonatas: the piano sonata in B minor and the cello sonata in G minor. While one cannot help regard Sonata in C minor as another specimen of academic works (the other two being Variations Op. 3 and Variations Op. 10), it nevertheless testifies to Szymanowski's proficiency in composition. Appreciation for Sonata in C minor did come a few years later with the first prize awarded at the Lvov composing competition on the occasion of Chopin's birth centenary in 1910.
After winning the International Chopin Piano Festival in 2005 Rafał Blechacz signed on in 2006 to the Deutsche Grammophon label as the second Polish artist on its roster after Krystian Zimmerman. His recording of Chopin's Préludes was released the following year, gaining platinum status within two weeks of its release and winning such prestigious awards as the German Echo Klassik and French Diapason D’or. His second album - Sonatas by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven was equally a successful while his CD of Chopin Concertos, performed with the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Jerzy Semkow won the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and reached double platinum status in Poland.On the 1st of February, 2012 the label released an album of Blechacz's recordings of works by Debussy and Szymanowski.
Author: Anna Iwanicka-NIjakowska, September 2007. Updated and edited by Agnieszka Le Nart in March 2012