Had it not been for a fatal skiing accident just two months after his thirty-second birthday, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz might well have become the most celebrated Polish composer of his generation rather than his younger contemporary, Karol Szymanowski. Born the son of a gifted philologist, ethnographer and amateur cellist-composer, Karlowicz was given every musical encouragement during childhood and following advanced training under Jan Jankowski and Stanislaw Barcewicz in Warsaw, looked set for a career as a violinist before continuing ill health and debilitating attacks of concert nerves forced him ultimately to change direction and focus his attention on composition. This new release from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is an exciting new interpretation of emotional works by Karlowicz. The vibrant playing on this release lingers long in the memory after the music has ceased sounding. The album includes “Returning Waves,” which combines moments of exquisite pathos with explosions of super-heated sound), “Eternal Songs,” which is an opulent and bittersweet look at the redemptive power of love in the face of death, the haunting and dramatic symphonic prologue “Bianca da Molena,” and the deeply personal “Lithuanian Rhapsody.”
