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Szymanowski X-Rayed. The album SZYMANOWSKI / X-RAY premieres on 14th November!
2022-10-28
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. This is certainly true of sax player, composer and producer Adam Pierończyk – a restless soul, an artist who has collaborated with, among others, Sam Rivers, Archie Shepp, Bobby McFerrin, Tomasz Stańko, and Avishai Cohen. The US website ‘All About Jazz’ hailed his virtuoso playing as ‘fresh and innovative, modern, iridescent’*.
Szymanowski’s Études Op. 33 were first performed a hundred years ago in Paris. In his latest project, Adam Pierończyk X-rays this century-old piano texture (hence the title: SZYMANOWSKI / X-RAY) to tell the story in a completely new fashion: Phase-contrast I, Photon VI, Image V, Detector X, Tube XII, Electron II, Projection VII – seven poems for saxophone, piano, and electro-classical guitar. This music speaks the language of jazz, in which interaction between musicians is possibly the most important. It is from this interaction that new colours and an intriguing, unpredictable atmosphere emerge.
‘I have selected Études Op. 33 because they are a formidable challenge, not only for pianists. Complexity has always attracted and inspired me. I love to be pushed out of my comfort zone by such challenges and feel like a student again,’ Pierończyk says.
In his daring impressions on Szymanowski, the artist is accompanied by ECM artist Dominik Wania, freely moving in his piano improvisations across the no man’s land between classical music and jazz, and by the Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras, who combines technical proficiency with spontaneity.
‘Not deconstruction, not re-composition, but an X-ray and making our own diagnosis. An X-ray reveals to us what we cannot see with a naked eye. On the other hand, some of the tissues of the X-rayed body or object still remain invisible to us. This, then, is an ideal metaphor of my approach to Karol Szymanowski’s music. The Roman numerals next to the titles refer to the numbers of his études, which provided the basis for the successive pieces in the programme. This is a clue for those who would like to look for certain similarities or for my sources,’ Pierończyk adds.
SZYMANOWSKI / X-RAY, our latest album in the REVISIONS series from ANAKLASIS – PWM Edition’s record label, goes into distribution as of 14th November, and will be available from the best bookstores and music shops, as well as the virtual shop of the empik chain.
On the same day, 14th November at 7 p.m., the music from the album will be performed live at the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin! We warmly invite you to this concert: ‘Adam Pierończyk feat. Nelson Veras & Dominik Wania’. Tickets can be purchased here.
*Quote from: https://www.adampieronczyk.net/press-reviews
#sharpenyourears for REVISIONS from ANAKLASIS.
Media patrons of the Szymanowski / X-RAY: TVP Kultura, RMF Classic, Culture.pl
Partner of the release: Ruch Muzyczny
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