Search - Henryk Wieniawski, Wolfgang Plagge :: Henryk Wieniawski, Vol. 1

This man can play the violin!

klavierspiel | TX, USA | 01/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although Henryk Wieniawski is a familiar name to violinists and connoisseurs of virtuoso violin playing, the actual amount of repertoire by this Polish composer that is regularly heard today is surprisingly small. Thus, Piotr Janowski's album, the first in a projected series that will presumably encompass the complete Wieniawski oeuvre, would be welcome even if it were less well played than is the case. Janowski begins with a dazzling rendition of the Polonaise Brillante in A major, the one piece on the CD that might be called a standard, then proceeds through other, much less familiar pieces, not all of them virtuoso showpieces by any means. In fact, the gem of this collection is the lovely Reverie, a melancholy effusion that deserves to be more widely known. For my taste there are a few too many Mazurkas or Mazurka-like pieces to escape a feeling of saturation, and the final piece, the Carnaval Russe, is unfortunately the weakest musically, an overlong set of variations on a theme that can be best characterized as rudimentary. Still, Janowski's impeccable technique and sense of style make even the weaker works irresistible. The sound is a shade bright for my taste but seems appropriate to the concept--a celebration of violin playing."

STRAD SELECTION - Concerto disc

Lindberg Lyd AS | Norway | 06/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Whereas Spohr tended to avoid strokes that involved bouncing the bow, Wieniawski revelled in them ? and so does Polish violinist Piotr Janowski in the most exhilarating, refreshing Wieniawski playing I have heard in a long time.
Born in 1951, Janowski won the Wieniawski Competition when he was 16 and evidently has the style in his bones. He is now based in Norway, hence his collaboration with the superb pianist Wolfgang Plagge and this enterprising small Norwegian CD label.
Janowski has a lovely tone and a good cantilena, but in this music it is his technical bravura, his ease in harmonics, his feeling for the Polish rhythms ? especially the mazurka ? and his natural rubato that count.
We first hear the pianist setting the scene, in a startlingly clear recording, for the Polonaise Brillante in A major op.21. Immediately Janowski establishes that he is a whizz at spiccato. The mazurkas then start. They include Souvenir de Poznan, Sielanka, Piesn Polska and the well-known Kujawiak, Obertas and Dudziarz. If you restrict your listening to one or two at a time they make a splendid effect.
Rêverie is a more touching piece, Le Carnaval russe is delightfully humorous and the E minor Gigue finds composer and interpreters ? not to mention the listener ? unsure whether we are in Poland or the Scottish Highlands. It would be interesting to hear a Scots player's take on this piece, new to me. I cannot wait for volume 2, which I hope will bring a full version of Souvenir de Moscou.

Tully Potter April 2002
The Strad, April 2002"