Where have Karol Szymanowski’s songs been hiding all these years? True, his Songs of the Fairy Princess Op. 31 are relatively familiar in their orchestral guise. But the works for voice and piano are ripe for rediscovery. Channel Classics’ complete edition allows us to explore their wide stylistic and emotional gamut.
Each of the four discs is given over to a different singer. On Disc 1, Piotr Beczala’s light but ardent tenor proves ideal in the early Six Songs Op. 2 and Fragments from Poems by Jaan Kasprowicz Op. 5, works that evoke Fauré’s subtle harmonic palette and the sweeping passion of Scriabin’s youthful keyboard writing. The songs on Disc 2 plunge into more sensual textural and harmonic territory, especially the Colorful Songs Op. 22 (shades of Pfitzner and the teenage Korngold’s juicier moments) and seven James Joyce settings in English (Op. 54).
Save for high sustained notes that wobble, soprano Juliana Gondek’s full-throated delivery and concentration hold strong appeal. However, I prefer Iwona Sobotka’s prettier, more agile soprano voice in the aforementioned Op. 31, along with mezzo-soprano Urszula Kryger’s clarion diction and faultless intonation in the difficult, quasi-atonal Four Songs Op. 41. It takes a real virtuoso and a sensitive colorist to do full justice to Szymanowski’s often daunting piano parts, all of which Reinild Mees commands with the utmost ease and sensitivity. Full texts and translations, comprehensive program notes, and superb engineering add further value to a release that fills a significant discographical gap. [3/22/2005]
