Szymanowski: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2: Rózycki: String Quartet (2009)

The two string quartets by Polish fin de siècle composer Karol Szymanowski are not altogether unknown. There have been four digital recordings of the works prior to the release of this one by the Royal String Quartet on Hyperion in 2008. But the single string quartet by Szymanowski's slightly younger and much longer lived contemporary Ludomir Rózycki included here is a world-premiere recording and joining it with the works of his better known countryman was a keen-sighted programming decision. The performances by the ... Read More

The two string quartets by Polish fin de siècle composer Karol Szymanowski are not altogether unknown. There have been four digital recordings of the works prior to the release of this one by the Royal String Quartet on Hyperion in 2008. But the single string quartet by Szymanowski's slightly younger and much longer lived contemporary Ludomir Rózycki included here is a world-premiere recording and joining it with the works of his better known countryman was a keen-sighted programming decision. The performances by the Warsaw-based Royal String Quartet are technically superlative and interpretively compelling. The playing is appropriately lean and elegant in Szymanowski's Second Quartet, lush and sensual in his First Quartet, and ardent and romantic in Rózycki's Quartet, but always without losing the core qualities of sensitivity, flexibility, and a singing tone. Captured in clear, detailed but warm digital sound, this disc makes a superb introduction of Szymanowski's quartets and the only... Read Less