Le compositeur polonais Antoni Katski (1816–1899) fut un enfant prodige dont le talent lui a valu de recevoir des bourses d’études lui permettant d’étudier auprès de grands maîtres (dont Beethoven), puis de faire une éblouissante carrière, voyageant dans diverses cours d’Europe, mais également en Inde, en Australie, en Chine, au Japon et aux États-Unis. Malgré sa place active dans la vie musicale polonaise du XIXe siècle, malgré sa production musicale importante (plus de 400 oeuvres, dont une grande part destinée au piano), il est tombé dans un oubli complet après sa mort. Il a laissé quelques jolis morceaux pour piano, très romantiques, pleins de sentiments et de mélancolie, parfois brillants, parfois plus méditatifs (ce sont les plus réussis). La pianiste Anna Parkita a décidé de tirer de l’oubli ces pièces agréables qui, si elles n’ont évidemment rien révolutionné, se laissent écouter avec plaisir. (Walter Appel)  Nowadays, meditation understood as a practice of the mind is very popular among those who strive for a good and fulfilled life. In common parlance, that term is associated with mental well-being, peace and relaxation. There are many things and phenomena that facilitate such a state. They also include reflective music, selected in accordance with the mood of the listener. Currently, there are many types of meditation music, but we offer you something completely new: a journey into the musical past. For Antoni Katski (1816–1899), a Polish composer and pianist, the term meditation was rather a byword for reflection on the beauty of nature and for a musical impression caused by exploring one’s own emotional states. It was in piano miniatures, whose titles refer to nature, places visited, natural phenomena or the world of emotions, that the composer captured the quintessence of mood, reflection, and the magical “here and now” recorded in the sounds of piano keys. Although he was an extremely versatile artist and composed various music genres, it is his piano miniatures, almost completely forgotten today, that have the power to touch contemporary listeners, speaking to their sensitivity. Katski’s works were interpreted by an outstanding Polish pianist, Anna Parkita from Kielce. She has won numerous prizes and is very active as a concert artist, music promoter and scientist.

|