Imaginary Landscapes (2010)

Pianist Ewa Kupiec is breaking new ground with her album Imaginary Landscapes. While her earlier recordings were mainly devoted to the repertoire of her Polish compatriots Chopin, Szymanowski and Lutoslawski, here she broadens her musical horizon with works by the Hungarian Zoltán Kodály and the Romanian Georges Enescu. Composers who, each in their own way, enrich the pianistic refinements of Debussy with the folk musical sources of their homeland. Enescu's third piano suite 'Pièces Impromptues' shimmers with an enormous richness of sound, with which the composer conjures up an enchanting musical landscape. Poetic sub-titles such as Voix De La Steppe or Carillon Nocturne subtly refer to Enescu's sources of inspiration. In his Seven Piano Pieces, Kodály connects more directly with Hungarian folklore with references to folk music from Transylvania. Only in Kodály's Marosszéker Dansen does a mixture of exuberant folklore and virtuoso pianism break the dreamy atmosphere. (Muziekweb)