2016

An album that summarises 10 years of activity of the Lutosławski Quartet, a dynamic group of still–young soloists – chamber musicians who are not afraid of any repertoire. It contains pieces specially composed for the ensemble and consists of two discs: a CD and a DVD.

Album premiere: 2017

Publishers: National Forum of Music, CD Accord

Performers: Lutosławski Quartet

The idea for an album made up of pieces composed specially for the Lutosławski Quartet was closely tied into the celebration of the European Capital of Culture in Wrocław. The edition consists of two discs: a CD and a DVD. All pieces were composed, premiered and recorded in 2016 – hence the name of the album: 2016.

The Lutosławski Quartet celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2017. The release of the album creates something of a summary of a decade of activity of the Wrocław-based ensemble, which has mainly presented Polish chamber music on almost all continents since its formation.

Lutosławski Quartet musicians work with young Polish composers – as a result of this collaboration, there was a need to commission new works dedicated to the ensemble. Each of the composers whose work appears on the album is closely associated with the group: Andrzej Kwieciński (whose works were performed by the Lutosławski Quartet even before the ensemble was established), Paweł Mykietyn (the composer’s String Quartet No. 2 was included in the ensemble’s concert programmes in Poland, Asia and across the Americas) and Marcin Markowicz (founder and second violinist of the Lutosławski Quartet, whose previous String Quartet No. 3 was one of the pieces the ensemble played most frequently).

The video attached to the album tells the story of the idea and the process of creating the album, containing mini-interviews with musicians and fragments of recordings.

Awards: Emocje 2017 award from Radio Wrocław Kultura for the Lutosławski Quartet; the album was listed as one of the 10 best albums of 2017 by Gazeta Wyborcza, nomination for Fryderyk 2018