Polish Music for Cello & Orchestra Marcin Zdunik, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra & Andrzej Boreyko

• Alexandre Tansman (1897 - 1986): Fantasia for Cello & Orchestra:
• 1 Tansman: Fantasia for Cello & Orchestra 12:37
• Grażyna Bacewicz (1909 - 1969): Cello Concerto No. 1:
• 2 Bacewicz: Cello Concerto No. 1: I. Allegro non troppo 10:03
• 3 Bacewicz: Cello Concerto No. 1: II. Andante tranquillo 06:18
• 4 Bacewicz: Cello Concerto No. 1: III. Finale. Allegro giocoso 07:12
• Henryk Hubertus Jabłoński (1915 - 1989): C-67:
• 5 Jabłoński: C-67 12:22
• Miłosz Magin (1929 - 1999): Cello Concerto:
• 6 Magin: Cello Concerto: I. Allegro vivace 11:21
• 7 Magin: Cello Concerto: II. Andante cantabile 09:39
• 8 Magin: Cello Concerto: III. Presto ma non troppo 07:44
• Total Runtime 01:17:16

Info for Polish Music for Cello & Orchestra

For its new recording project, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra with its musical and artistic director Andrzej Boreyko has invited Polish cello virtuoso Marcin Zdunik. On Polish Music for Cello and Orchestra, the artists present four compositions.

What do the four works for solo instrument and orchestra selected for this recording have in common, apart from the cello, the most soulful of all instruments, which in the hands of a virtuoso makes us hold our breath in anticipation of every coming note? Well, they are also connected by the fact that they were written by composers of Polish origin who lived in the twentieth century and most of whom were born in the same city, Lodz (with the exception of Henryk Hubertus Jabłoński, who is personally and professionally connected with Gdansk). In some of the works one can also hear clear and conscious inspirations from Polish traditional music. In this interesting selection there are works by well-known artists - Grażyna Bacewicz and Aleksander Tansman - as well as less frequently performed compositions by Jabłoński and Miłosz Magin, which certainly deserve our attention.

All four composers share a common front in terms of musical traditions: They see both the need to continue them and the need to update and change the means shaped by these traditions. Although they held different aesthetic views and wrote in different styles, they all grappled with the most important problem of twentieth-century music: relating to the past and looking to the future. In music, these two opposing concepts - tradition and innovation - have proved impossible to reconcile. Each of our composers has turned to traditional forms and major-minor tonality in different ways in order to find a bridge between modern compositional techniques and the perceptual abilities and habits of listeners.

Marcin Zdunik, cello
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrzej Boreyko, conductor

Marcin Zdunik
has been invited to perform at prestigious festivals – The BBC Proms Festival in London, Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano and Chopin and his Europe in Warsaw. Giving solo concerts in many European countries, the USA and Korea Marcin Zdunik has co-operated with many renowned ensembles, e.g. the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and distinguished conductors, such as Andrey Boreyko, Antoni Wit and Tadeusz Strugała.

He regularly shares the stage with reputable musicians – Nelson Goerner, Gerard Causse, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Jose Gallardo and Modigliani Quartet. He performed with Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet and Tatjana Grindenko at the festival Chamber Music Connects the World in Kronberg. He has performed as a soloist at many renowned concert halls, e.g. the National Philharmonic Concert Hall in Warsaw, the Rudolfinum in Prague, Carnegie Hall in New York, Konzerthaus Berlin, Cadogan Hall in London, Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg, Konzerthaus Dortmund and the Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava.

In 2007 Marcin Zdunik won the first prize at the VI Lutoslawski International Cello Competition in Warsaw (Poland). He was also awarded the Grand Prix for an outstanding performance of Lutoslawski’s Cello Concerto and received nine other prizes. In 2008 he represented the Polish Radio in Bratislava (Slovakia) at the International Forum of Young Performers (IFYP) organized by the European Broadcasting Union where he won the 2008 New Talent title.

In 2010 he got Polish TV Culture Award, Gwarancje Kultury and Fryderyk Music Award 2010 for the album: Haydn, Denisov „Cello Concertos”. More recently he recorded complete Robert Schumann’s works for cello and piano (2014, with Aleksandra Świgut), Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s “Fantasia for cello and orchestra” (2015, with Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra and Andres Mustonen) and a duo album „Bach Stories” including works by Johann Sebastian Bach and improvisations related to them (with Aleksander Dębicz, Warner Classics 2017).

Zdunik studied with reputable musicians – Julius Berger (Augsburg University) and Andrzej Bauer (F. Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw). He also graduated from the University of Warsaw earning the master’s degree in musicology.

He currently teaches at the Music Academy in Gdańsk (Poland) and at the Fryderyk Chopin Music University in Warsaw (Poland). He holds a habilitated doctor degree in music since 2017.

Booklet for Polish Music for Cello & Orchestra