"When E M Smyth's heroically brassy overture to
Anthony & Cleopatra was finished, and the composer called
to the platform, it was observed with stupefaction that all
that tremendous noise had been made by a lady."
George Bernard Shaw
In 1939 Nadia Boulanger was asked what it was like to be the
first woman to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the
world première of Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks.
She replied "Well, I have been a woman for 50 years now
and have recovered from my initial astonishment."
The above two quotes come from an excellent article
about “women composers” by Diana Ambache. Aaron Cohen’s Encyclopedia
of Women Composers lists no fewer than 6,196 and www.kapralova.org/database.htm
lists over 290 whose music has appeared on CD. Why then is it
that in some quarters women composers are still regarded as
some kind of anachronism? On every level this attitude is scandalous;
because it is simply wrong and because we all miss out. The
situation is better now than it has been in the past but there’s
still a long way to go. Consider this – I found a list of 82
women composers born between 1750 and 1800. I didn’t know the
names of a single one apart from the name of the composer of
the music on this disc but I’d never heard of her before receiving
it to review.
Maria Szymanowska was justly famous during her short lifetime
and was thought highly of by some of the most well known and
influential people of the day such as Goethe. He described her
as this “ravishing Almighty of the sound world”. The composer
Cherubini dedicated his Fantasy in C to her. Admirers included
Beethoven, Paganini, Clementi and Pushkin, yet her name is scarcely
known today. Born in Warsaw the same year as the French Revolution
to a Jewish family that had converted to Catholicism, Marianna
Wolowska was exceptionally talented and astonished audiences
by improvising at the spinet at an early age. Sent to Paris
at the age of 21 she garnered admiration from all quarters and
by 1815 she began touring, firstly within Poland and then throughout
Europe from St Petersburg to London and from Vienna to Dresden
and Berlin. Not only did she achieve success as a virtuoso pianist
but also as a composer, mainly of songs. The present disc is
a great introduction to them.
The mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Zapolska has made it her project
to champion this wonderfully gifted composer and has made a
careful selection of songs to demonstrate the breadth of her
creativity. The first half of the disc comprising 21 tracks
is devoted to songs in French while the rest are in Polish.
The latter include five commemorating Polish historical figures.
These were commissioned by Julian Niemcewicz the Polish poet,
playwright and statesman. They are all beautifully written songs
marvellously sung by Elizabeth Zapolska whose diction in French
is impeccable and in Polish, perfect as one would expect. Her
voice has a bell-like clarity. She is accompanied by the extremely
talented pianist Bart van Oort on a wonderful sounding Broadwood
piano (the English make preferred by Szymanowska) of 1825 from
the collection of Joop Klinkhamer, Amsterdam. The booklet notes
by Elizabeth Zapolska are thorough in their examination of the
talented Szymanowska. They point out that the composer’s writing
for the piano “reflects a pianist in search of a new language,
which allows her to widen the palette of sound colors and musical
themes ...”
This is a disc of rare quality that enables us to get to know
the undoubted talents of a composer who happened to be a woman
who, though well known and well respected during her lifetime,
has since faded from view. It is to be hoped that this disc
will help in rescuing her from oblivion and allow her to take
her rightful place as a considerable writer for piano and voice.
Steve Arloff
List of songs on AP0260
Romance de la Reine Hortense
Le Départ
Complainte d'un aveugle qui demandait l'aumône au Jardin du Roi a Paris
Romance a Joséphine
Peine et Plaisir
Romance du Saule
Ballade
Romance a la nuit
Le connais-tu
Se spiegar potessi
Romance du Prince Galitzine
Casimir le Grand
Hedwige, Reine Polonaise (1374-1399)
Jean Albert, Roi de Pologne (1459-1565)
Histoire du Prince Michael Glinski (1470-1534)
Stefan Czarniecki (1599-1665)
Chant de la Vilia
Chant de la tour
Alpuhara, Ballade
Ondine de Switez
Cantilene a deux voix
Elizabeth Zapolska (mezzo), Bart van Oort (piano – Broadwood, 1825)