Paderewski: Songs and Mélodies - Suite in G Major Alina Adamski, Agata Schmidt, Capella Bydgostiensis & Mariusz Smolij

• Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860 - 1941): Suite in G Major:
• 1Paderewski: Suite in G Major: I. Allegro molto03:25
• 2Paderewski: Suite in G Major: II. (Andante)02:56
• 3Paderewski: Suite in G Major: III. Scherzo04:26
• 4 Lieder, Op. 7:
• 4Paderewski: 4 Lieder, Op. 7: No. 1, Gdy ostatnia róża zwiędła (When the last rose wilted) [arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra]02:10
• 5Paderewski: 4 Lieder, Op. 7: No. 2, Siwy koniu (Grey horse) [arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra]01:28
• 6Paderewski: 4 Lieder, Op. 7: No. 3, Szumi w gaju brzezina (Birch wood rustling in a grove) [arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra]02:22
• 7Paderewski: 4 Lieder, Op. 7: No. 4, Chłopca mego mi zabrali (My boy was taken away) [arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra]03:49
• 6 Lieder, Op. 18:
• 8Paderewski: 6 Lieder, Op. 18: No. 1, Polały się łzy me (My tears have shed) [arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra]02:30
• 9Paderewski: 6 Lieder, Op. 18: No. 2, Piosnka dudarza (the Song of Bagpipe Boy) [arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra]03:51
• 10Paderewski: 6 Lieder, Op. 18: No. 3, Moja pieszczotka (My cosset) [arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra]02:02
• 11Paderewski: 6 Lieder, Op. 18: No. 4, Nad wodą wielką (Over a great water) [arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra]02:29
• 12Paderewski: 6 Lieder, Op. 18: No. 5, Tylem wytrwał (arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra) [I endured so much]01:52
• 13Paderewski: 6 Lieder, Op. 18: No. 6, Gdybym się zmienił (If I had changed) [arr. M. Gumiela for soprano and string orchestra]02:06
• Miscellanea, Op. 16:
• 14Paderewski: Miscellanea, Op. 16, No. 4. Nokturn (Nocturne) in B-Flat Major: Miscellanea, Op. 16: No. 4, Nokturn [Nocturne] in B-Flat Major [arr. M. Smolij for string orchestra]04:13
• 12 Mélodies, Op. 22:
• 15Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 1, Dans la forêt (Into the forest) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]03:16
• 16Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 2, Ton coeur est d'or pur (Your heart Is pure gold) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]01:12
• 17Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 3, Le Ciel est très bas (the sky Is very low) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]02:33
• 18Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 4, Naguère (In days gone by) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]01:51
• 19Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 5, Un jeune pâtre (a young shepherd) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]01:26
• 20Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 6, Elle marche d'un pas distrait (arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra) [She walks distractedly]02:22
• 21Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 7, La Nonne (the Nun) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]04:14
• 22Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 8, Viduité (Emptiness) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]03:19
• 23Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 9, Lune froide (Cold moon) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]02:15
• 24Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 10, Querelleuse (arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra) [Quarrelsome woman]01:25
• 25Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 11, L'Amour fatal (Fatal Love) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]03:05
• 26Paderewski: 12 Mélodies, Op. 22: No. 12, L'Ennemie (the Enemy) [arr. M. Gumiela for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra]03:31
• Total Runtime01:10:08

Info for Paderewski: Songs and Mélodies - Suite in G Major

Although Paderewski is more readily associated with his career as a legendary virtuoso pianist, his modest output of 70 orchestral, instrumental and vocal works deserves to be more widely known. Prominent among his vocal output is a series of early songs that reveal natural flowing patterns while exploring both melancholy and folk idioms. The Douze Mélodies, written at the end of his compositional career, is the most original and striking Polish set of songs of the period, notable for dissonance, chromaticism and a palette of rich and unusual musical colours, to which this orchestral arrangement adds a whole new dimension. Little known, the early Suite in G major offers youthful warmth and brio.

