Piano Quintet & Piano Quartet

"[Zarebski] wrote [his Piano Quintet] in the year of his premature death, dedicating it to his teacher Liszt, and the virtuosity that implies is caught here in a performance of passionate warmth...Again, the performance [of the Zelenski] is impeccable...another invaluable Hyperion release."
(BBC Music Five Stars Christmas 2012)

"The playing by the Szymanowski Quartet (Andrej Bielow is the extra violinist in the Zarębski) and the witty, supportive, but when required, brilliant pianism of Jonathan Plowright, is superb and captured in very rich sound.
A CD no one who loves chamber music will want to be without."
(10/10 ClassicsToday March 2013)

Two important chamber works from 19th-century Poland, in quality equivalent perhaps to Dvorák and Brahms, but completely unknown outside their native country.

Zarebski was a virtuoso pianist, more feted during much of his short life as a performer than a composer. However his Piano Quintet is truly a masterpiece, demonstrating an originality and stature that match and even surpass better-known piano quintets by better-known composers. It shows a remarkably fresh ear for symphonic thinking, motivic development and sheer melodic invention. Zelenski was a teacher rather than a performer, ending his distinguished academic career as Director of the Conservatory in his home town of Krakow. His Piano Quartet is a passionate, lyrical work, combining the Romanticism of Mendelssohn and Schumann with a piquant Slavic element.

The Szymanowski Quartet-half Polish, half Ukrainian-and honorary Pole Jonathan Plowright are the ideal performers of this music.