Ad libitum Roksana Kwaśnikowska & Krzysztof Stanienda

• Krzysztof Penderecki (1933 - 2020): Sonata for Violin and Piano:
• 1 Penderecki: Sonata for Violin and Piano: Allegro 03:14
• 2 Penderecki: Sonata for Violin and Piano: Andante 02:46
• 3 Penderecki: Sonata for Violin and Piano: Allegro vivace 02:34
• Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976): Reveille:
• 4 Britten: Reveille 05:00
• Witold Lutosławski (1913 - 1994): Subito:
• 5 Lutosławski: Subito 05:10
• Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Sonata No. 1 in A minor for Violin and Piano, Op. Posth:
• 6 Ravel: Sonata No. 1 in A minor for Violin and Piano, Op. Posth 13:41
• Wojciech Sojka: Ad libitum for Solo Violin:
• 7 Sojka: Ad libitum for Solo Violin 05:41
• Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943): Romance for Violin and Piano in A minor:
• 8 Rachmaninoff: Romance for Violin and Piano in A minor 06:28
• Karol Szymanowski (1882 - 1937): Roxana’s Song from the opera ‘King Roger’, Op. 46:
• 9 Szymanowski: Roxana’s Song from the opera ‘King Roger’, Op. 46 04:57
• Total Runtime 49:31

Info for Ad libitum

The album features works that are diverse in expression and style, but united by the strength of their emotional message. These are compositions exceptionally close to the performers, most of them rarely present on the stage. The album's title comes from the only piece for solo violin in this set, dedicated to a violinist, which makes its phonographic premiere here. This work by the young violinist and composer Wojciech Sojka surprises with its maturity and form, stylistically alluding to Ysaÿe's famous sonatas. There are other surprises too - Penderecki's Sonata is a testament to the search for one's own style, much like Rachmaninoff's youthful Romns or Ravel's unfinished Sonata. At the other extreme are Lutosławski's mature Subito and Szymanowski's masterpiece Roxana's Song, which crowns the entire programme.

Roksana Kwaśnikowska and Krzysztof Stanienda are outstanding soloists, pedagogues, but above all chamber musicians, who with this album confirm what a successful musical partnership they share, becoming a source of inspiration and creative imagination for both of them.

Roksana Kwaśnikowska, violin
Agnieszka Podłucka, viola
Zuzanna Sosnowska, cello
Andrzej Karalow, piano
Krzysztof Stanienda, piano
Mateusz Stankiewicz, accordion

Roksana Kwaśnikowska
Soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. In 2018, she graduated with distinction from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, in Jan Stanienda's class, receiving the Magna Cum Laude medal.

She has been awarded numerous prizes in prestigious national and international competitions, including the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition (Sion), the 1st Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition (Katowice), the Ludwig van Beethoven International Competition (Hradec), the Michal Spisak International Music Competition (Dąbrowa Górnicza), and the Tadeusz Wroński International Solo Violin Competition (Warsaw).

Acclaimed as a soloist in many concerts in Europe (France, Estonia, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Austria), Asia (China, South Korea, Japan) and North America. She has performed twice in one of the world's most famous concert halls, New York's Carnegie Hall. As a soloist, she has performed with the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra, the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, the Leoš Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava and the NFM Philharmonic Orchestra in Wrocław.

In addition to his solo career, he devotes much attention to chamber music. He collaborates with outstanding musicians in several chamber ensembles. As of 2019, she is the primarius of the Lutosławski Quartet formation. She also co-founded the Chopin Piano Quintet, the Chromatophonic Trio and the Tansman Trio. She is an assistant in the violin class at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.

Krzysztof Stanienda
An exceptionally talented pianist of the young generation, he graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, in the class of Edward Wolanin. He developed his musical skills under the guidance of many eminent pedagogues, such as: Wiera Nosina, Martin Hughes, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Andrzej Jasiński, Stefan Kutrzeba, Lee Kum-Sing, Krystyna Makowska-Ławrynowicz, Maja Nosowska, Jerzy Marchwiński.

He is a laureate of national and international competitions. In 2008, he was nominated for the Fryderyk Award for his recording of chamber music. A year later he recorded for Universal Music Polska together with Kama Grott and Artur Kasperk.

He is a co-founder of the Chopin Piano Quintet, with which he was laureate of the International Chamber Music Competition in Lithuania in 2014, winner of the 1st prize in the International Chamber Music Competition in Pianello Val Tidone and 1st place in the chamber music category, and winner of the 1st place awarded in the 12th International Competition ‘Premio Citta di Padova’ in Padua. In addition, he was awarded the ‘Young Poland’ scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2016), thanks to which he recorded a DVD together with the Chopin Piano Quintet.

In October 2018, he won first prize at the 7th Antón García Abril International Chamber Music Competition in Spain.

He has performed at many national and international festivals, including Łańcut, Wrocław (‘Evenings at the Arsenal’), Kąśna Dolna (‘Week of Talents’), Japan, Great Britain, Austria, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain and Italy.

He has given concerts with, among others, the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, Chopin Academia Orchestra, Wratislawia Orchestra, Spirit of Europe Orchestra, Silesian Chamber Orchestra, Silesian Quartet, Camerata Quartet, as well as artists of such calibre as Bartosz Bryła, Stefan Kamasa, Piotr Reichert, Jan Stanienda, Marcin Zdunik, Anna Maria Staśkiewicz, Marta Kowalczyk and Magdalena Bojanowicz. As a co-principal pianist, he is constantly invited to participate in music workshops in Kołobrzeg, Nałęczów, Żagań and Janowiec. Since 2020, he has been involved in co-creating music workshops in Podkowa Leśna. Since 2012, he has been a lecturer at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.

This album contains no booklet.