Szymanowski: Songs of a Fairytale Princess, Hafiz' Love-Songs & Harnasie

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…Harnasie is rooted in the folk mythology of Poland's Tatra mountains. As Szymanowski's most persuasive non-Polish champion, Rattle draws an intoxicating and punchy performance that could hardly... — BBC Music Magazine, October 2006, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 2nd Oct 2006
Catalogue No: 3644352
Label: Warner Classics
Length: 65 minutes

BBC Music Magazine

October 2006

Choral & Song Choice
Gramophone Magazine

November 2006

Editor's Choice

Szymanowski: Songs of a Fairytale Princess, Op. 31

Work length9:49

$3.90

$5.10

Timothy Robinson (vocals), Iwona Sobotka (soprano), Katarina Karnéus (mezzo-soprano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Halsey, City of Birmingham Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Sir Simon Rattle

I. Samotny ksiezyc - The lonely moon

Track length4:44

$1.30

$1.70

II. The nightingale

Track length2:54

$1.30

$1.70

III. Taniec - Dance

Track length2:11

$1.30

$1.70

Szymanowski: Harnasie, Op. 55

Work length16:00

$6.50

$8.50

Timothy Robinson (vocals), Iwona Sobotka (soprano), Katarina Karnéus (mezzo-soprano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Halsey, City of Birmingham Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Sir Simon Rattle

Na hali - Tableau I: In the mountain pasture: I. Redyk: Driving the sheep

Track length4:23

$1.30

$1.70

Na hali - Tableau I: In the mountain pasture: II. Scena mimiczna (zaloty) - Mimed scene (courtship)

Track length2:06

$1.30

$1.70

Na hali - Tableau I: In the mountain pasture: III. Marsz zbójnicki - The tatra robbers' march

Track length1:39

$1.30

$1.70

Na hali - Tableau I: In the mountain pasture: IV. Scena mimiczna (Harnas i Dziewczyna) - Mimed scene (The Harnas and the girl)

Track length3:32

$1.30

$1.70

Na hali - Tableau I: In the mountain pasture: V. Taniec zbójnicki. Final - The tatra robbers' dance. Finale

Track length4:20

$1.30

$1.70

Szymanowski: Harnasie, Op. 55

Work length17:45

$7.80

$10.20

Timothy Robinson (vocals), Iwona Sobotka (soprano), Katarina Karnéus (mezzo-soprano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Halsey, City of Birmingham Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Sir Simon Rattle

W karczmie - Tableau II: In the inn: VIa. Wesele - The wedding

Track length2:25

$1.30

$1.70

W karczmie - Tableau II: In the inn: VIb. Cepiny - Entry of the bride

Track length1:57

$1.30

$1.70

W karczmie - Tableau II: In the inn: VIc. Piesn siuhajów - Drinking song

Track length1:08

$1.30

$1.70

W karczmie - Tableau II: In the inn: VII. Taniec góralski - The tatra highlanders' dance

Track length3:49

$1.30

$1.70

W karczmie - Tableau II: In the inn: VIII. Napad harnasiów. Taniec - Raid of the Harnasie. Dance

Track length5:31

$1.30

$1.70

W karczmie - Tableau II: In the inn: IX. Epilog - Epilogue

Track length2:55

$1.30

$1.70

Szymanowski: Hafiz' Love-Songs, Op. 26

Work length21:31

$10.40

$13.60

Timothy Robinson (vocals), Iwona Sobotka (soprano), Katarina Karnéus (mezzo-soprano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Halsey, City of Birmingham Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
Sir Simon Rattle

Zyczenia - Desires

Track length1:51

$1.30

$1.70

Zakochany wiatr - The infatuated East wind

Track length1:55

$1.30

$1.70

Taniec - Dance

Track length1:48

$1.30

$1.70

Serca mego perly - Pearls of my soul

Track length1:50

$1.30

$1.70

Wieczna mlodosc - Eternal youth

Track length3:00

$1.30

$1.70

Glos twój - Your voice

Track length2:46

$1.30

$1.70

Piesn pijacka - Drinking song

Track length2:34

$1.30

$1.70

Grób Hafiza - Hafiz' Grave

Track length5:47

$1.30

$1.70

About
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Recorded 23–25 October 2002 (Harnasie, Hafiz tracks 15-18), 30 June 2004 (Hafiz tracks 19-22), 20 March 2006 (Fairytale Princess) at Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Reviews

October 2006

…Harnasie is rooted in the folk mythology of Poland's Tatra mountains. As Szymanowski's most persuasive non-Polish champion, Rattle draws an intoxicating and punchy performance that could hardly be bettered. …six Songs of a Fairytale Princess… are sung here in glistening tone by the soprano Iwona Sobotka. The orchestral writing is no less colourful in his second cycle of Love Songs of Haifiz, which find Katarina Karnéus in vibrant voice. For performances and repertory alike, this is an unmissable recording.

2010

Here's another sumptuous instalment of Sir Simon Rattle's Szymanowski cycle, showing that his rapport with his former Birmingham colleagues is as productive as ever. The main item is Harnasie, a 'ballet-pantomime' which loses nothing in concert performance, at least when that performance is as exciting as this one. It occupied the composer on and off for eight years (1923- 31), bridging the gap between the exotic lateromanticism that reached its apogee in the opera King Roger and his final pair of concertos. Harnasie has long been acclaimed for demonstrating Szymanowski's ability to move with the times but its use of folk music doesn't mean that it challenges mid-1920s Bartók or Janácek in progressiveness.
This tale of romance and mayhem in bandit country is kitschy in the extreme. Yet even when the music evokes Borodin more vividly than Stravinsky it is utterly irresistible.
Timothy Robinson makes a strong contribution to Harnasie but it's the solo singing of Katarina Karnéus and Iwona Sobotka in the two song sets that confirms the disc's special appeal. In the Eight Love Songs of Hafiz Szymanowski conjures up a sound world of almost Bergian concentration and opulence, with the richly eloquent final lament the crown in this superbly refined account. The Songs of a Fairy-tale Princess is a slighter piece and Iwona Sobotka is not ideally flexible in its taxingly florid lines. But Rattle ensures, as he does throughout, that the mesmerising allure and elaborate textural fantasy of the music are always tinglingly immediate. With a recording that projects the often dense orchestral fabric without undue constraint or loss of clarity, this disc is undoubtedly a winner.

November 2006

Timothy Robinson makes a strong contribution to Harnasie but it's the solo singing of Katarina Karnéus and Iwona Sobotka in the two song sets that confirms the disc's special appeal. …Rattle ensures, he does throughout, that the mesmerising allure and elaborate textural fantasy of the music are always tinglingly immediate. With a recording that projects the often dense orchestral fabric without undue constraint or loss of clarity, this disc is undoubtedly a winner.

Szymanowski: Songs of a Fairytale Princess, Hafiz' Love-Songs & Harnasie

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