Juliusz Zarebski: Piano Works

The CPO label continues its campaign to resurrect forgotten music of the nineteenth century with this disc, and it's come up with at least one winner. Juliusz Zarebski (1854-1885) was a student of Liszt and the recipient of uncharacteristically generous praise from the rather self-centered master. This seems odd at first, for Zarebski's music, though it contains its share of technical difficulties, sounds very little like Liszt, or like Chopin, or the music of other Eastern European virtuosi. The centerpiece here is the ... Read More

The CPO label continues its campaign to resurrect forgotten music of the nineteenth century with this disc, and it's come up with at least one winner. Juliusz Zarebski (1854-1885) was a student of Liszt and the recipient of uncharacteristically generous praise from the rather self-centered master. This seems odd at first, for Zarebski's music, though it contains its share of technical difficulties, sounds very little like Liszt, or like Chopin, or the music of other Eastern European virtuosi. The centerpiece here is the five-movement Les roses et les épines (The Roses and the Thorns), and the Liszt connection comes clear when you think about the chronology: Zarebski was working with the aging Liszt, the Liszt who experimented in the fringe areas of tonality and affected (or, who knows, maybe even accepted) a monastic lifestyle. The five movements of Les roses et les épines have free forms and a tendency toward wandering melodies that thicken at times into a quite unexpected exultation. They are quite... Read Less