An online premiere of a pre-recorded recital of violin and piano music by a variety of Polish composers, performed by Maja Horvat and Kumi Matsuo.
The recital is introduced by Josie Dixon, Yaniewicz’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter.
Wednesday 2 June 2021 at 19:00 on ZOOM
If you missed the recital or would like to hear it again please click here
In this short pre-recorded recital, violinist Maja Horvat brings her characteristically passionate style to the repertoire of violin music from Poland. It begins and ends with two beautiful arrangements of Chopin Nocturnes, bringing out their soulful melodies in soaring lines for the violin. In between we hear works by three notable Polish violinist-composers. Grażyna Bacewicz stands alongside Maria Szymanowska as one of the most notable female composers in Polish musical history. Felix Yaniewicz, who began his career in the Polish Royal Chapel playing for King Stanislaus August Poniatowski, travelled to Vienna, Italy and Paris before settling in Britain where he became a celebrated virtuoso, conductor and impresario. Like his five violin concertos, the Elegie bears the hallmarks of his own performing style. Henryk Wieniawski, one of the greatest violinists of the nineteenth century, likewise had an international career, much of it spent in St Petersburg, and gave his name to an international violin competition that takes place in Poland every five years.
- Chopin – Nocturne in E flat Major
- Bacewicz – Violin Sonata no.4
- Yaniewicz – Elegie
- Wieniawski – Legende
- Chopin – Nocturne in C sharp Minor
Maja Horvat studied as a postgraduate at the Royal College of Music in London, leads the Brompton Quartet, and has worked with teachers including Maxim Vengerov and Alina Ibragimova. Among an impressive array of prizes in her career, she was recently winner of the special Szymanowski award at the 1st International Karol Szymanowski competition in Katowice, Poland.
Maja performs for the Scottish Polish Cultural Association as part of a project in partnership with The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz, to celebrate the musical legacy of the Polish-Lithuanian violinist and composer who settled in Scotland and co-founded the First Edinburgh Music Festival. More details at www.yaniewicz.org