Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872) is known to be the most outstanding Polish opera composer of the nineteenth century and the composer of around 300 songs. Less familiar is his instrumental output, although in quantitative terms his piano works occupy second place in his �uvre, behind only the songs. This disc contains twenty-three of Moniuszko's works for solo piano, including polonaises, bagatelles, waltzes, an elegy, a lullaby, an album 'souvenir' and an aria with carillon.
Moniuszko left around 180 works for piano, for two and four hands. They are stylistically quite homogeneous, rather short, with symmetrical design, simple harmonies and unsophisticated textures, ideal for performing in the home or the salon. They are characterised by their smooth, lively flow, their elegance and the individual musical language that typifies the whole of Moniuszko's output. These compositions display artistic, as well as technical, qualities.
They can be divided into two groups: works based on dance rhythms; lyrical miniatures. The former, clearly in the majority, are dominated by polonaises and mazurkas, followed by waltzes and polkas. The lyrical miniatures, meanwhile, include bagatelles, works with programmatic titles, villanelles, and songs without words. They are dominated by transcriptions of excerpts from the operas Halka, The Haunted Manor, The Raftsman and The Countess. Moniuszko also arranged works by other composers, including the fantasy Zamek na Czorsztynie [The castle at Czorsztyn], based on themes from Karol Kurpi�ski's opera, and the same composer's song 'Olszynka' [The alder].
On this disc, Moniuszko's works gain a new lease of life beneath the fingers of Tobias Koch, playing on a period instrument that the composer himself once used to play on.
Tobias Koch plays all with charm and grace [�] a wonderful introduction to his [Moniuszko] more salon style. � MusicWeb International
