The Polish violinist is accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London under Poland’s Grzegorz Nowak, the orchestra’s principal associate conductor.
The title of the CD, Phoenix, refers to Różycki’s work, which, believed to have been lost in World War II, has risen like a phoenix from the ashes.
Różycki penned his concerto during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. Fleeing Nazi-occupied Warsaw, the composer buried it in a suitcase in the garden of his destroyed house.
After the war, the suitcase was discovered by a team of builders and the score was given to the Polish National Library.
Polish composer Ludomir Różycki (1883-1953). Photo: PAP/Wojciech Kondracki
Wawrowski spent a decade reconstructing the work from that orchestral score and a piano reduction that was found in another archive.
He wrote on his website: “Różycki’s work reminds me of Gershwin or Korngold, with a slight glance towards Hollywood yet retaining at the same time a distinct Slavic flavour.
"Różycki paints the solo violin part against the backdrop of a symphony orchestra in a manner similar to that of Tchaikovsky, despite the fact that he created his work 65 years after Tchaikovsky and with much broader orchestration at his disposal.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, 🔥PHOENIX🔥 is out in style ‼️💥🤩 I am over the moon this morning. 🌜🌝🌛 My ☕️ has never tasted...
Posted by Janusz Wawrowski on Thursday, March 11, 2021
The CD has won critical acclaim. The Pizzicato magazine writes that “Wawrowski’s enthusiasm for this concerto is appropriate. Ludomir Różycki’s 23-minute, two-movement concerto, though very backward-looking at the time of composition, i.e., late Romantic, is truly appealing.
“The lyrical-rhapsodic and rather short first movement is followed by an extended final movement that is quite contrasting, though mostly powerful and dance-like.
“It is splendidly played in this recording, with rich tone by the soloist, who really does all he can to make this concerto effective.”
In the recording, Wawrowski plays a 1685 Stradivarius—the first Stradivarius to have come into Polish ownership since World War II, thanks to a private donation to mark the centenary of the country’s regained independence in 2018.
(mk/gs)