19 XII 2023

CD Chopin University Press | Le Clavecin Moderne plus Saxophone vol. 2

Alina Ratkowska, Paweł Gusnar

The two-disc album Le Clavecin Moderne plus Saxophone features latest pieces for harpsichord and saxophone. It continues the cycle initiated in 2021 with the album Le Clavecin Moderne plus Percussion, presenting uncon-ventional instrumental combinations with the harpsichord.

Most of the compositions are world premiere recordings and are dedicated to the musicians – the originator of the cycle Alina Ratkowska (harpsichord) and Paweł Gusnar (saxophone) – whose artistic quality, extraordinary personalities and distinctive interpretations put them among the best instrumentalists of their specialties. Except the LukaSonata by Paweł Łukaszewski for alto saxophone and harpsichord and the third instalment of Bartosz Kowalski’s Streams for harpsichord, soprano and alto saxophones and electronics, the remaining works – by Anna Ignatowicz-Glińska, Weronika Ratusińska-Zamuszko, Mikołaj Hertel, Marcin Łukaszewski, Leszek Możdżer and Nicolas Prost – were created for soprano saxophone and harpsichord. The selected repertoire – colourful and diverse yet harmonious and coherent – confirms the perfect sonic correlation of these seemingly distant instru-ments. It is also a record of the joy of friends making music together, proving their excellence in conducting the musical narrative, which is an additional advantage of the presented album.

Katarzyna Rakowiecka-Rojsza took care of the sonic shape of the recordings. Bartosz Gardziński and Paweł Żu-kowski also recorded the works by Kowalski and Prost, and in 2006 Małgorzata Polańska and Lech Tołwiński recorded Nymphs by Weronika Ratusińska-Zamuszko; a piece from which the saxophone and harpsichord adven-ture of the artists began.

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