Ignacy Friedman

Rediscovering Songs by Ignacy Friedman

Ignacy Friedman (1882-1948)

the great virtuoso and incomparable interpreter of Chopin, who in 1918 was called "the brightest Chopin of modern times" by the critic Walter Niemann. The pianist was not only brilliant in his technique, but also gifted with extraordinary insight and imagination, which allowed him to take a very individual approach to musical works. His legendary and unforgettable performances, a testament to extraordinary talent and intelligence, revealed to the audience a completely new dimension of otherwise well-known compositions. Unbeknownst to many, Friedman was also a composer, the author of over 100 piano, chamber and vocal pieces, and thus he had the privilege of viewing music from the perspective of both performer and creator. 

CD reviews and awards

The premiere recording of the complete Songs by Ignacy Friedman

Nominations:
-OPUS KLASSIK AWARDS 2022
-ICMA International Classical Music Awards 2023
-PASZPORTY POLITYKI (for Szymon Chojnacki)



Pizzicato.lu – Remy Franck 

https://www.pizzicato.lu/kurzkritiken-short-reviews-by-remy-franck-38/ 

Most of these songs are sensitively sung by Szymon Chojnacki and attain a high quality due to his warm-round, flexible and finely articulating voice. The soprano Sen Acar convinces with a fine, lyrical soprano voice. Both are congenially accompanied by Jakub Tchorzewski ♪♪♪♪♪

 

Oper Aktuell – Kaspar Sannemann

https://www.oper-aktuell.info/kritiken/artikel/ignacy-friedman-complete-songs-cd-neuerscheinung.html 

This recording of all the songs by Ignacy Friedman is a great discovery and deserves the highest recognition. A treasure has been lifted out of the darkness of oblivion!


Upiór w Operze –  Dorota Kozińska

https://atorod.pl/?p=6383

The performer of the vocal part in most of these works is Szymon Chojnacki, gifted with a small, extremely charming bass-baritone, so full and resonant in the lower register and a bit smoky in the upper notes of the scale that I would classify this voice more as a high lyrical bass. His interpretations are thoughtful, intimate and delivered with very good diction. The latter does not always succeed in the Polish songs of Şen Acar, who possesses a light, intonationally precise soprano, which proved faultless, also in terms of emission, in the previously mentioned three songs to Bierbaum's texts. They both found a wise, sensitive to the human voice and skilful pianist partner in Jakub Tchorzewski, who had already made a name for himself as a sensitive accompanist in the song compositions by, among others, Karłowicz, Lutosławski and Palester.


OPERNGLAS – MICHAEL LEHNERT 2/2022

The melodies, which are sometimes close to folk songs and on the other hand at a high level of art song, are mostly set to texts in Polish language, but there are also three texts by the German Otto Bierbaum, whereby Chojnacki's outstanding diction and narrative power of Chojnacki's voice in the very beautiful bass-baritone register of his thrills. Some of the titles are sung by the soprano Sen Acar, who has sung in Lübeck, at the Eutin Summer Festival and in Kiel at the theatre this season in "The Love for Three Oranges" and "Anatevka", among others. The Complete Songs are accompanied in a highly ambitious way by Jakub Tchorzewski.


Partners

Sen Acar-Chojnacka - soprano

Born in Izmir. After studying at the Dokuz Eylül Conservatory was engaged as a soloist at the Izmir State Opera. After completing her education at the Musikhoschule Lubeck she was part of the ensemble of the Kiel Opera. Her appearances there – celebrated by the public and the press alike – include, among others her interpretations of Pamina in Mozart’s Magic Flute, Cleopatra in Handel’s Julius Caesar, Elvira in Rossini’s The Italian in Algiers, Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel or Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. The great success of her appearances in the baroque opera Rinaldo (Almirena), in the German premiere of Gabriel Dupont’s Antar (Neda) and in Franz Wittenbrink’s Secretaries, as well as her interpretations of various soprano roles in the concert sphere (Brahms’ German Requiem or Fauré’s Requiem) are proof of Şen Acar’s artistic flexibility and the wide range of her repertoire.

Szymon Chojnacki - bass-baritone

A highly sought-after soloist, regularly invited by such prestigous venues like Vienna State Opera, Lucerne Theather and Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He appears regularly at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl under the direction of Gustav Kuhn, Friedrich Haider, Paolo Carignani and Michael Güttler, where he debuted as Walter in Rossini's 'Guglielmo Tell'. There he also appeared as Sarastro in 'Magic Flute', Alessio in 'La Sonammbula', Colline in 'La Bohème' and Martino in 'L'occasione fa il ladro' and 2nd Grail Knight in 'Parsifal'. Invited by the National Ballet China in August 2017, he presented 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' by Gustav Mahler together with mezzo-soprano Huiling Zhu at the National Center of Performing Arts in Beijing. Since 2022, he has also devoted himself to teaching as a voice teacher in the vocal department, specializing in solo singing, at the University of Music in Lübeck.

https://www.szymonchojnacki.com/

Recordings