Szymanowski: Violin Concertos & Mythes

Baiba Skride is almost unparalleled in her virtuosic, idiomatic mastery of the standard solo violin repertoire. But that is not all, for her concert calendar and her discography also repeatedly feature works by lesser-known composers. In September 2013 she played Karol Szymanowski’s First Violin Concerto at the Proms in London, accompanied by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vasily Petrenko. She has also recorded the same composer’s Second Violin Concerto in the studio, along with the duo cycle Myths with Lauma Skride at the piano. Szymanowski’s music fascinates above all on account of its stylistic variety. The early piano and chamber music clearly betrays the influence of Skryabin and Chopin. On his journeys through Europe and Africa, Szymanowski’s music developed further. Initially inspired by the music of Wagner, Strauss and Schreker, he then became increasingly attracted by archaic topics and drew on these in his musical concepts. The above mentioned works in Baiba Skride’s most recent recording allow us to trace this path that Szymanowski took.