25.10.2023 – Aleksandra Świgut – Portraits of Nature / Grieg & Chopin - Album premiere
The scholarship project launched in 2023 by VeloBank entitled VeloTalent begins a large-scale promotion of the most outstanding Polish musical talents.
The first scholarship holder is the winner of many international piano competitions - Aleksandra Świgut, who in the album entitled "Portraits of Nature" presents extremely intense and involved interpretations of selected works by Grieg and Chopin.
The album begins with Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor, which the soloist performs together with the Beethoven Academy Orchestra conducted by Michał Klauza.
"You do not understand the eternalmovement of the waves
nor the spiritthatswells in the sonoroustone
nor feelingsdeep in a flower'sscent
nor sunlight flaming againststorm and wind
nor the bird'schirping of longing and pleasure
And soyouthinkyouunderstand a Poet'sBreast?"
Hans Christian Andersen
[Translation from Danish (Dansk) to English copyright © 2017 by Geoffrey Cooper]
Portraits of Nature is my firstpersonal album, born out of a deepfascination with the music of my belovedcomposersEdvard Grieg and Frederic Chopin. Both seekbeauty and truth by turning to whatis most precious to man - nature.
My travels to Norwayhaveallowed me to understand the Scandinavian spirit. Respect for natureis in the geneticcode of the Nordicpeople. Norwegiansperceiveit on a personallevel, as theirbestfriend, and considerittheirmoralduty to care for it. It isalso a realm of the spirit, of freedom, an element never to be tamed and a mysterybeyondhumancomprehension. The sensitivity of the Scandinavian Romantic, Edward Grieg, has united me in anextraordinaryway with the spirit of Frederic Chopin, whoseworkismarked by aneternalmourning for a lost part of hisownnature. For Chopin, Polishness was synonymous with truth and freedom, and the landscapes and music of hischildhoodbecame the greatestinspiration for hiswork.
ThisPolish-Norwegianmixturetriggeredanavalanche of personalmemories in my imagination. When I play Grieg and Chopin, I see the landscapes of my childhoodthrough the eyes of my soul: Beskid Sądecki, a housesurrounded by a garden, a forest on a hill, a mountainrivercrossing the paths. It was therethat I firstdiscovered my innerartist soul and my curiosity to explorehumanemotionsthroughmusic. It was alsotherethat I understoodthatonly in trueunion with anotherhumanbeingcananswers be found to the most essentialquestions, and that the universe we createaroundusis a truthfulportrait of ourownnature.
Whilethanking the patron of the CD for the privilege of being the firstVelotalent, I wishyouall a veryspecialartisticexperience with this CD.
Aleksandra Świgut
