Without the Polish Chamber Orchestra, and thus Jerzy Maksymiuk, the Sinfonia Varsovia would not have been founded. The album "Perfectionist" was created to celebrate the outstanding conductor's 85th birthday and the history of his long lasting friendship with the orchestra. It will premiere on 9 April 2021, on the artist's birthday. During a meeting in the Maksymiuk's salon, Maestro will talk about the album and how it was created. The event will be broadcast live on Sinfonia Varsovia's Facebook and YouTube channel.
The album includes pieces for string orchestra and soloists. In their interpretation, Jerzy Maksymiuk and Sinfonia Varsovia strive for not only performance perfection. They aim to reveal emotions which, thanks to the orchestra's precision and the performers' individual skills and sensitivity, become available to the listener.
The first two pieces are Claude Debussy's preludes arranged by Jerzy Maksymiuk: in this rendition we will hear the lightness and transparency that the conductor carefully brings out from the score. The next composition is Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Thanks to its rich texture, it is a perfect piece for a conductor who loves to delve into details and polish them, which Maksymiuk surely does. Andrzej Panufnik's Violin Concerto, another piece on the album, was written in 1972. With its very characteristic sound, it allows both the soloist (Jakub Haufa, concertmaster of Sinfonia Varsovia) and the orchestra to demonstrate different technical skills and slightly different sensitivity in each movement. Leaves Falling Here and Now, number 7 on the album, is a piece composed in 2011 for piano and chamber orchestra by Jerzy Maksymiuk himself, who also performed the piano part. Finally, Wojciech Kilar's Orawa. Despite its simplicity, it is not an easy piece to conduct. Maksymiuk has conducted it over a hundred times, and on the album Perfectionist we have the opportunity to listen to his last rehearsal.
The album will be available in Empik stores (also for preorder), on the website www.sinfoniavarsovia.org and on selected streaming services.