Piano Works Vol 3

The recording series of Karol Szymanowski's piano works by Anu Vehviläinen continues. The third disc features two of Szymanowski's piano works, Four Etudes for Piano Op. 4 (1900–1902) and Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 21 (1910–1911), as well as eight songs from the opus Twenty mazurkas for piano op. 50 (1924–1925). The album is a continuation of Szymanowski's Piano Works Vol 1 (ABCD 296) and Szymanowski's Piano Works Vol 2 (ABCD 337).
Anu Vehviläinen writes about the works:
"The second piano sonata forms a work pair with the Symphony No. 2, op. 19, completed a little earlier. After the piano sonata was completed, Szymanowski thought that no one could play it, because according to the composer it became quite "long and hellishly difficult". He didn't even believe in the artistic value of the piece until he heard the first performance. The piece was learned (in a few weeks) and premiered by a good friend of the composer, the pianist Artur Rubinstein. The original performance after it was clear that it was an artistic achievement even more significant than the second symphony, and thanks to these two monuments, Szymanowski further strengthened his international position - they linked him indelibly to the musical tradition of Central Europe.
Etudes in Opus 4 are texturally Szymanowski's earlier ones, op. More versatile and ambitious than the preludes in 1: Szymanowski successfully explores the technical aspects of the piano, achieving both extreme emotional and bold expression. The word 'etude' refers to a study or an exercise, and especially in music to the examination and practice of a technical aspect of playing. In each of his etudes, Szymanowski takes a motif from which he develops an entire concert piece – naturally, we cannot talk about rehearsals.
When he composed masurkas in 1924–25, Szymanowski was an internationally recognized and successful composer. However, life was not easy, because the world war had wreaked havoc in Europe. For Szymanowski, the previous, prosperous life had also been left behind for good. The rise of the Bolsheviks had forced the composer to leave his home in Tymoszówka, Ukraine, and Szymanowski and his family had fled to independent Poland. He had also become a central figure in Polish music, a supporter and a teacher who, in addition to his composition work, worked for a new rise in the cultural life of his country. The twenty mazurkas of Opus 50 are divided into five booklets of four mazurkas. Each individual booklet functions as a complete series with varying characters, but it is of course possible to present many different selections from the opus. The fourth booklet, i.e. mazurkas nos. 13–16, is dedicated to Szymanowski's cousin, the poet-writer Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz and his wife Anna. Iwaszkiewicz is known for e.g. As the librettist of Szymanowski's Król Roger opera. The third booklet, mazurkas nos. 9–12, is dedicated to the Polish pianist Jan Smeterlin, who was a friend of the composer and an interpreter of his works."