Polyphonic Dialogues: Shostakovich - Shchedrin Joachim Kwetzinsky

• 1Shchedrin: Basso Ostinato04:31
• 2Shchedrin: Prelude No. 1 in C Major00:37
• 3Shchedrin: Fugue No. 1 in C Major01:40
• 4Shchedrin: Prelude No. 2 in a Minor00:46
• 5Shchedrin: Fugue No. 2 in a Minor03:28
• 6Shostakovich: Prelude No. 2 in a Minor00:59
• 7Shostakovich: Fugue No. 2 in a Minor01:31
• 8Shostakovich: Prelude No. 4 in E Minor02:53
• 9Shostakovich: Fugue No. 4 in E Minor05:02
• 10Shchedrin: Prelude No. 3 in G Major01:14
• 11Shchedrin: Fugue No. 3 in G Major02:16
• 12Shchedrin: Prelude No. 7 in a Major00:32
• 13Shchedrin: Fugue No. 7 in a Major02:02
• 14Shostakovich: Prelude No. 5 in D Major01:45
• 15Shostakovich: Fugue No. 5 in D Major01:49
• 16Shostakovich: Prelude No. 7 in a Major01:34
• 17Shostakovich: Fugue No. 7 in a Major02:43
• 18Shchedrin: Prelude No. 8 in F Sharp Minor01:14
• 19Shchedrin: Fugue No. 8 in F Sharp Minor02:14
• 20Shchedrin: Prelude No. 10 in C Sharp Minor02:01
• 21Shchedrin: Fugue No. 10 in C Sharp Minor01:56
• 22Shostakovich: Prelude No. 12 in G Sharp Minor04:54
• 23Shostakovich: Fugue No. 12 in G Sharp Minor03:52
• 24Shostakovich: Prelude No. 15 in D Flat Major03:06
• 25Shostakovich: Fugue No. 15 in D Flat Major01:59
• 26Shchedrin: Prelude No. 14 in E Flat Minor00:41
• 27Shchedrin: Fugue No. 14 in E Flat Minor02:37
• 28Shchedrin: Prelude No. 19 in E Flat Major00:52
• 29Shchedrin: Fugue No. 19 in E Flat Major01:25
• 30Shchedrin: Toccatina-Collage01:41
• Total Runtime01:03:54

Info for Polyphonic Dialogues: Shostakovich - Shchedrin

The Russian composers Dmitri Shostakovich and Rodion Shchedrin each composed a set of 24 preludes and fugues for solo piano. When a selection from these sets are combined into a new arrangement, we get POLYPHONIC DIALOGUES that move between the boarders of tonality, often with rhythmic elements from the world of jazz. The dialogues are characterized by humour and irony, but also by melancholy and anger. There is a lot of playfulness, combined with seriousness, with perhaps a little greeting from Bach.

The polyphonic structure allows many voices to be heard at the same time. Sometimes disharmony arises, other times harmony; the distinctive character of each voice is preserved, however, while still giving the feeling that they belong together. It is precisely such a combining of voices which reveals life's diversity and complexity in human experience. Or to put it in the words of the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka, 'everything in life is counterpoint; that is, contrast'.

'This is an exceptionally stimulating release, both musically and sonically.' (www.sa-cd.net)

Joachim Kwetzinsky, pianist

Joachim Kwetzinsky is a young, prominent and versatile Norwegian pianist. He gained his postgraduate diploma at the Norwegian Academy of Music where he studied with Einar Steen-Nøkleberg and Liv Glaser, and he has also studied with Jiri Hlinka at the Barratt Due Institute of Music.

In 2009 he received the Robert Levin Prize at a concert during the Bergen International Festival, and in 2002 he was a prize winner in the international Concours Grieg. In 2004 he won the competition of Concert Norway's three-year launch programme INTRO Classical where he was praised for his "wellprofiled programme, his impressive overview and shaping of the musical material, and his virtuoso, unsentimental yet sensitive performance".

Kwetzinsky has performed in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Greece, Czech Republic, Lithuania, USA, Oman, China, Bangladesh, Jordan, Sudan and Russia. He has appeared as a soloist at several festivals, including Bergen International Festival, Festival of North Norway, Ultima, Christmas at the Kremlin and Woerthersee Classics Festival.

Kwetzinsky has premiered more than 20 pieces by contemporary composers from Norway and abroad. In 2010 he released his first solo CD "Polyphonic Dialogues" with music by Shostakovich and Shchedrin on the label 2L, and he also appears together with Johannnes Martens in Elliott Carter's cello sonata on the recording "Figments and Fragments" on the same label.

Booklet for Polyphonic Dialogues: Shostakovich - Shchedrin