Szymanowski: Violin Concerto No. 1 - Zemlinsky: Lyric Symphony Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra & Alexander Liebreich

• Karol Szymanowski (1882 - 1937): Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 35:
• 1Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 3524:09
• Alexander Zemlinsky (1871 - 1942): Lyrische Symphonie, Op. 18:
• 2Lyrische Symphonie, Op. 18: I. Ich bin friedlos09:39
• 3Lyrische Symphonie, Op. 18: II. Mutter, der junge Prinz06:34
• 4Lyrische Symphonie, Op. 18: III. Du bist die Abendwolke05:43
• 5Lyrische Symphonie, Op. 18: IV. Sprich zu mir, Geliebter07:05
• 6Lyrische Symphonie, Op. 18: V. Befrei' mich von den Banden02:11
• 7Lyrische Symphonie, Op. 18: VI. Vollende denn das letzte Lied04:20
• 8Lyrische Symphonie, Op. 18: VII. Friede, mein Herz06:45
• Total Runtime01:06:26

Info for Szymanowski: Violin Concerto No. 1 - Zemlinsky: Lyric Symphony

Under the direction of its Chief Conductor Alexander Liebreich, the National Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio (NOSPR) is the leading ensemble in the country and is one of Europe’s major radio orchestras. As cultural ambassadors with a rich tradition, the orchestra has made its mark through performances of Polish composers, as is impressively documented in the three-part CD cycle that features works by Karol Szymanowski and Witold Lutoslawski and was released by Accentus Music between 2015 and 2017.

On this new recording, Karol Szymanowski‘s Violin Concerto, played by Finnish violin virtuoso Elina Vähälä, is paired with the impressive Lyric Symphony of Austrian composer and conductor Alexander von Zemlinsky that builds a bridge between lyric poetry and the grand orchestral symphonies. The excellent soloists of this recording are Johanna Winkel, soprano, and Michael Nagy, baritone.

Elina Vähälä, violin (Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 35)
Johanna Winkel, soprano (Lyric Symphony, Op. 18)
Michael Nagy, baritone (Lyric Symphony, Op. 18)
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Liebreich, conductor

Alexander Liebreich
In September 2018 Alexander Liebreich became Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

He also holds the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) until the end of the 2018-2019 season. A position he has held since 2012. In 2014 he inaugurated the new “NOSPR” concert hall in Katowice, the orchestra’s home, with a performance including the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with Krystian Zimerman. The collaboration with the orchestra and the label Accentus Music features recordings of pieces by Lutosławski alongside other great Polish works. Their third CD release was winner of the International Classical Music Awards 2017 “Best Collection” category, featuring works by Karol Szymanowski and Witold Lutosławski.

He was Artistic Director of the festival “Katowice Kultura Natura” from 2015 – 2018. During that time some of Europe’s finest orchestras, ensembles and soloists have been invited to the Festival, including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Leif Ove Ansdnes, András Schiff, Bejun Mehta, Stefano Bollani, Artemis Quartett and Quatuor Ebène.

In 2018 he took over as Artistic Director of the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, opening the first edition in June 2018 with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Next to that he was elected head of the Richard-Strauss-Society, following Wolfgang Sawallisch and Brigitte Fassbaender in this position.

He held the position of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Munich Chamber Orchestra from 2006 – 2016. Their first collaborative CD, featuring works by Joseph Haydn and Isang Yun, was released to great critical acclaim in January 2008. The recent release “Requiem“ by Tigran Mansurian, with RIAS Kammerchor on the label ECM Classics has received nominations for the Grammy Award 2018 and the ICMA Award 2018 in the category “Contemporary Music”.

As one of Germany’s foremost conductors, Alexander Liebreich’s extensive career takes him around the world. As a guest conductor he has worked with many prestigious orchestras including the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre National de Belgique, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Dresden Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra and Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich. Recent and future engagements include debuts with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de Valencia, Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Essener Philharmoniker and Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

He regularly performs with distinguished soloists such as Lisa Batiashvili, Krystian Zimerman, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Gautier Capuçon, Alban Gerhardt, Leila Josefowicz, and Isabelle Faust.

Alongside his concerts and opera productions, Liebreich has established a reputation for producing innovative projects. In 2011 he became the first European Artistic Director of the Tongyeong International Music Festival in South Korea, one of the biggest and most important festivals in Asia. With the goal of encouraging intercultural encounters, he implemented the “east-west-residence-programme”, inviting guest artists like Heiner Goebbels, Unsuk Chin, Martin Grubinger, Toshio Hosokawa and Beat Furrer to South Korea.

In October 2016 the Bavarian Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Art announced that Alexander Liebreich is the recipient of the Bavarian Culture Prize Special Award.

Alexander Liebreich, was born in Regensburg and studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and the Salzburg Mozarteum and gained much of his early artistic experience with both Michael Gielen and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He was significantly influenced by his mentor Claudio Abbado, who invited him to join and assist productions at Salzburger Osterfestspiele with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and in Bolzano with the Gustav-Mahler-Jugend Orchestra.

This album contains no booklet.