Aleksander Debicz/Lukasz Kuropaczewski: ADELA [1LP Orange Vinyl]

Warner Classics Poland

£24.30

Format: LP
ICPN: 0190295061340
Release Date: 5 February 2021
Genre: Classical

“The album title ADELA comes from a song by Rodrigo which constitutes the emotional culmination of our duo’s programme. What counts is not the name, but the person we love and long for. Everyone certainly has such a person, and so we hope that each listener will find something close to his or her heart on our album.

The piano and classical guitar virtually never collaborate in music. However, after our first joint performance with Łukasz Kuropaczewski, we immediately realised that we could create intriguing music worlds together. We followed the same line of thinking in our choice of programme, which derives from both the piano and guitar repertoires, though the spirit of the South that informs most of that music is more typically associated with the guitar tradition. In my arrangements of classical works, I strove to represent the sonic qualities of both instruments, their unique expression, and cultural associations. I reworked Domenico Scarlatti’s famous “Sonata in D Minor (Toccata)” K. 141 so as to bring out its Spanish roots. Titled “Domingo” on our album, it features distinctive flamenco qualities and an improvised layer. The “Aranjuez Concerto BWV 1056” is, as its very name suggests, a fusion of the world’s most famous piece for guitar and orchestra, Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez”, with Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Keyboard Concerto in F Minor” BWV 1056. Themes from the second, slow movements of both concertos interlink here as in the film cross-cutting technique, and we swap roles, Łukasz leading the Bach theme while I take up Rodrigo’s.

Three of the works on this album have been enriched by the angelic voice of Jakub Józef Orliński. In these three, Egberto Gismonti’s guitar composition “Água e Vinho”, my own “Quarantine Song”, and even the famous “Adela” by Joaquin Rodrigo, the voice has been treated more as an instrument than a lyrical subject. “Quarantine Song” was composed during the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020 specially for Jakub Józef Orliński as its performer. “Pedro” was inspired by the films of Pedro Almodóvar.
Aleksander Dębicz

Tracklist CD

1. Recipe (Aleksander Dębicz) 5:10
2. Aranjuez Concerto BWV 1056 (Johann Sebastian Bach / Joaquín Rodrigo) 5:21
3. Tuyo - ‘Narcos’ Theme (Rodrigo Amarante) 2:28
4. Água e Vinho - feat. Jakub Józef Orliński (Egberto Gismonti) 7:14
5. Pedro (Aleksander Dębicz) 1:51 Ravel (Maurice. Ravel) 5:17
6. Quarantine Song - feat. Jakub Józef Orliński (Aleksander Dębicz) 3:54
7. Domingo (Domenico Scarlatti) 3:44
8. Gnossienne No. 1* (Erik Satie) 5:39
9. Asturias (Isaac Albeniz) 5:13
10. Adela - feat. Jakub Józef Orliński (Joaquín Rodrigo) 5:38
11. Fairytale (Aleksander Dębicz) 3:55
All pieces arranged by Aleksander Dębicz
Łukasz Kuropaczewski - guitar
Aleksander Dębicz – piano, *Yamaha Reface CP
Jakub Józef Orliński appears courtesy of Erato/Warner Classics

Tracklist LP VINYL

SIDE A:
1. Aranjuez Concerto BWV 1056 - Johann Sebastian Bach, Joaquín Rodrigo
2. Pedro (Almodovar) - Aleksander Dębicz
3. Água e Vinho [feat. Jakub Józef Orliński] - Egberto Gismonti
4. Ravel - Maurice Ravel

SIDE B :
1. Domingo - Domenico Scarlatti
2. Quarantine Song [feat. Jakub Józef Orliński] - Aleksander Dębicz
3. Gnossienne No. 1 - Erik Satie
4. Adela [feat. Jakub Józef Orliński] - Joaquín Rodrigo
5. Fairytale - Aleksander Dębicz

Recording producer & mastering: Mateusz Banasiuk
Photos: Rafał Masłow
Graphic design: Michał Kowalski
Translation: Tomasz Zymer