The music of Szymanowski is a closed book to many, he has this otherworldly exotic sound, in his best compositions there's a definite air of mystery, thick swirling sensuousness, his String Quartets are also fabulous, this double disc set is the compilation of two discs, disc one is for solo piano, and disc two is for violin and piano, the solo piano music i don't know so well, but the other disc contains music i've listened to a fair amount, i guess most of all he's very much like Scriabin, but maybe darker, this is the first time i've played these discs, and i'm still trying to delve deeper into Szymanowski, on disc one, the second piece from the 3 Mazurkas Op50 has a whiff of Satie's Gnossiennes about it, really rather affecting.
Ulf Hoelscher is German, he's now 68 or 69, and he recorded this disc in 1982,
The Mythes are three musical poems with Greek mythology in mind, the first one 'The Fountain Of Arethusa' is one of Szymanowski's best known works, high glassy violin playing, and the piano seems to drift in from Ravel's 'Gaspard De La Nuit', certainly the opening piano ripples sound like Ravel's 'Ondine' [0:00-0:15], and when the violin comes in [0:15+], it's full of that high treble mystery,
Here's Rika Masato playing 'The Fountain Of Arethusa' on YouTube.
