The latest Warsaw Philharmonic release, Szymanowski Reimagined, takes listeners on a fascinating journey through the musical landscapes of Karol Szymanowski, rendered in a new orchestral guise. The outstanding violinist Bartłomiej Nizioł and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Andrzej Boreyko present transcriptions of selected works by this Polish composer.

Recorded on this disc are some of Szymanowski’s most interesting compositions, representing – as Danuta Gwizdalanka writes in her introductory essay – ‘the fascinating and diverse musical worlds of Karol Szymanowski: the youthful world full of ecstasy, and two emotionally more restrained, but musically richer worlds created almost two decades later – one woven from subtle sonorities, the other filled with enigmatic tales’. These works were recorded in the form of a ‘translation’ of music composed with the piano in mind into a version for the several dozen instruments of a symphony orchestra. The disc contains the Etude in B flat minor, Op. 4 No. 3 in an arrangement by Grzegorz Fitelberg from 1942, Mythes, Op. 30 arranged by Willem Strietman in 1991, and Masques, Op. 34 in a symphonic version by Jan Krenz from 1985.

Szymanowski Reimagined is not just a tribute to the composer’s genius, but also a bold and innovative take on his works. Transferring Szymanowski’s music from the piano to the rich palette of orchestral instruments, the album reveals new emotional and tonal layers to his music, showing its deep and multi-faceted nature. The recordings were made between 5 and 10 June 2023 in the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall.