Looking for something new to listen to? Search no further! Here is an October Recommendado by Ritmo.es:

“The Karski Quartet continues its exploration of the 20th-century repertoire with a remarkable release dedicated to Grazyna Bacewicz, one of the most distinctive voices in post-war Polish music and a composer who remains virtually unknown in Western Europe today. The selected repertoire (two works composed in the 1950s) represents the composer at the height of her creative maturity, when she had consolidated a language that naturally fused neoclassical rigour with elements of Polish folklore.

In Piano Quintet No. 1 (1952), pianist James Coleman masterfully integrates himself into the string fabric, creating dialogues that reveal Bacewicz’s harmonic richness without overloading the texture. The spontaneous Presto, with the rhythm of the Polish oberek dance, displays a contagious energy that the performers channel with remarkable precision and vitality.

The melancholic String Quartet No. 4 (1951) earned Bacewicz the Grand Prize at the International Composers’ Competition in Liège at a time when such recognition was unthinkable for a female composer. The Karski Quartet has approached this work with a deep understanding of its temperamental contrasts, alternating introspective passages with moments of greater intensity and striking the perfect balance between technical precision and emotional expressiveness.

The Belgian-Polish ensemble, which sought to ‘honour the voice of the composer’ with this work, has more than fulfilled its expectations, offering a compelling and committed interpretation of Bacewicz’s legacy.”