Alina Adamski, soprano (tracks 4-13)
Agata Schmidt, mezzo-soprano (tracks 15-26)
Capella Bydgostiensis
Mariusz Smolij, conductor

Alina Adamski
Coloratura soprano Alina Adamski got her PhD in 2020 in Academy of Music in Łódź, under supervision of Prof. Krystyna Rorbach. She completed her MA studies in voice at the Academy of Music in Lodz and also studied at the Conservatorio di Musica F. Venezze i Rovigo, Italy. She was also a member of Opera Academy of the National Opera Theatre in Warsaw, where she was studying with Eytan Pessen. In 2018 she took part in The International Meistersinger Akademie (IMA) in Neumarkt. She participated in the Young Singers Project at the Salzburger Festspiele in 2017, where she performed in Der Schauspieldirektor. ​

Performances 2020/2021 were suppose to include: W. A. Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail - Konstanze - in Oper Frankfurt, R. Wagner – Ring Cycle – Waldvogel in Royal Festival Hall, London (cond. Vladimir Jurowski), L. van Beethoven - 9th Symphony with Philarmonie Salzburg. 2020/2021 includes also: W. Mozart - Requiem - Opole Philharmonic, W. A. Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail - Konstanze - in Irish National Opera, Gerd Kühr / Hans-Ulrich Treichel - Paradiese in Oper Leipzig.

Performances 2019/2020 included: H. Lachenmann - Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern in Opernhaus Zürich, G. Verdi – Aida – High Priestess in Opole Philharmonic; 2020: R. Wagner – Siegfried – Waldvogel in Royal Festival Hall, London (cond. Vladimir Jurowski), G. Verdi – Rigoletto – Gilda in Oper Frankfurt. ​

In 2018/2019 she performed at the Salzburger Festspiele in Adriana Lecouvreur with Anna Netrebko and Anita Rachvelishvili, sung Sandrina in La finta giardiniera and world premiere of Last Call by Michael Pelzel, both at the Opernhaus Zürich. ​

In November 2017 she took part in the ‘Leading opera voices of the world’ concert at the Bolshoi Theatre, in Moscow and in the 2017/18 season she has performed Sandrina in La finta giardiniera, Atala in Offenbach’s Häuptling Abendwind, Rumpelwicht in Arnecke’s Ronja Räubertochter and Maria Bellacanta in Hexe Hillary geht in die Oper.

She has performed the role of Queen of the Night at the Grand Theatre, Poznan and at the National Opera Theatre, Warsaw.

Agata Schmidt
Polish-born Agata Schmidt is a graduate of the Bydgoszcz Academy of Music, where she studied under Hanna Michalak. She completed post-graduate vocal studies at the University of Music in Warsaw. She won the Second prize at the Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition in 2009 and the Third Price at the Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry in 2011. In Paris, she was awarded the 2014 Cercle Carpeaux Lyric Prize and the 2014 AROP Prize (Opéra national de Paris). In 2016, she won Second Prize at the Bucarest Grand Prix de l’Opera. She has also taken part in masterclasses led by Anita Garanča, Francisco Araiza, June Anderson, José Van Dam and Thomas Quasthoff.

Agata Schmidt was a member of the Opéra national de Paris’ Atelier Lyrique (2011 to 2014), and took part in several concerts at the Palais Garnier with the Opéra national de Paris’ orchestra and at the l’Auditorium du Louvre. She sang the roles of Orphée (Berlioz’s version of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice) at the Opéra de Bordeaux, Costanza (Haydn’s L’Isola disabitata) at La Ferme du Buisson (Noisiel) and at the Théâtre Firmin Gémier/La Piscine (Châtenay-Malabry), Lucretia (Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia) at the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet in Paris. In the summer of 2012, she performed chamber repertoire at Festivals in Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, Aldeburgh and Cordes-sur-Ciel. She has performed Il Tramonto (Respighi), Orpheus (Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice), a dance opera by Pina Bausch at the Opéra national de Paris et Mozart’s Requiem at Notre-Dame de Paris and at St Martin-in-the- Fields Church in London.

She has also performed Dryad (Ariadne auf Naxos) and the Third wood sprite (Rusalka) at the Opéra national de Paris, Palmieri’s Magnificat at the Bydgoszcz Philharmonic, Schubert’s Rosamunde with the Orchestre national de France, a recital at the Amphithéâtre concert hall at the Opéra Bastille (Chostakovich programme), Dvorák’s Stabat Mater in a stage version at the Opéra National de Montpellier, Die dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte) and Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) in Warsaw, Marta and Pantalis (Boito’s Mefistofele) in Lyon, Debussy’s Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien with the Symphoniker Hamburg and the Warsaw Philharmonic, Mozart's Requiem and Bach's Mass in B minor with the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Booklet for Paderewski: Songs and Mélodies - Suite in G Major