Karlowicz’s death in 1909, at age 33, was a serious loss to Polish music. His single Violin Concerto (1902) is as beautiful a work in the romantic style as any of the period, and Ilya Kaler plays it very well. Apart from a slightly grainy tone under pressure, he masters the technical difficulties pretty much effortlessly, and closes the slow movement with an absolutely exquisite diminuendo. It’s a lovely performance, ideally accompanied by Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic, and you’ll be amazed by the melodic appeal and formal shapeliness of a work that deserves to be much, much better known.
The Serenade, for string orchestra, has four warmly tuneful movements, including an opening march and a lilting waltz, and like the concerto it deserves to be a popular concert favorite. The Warsaw Philharmonic strings really dig into the music, playing with joyful gusto in the quick movements and with real soul in the Romance. The only drawback to this release is the comparatively short playing time (51 minutes), but given the quality of the music and the fine engineering, this hardly counts. Strongly recommended.
