 Seuls les polonais osent déterrer leur répertoire le moins connu, tout du moins de ce côté-ci de l'Europe. Jusqu'à présent, en effet, le label Acte Préalable a publié sept volumes consacrés à l'un des leurs, Zygmunt Noskowski. A la charnière des deux siècles et d'une des périodes les plus vivantes et novatrices de l'histoire de la musique, Noskowski est un sage héritier de la tradition romantique issue de Chopin pour le piano. Les œuvres pour quatre mains ici présentées par deux pianistes de talent, réussites interprétatives au bon équilibre gauche-droite du clavier, nous emmènent dans le monde plutôt sage de la musique de circonstance – de salon ? - qui prend ses racines dans le folklore polonais sans toutefois tomber dans la facilité trop plate. On pourrait reprocher à Noskowski un manque de personnalité, mais les amateurs, voire les collectionneurs de raretés seront satisfaits. Noskowski a, pour information, conçu un système de notation musicale pour les aveugles. (Nicolas Mesnier-Nature) Zygmunt Noskowski – his piano works for four hands seem to ooze Polish folklore from Kresy, despite being just a small part of his artistic output. However, in a specific way, they inscribe themselves in the popular conventions of artistic salons and household music of the 19th century. Their most important quality, for contemporary composers as well as performers and audiences, is the clear and legible national element, giving these dance miniatures a special depth and meaning. The first of the three works presented in this album are the two notebooks of Cracoviennes op. 7 for piano four hands, composed in 1879, and dedicated to Baron Aleksander Herder, whose daughter was taught by Noskowski. (...) The Cracoviennes op. 7 are interesting artistic compositions that were positively received around the world. (...) The cycle of six Mazury op. 38 is an extraordinary composition, originally written for piano and four hands in 1890. They are dedicated to the Italian King Umberto I. (...) The last work presented on this album is the Six Polonaises op. 42, composed in 1891. They reflect a strong melancholic, serious and elegiac character, as if referring to Poland’s history and lofty traditions of this most national of all dances. We can see in them some symphonic influences, illustrating the instrumental and harmonic imagination of the composer, and giving a monumental dimension to its whole.
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