Paul Caro – String Quintets
Caro’s music, rooted in the late-Romantic tradition, is marked by clarity of form, rich yet transparent harmony, and a vividly shaped melodic line. This album presents the world premiere recording of his two string quintets — in F major (1893) and E minor (1905) — preserved in manuscript sources and written at pivotal moments of his career. Scored for two violins, viola, and two cellos, they combine Romantic lyricism with refined motivic work, colorful sonorities, and a clear interest in cyclic form.
Marcel Chyrzyński – Chamber Works
Marcel Chyrzyński is a renowned composer whose works are performed worldwide. The artists of the Cracow Duo: Kalinowski & Szlezer, have to their credit several premieres of his compositions for various instrumental ensembles and dozens of performances. This is undoubtedly one of the strongest artist-composer bonds in the current Polish music scene. To this impressive body of work, the artists add a new album, in which they perform alongside renomated musicians and friends: clarinetist Piotr Lato and violinist Wojciech Koprowski
DEDICATIONS vol . 3
Thanks to the wonderful interpretation of the virtuosos from Cracow Duo, we appreciate the fact that Polish cello-piano literature has been enriched with six excellent works – Hi-Fi
DEDICATIONS vol . 2
The pieces collected on this disc were premiered by the ensemble in concerts in Europe and the United States between 2011 and 2022. However, these works primarily offer the listener an opportunity to experience the extraordinary beauty of the cello and piano sound, in all its range and tonal richness. Jan Kalinowski and Marek Szlezer deliver a true virtuosic display and musical understanding here, operating with a wide range of emotions – from meditative concentration to unbridled passion – DUX
Classics & Discoveries
The album ‘Classics & Discoveries’ is a gift for listeners on the occasion of the duo’s anniversary. The selection of pieces is suitable for the occasion – it’s a bouquet of attractive works by various composers from the 19th and 20th centuries, perfectly adapted to the cello and piano. We can find many well-known classical music hits here. Most of them have been chosen in such a way as to further highlight the virtuosity of the musicians, who play in a classically perfect way. – Presto Portal
Kraków Composers’ School
Jan Kalinowski made the premiere recording of Marcel Chyrzyński’s ‘Ukiyo-e No. 3’, a concerto for cello and symphony orchestra, under the direction of Paweł Przytocki with the Symphony Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Krakow. – AMKP
Polish Music Experience
The Warner Music release, Polish Music Experience, brings together compositions by four Polish composers, performed by [cellist Jan Kalinowski and pianist Marek Szlezer] and the Sinfonietta Cracovia orchestra under the direction of Jurek Dybał. […] The album is excellently recorded. The sound is warm, spacious, direct, and deep. The repertoire is diverse and interestingly selected, and the performances are maintained at a very high level. – klasycznaplytoteka.pl
MEMORIES
The album is an integral part of the publication released on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Cracow Duo Kalinowski & Szlezer and is available for order from the Porta Musicae Artistic Association
real life song
The album ‘Real Life Song’ is the result of almost two years of work and a manifestation of artistic exploration by many ambitious individuals who create art at the highest level and present diverse, very interesting currents of new Polish music. – NCK, 2015
Krzysztof Penderecki – Chamber Works vol. II
In the works of Krzysztof Penderecki, the cello holds a special place, being the main protagonist of numerous chamber and orchestral compositions by this outstanding composer. Everything is performed with full concentration by Jakob Spahn, an extraordinary young German cellist, who is accompanied in the chamber pieces by the most distinguished Polish virtuosos of this instrument – DUX
Masterpieces of Johann Sebastian Bach at St. Marcin
Jan Kalinowski’s recording of J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 5 for solo cello was included on the album ‘Masterpieces of Johann Sebastian Bach at St. Marcin’, released in 2015 by the Polish Bach Society
BACZYŃSKI
The album with music from the film “Baczyński” is just as unusual as the film itself. It’s not a standard soundtrack filled with background music and songs. […] It’s shocking and moving, and at the same time beautiful. An epic combination of music and silence. And all of this was created using violins, cellos, pianos, guitars, subtle electronics, and an amazing soprano. – Łukasz Waligórski, Muzyka Filmowa
Krzysztof Penderecki – Chamber Works vol. I
The album allows us to follow the evolution of Penderecki’s style, the diversity of his workshop ideas, which never overshadowed the essence of his entire work – deep drama and lyricism. It is also a wonderful showcase of the musicians’ virtuosity in personal interpretations of more and less popular compositions. – Maria Łakomik
Polish Cello Music
This disc is a refreshingly different and innovative way of presenting a programme of cello music. Each piece adds another instrument, going from a work for solo cello to a version of part of Penderecki’s Polish Requiem for eight cellos. It’s fascinating to hear how each additional cello adds different layers to the sound. – MusicWeb
Vivid playing in works written for different numbers of cellos. – The Strad
DEDICATIONS
The album features six compositions from 2007-2013, by authors such as Bujarski, Jabłoński, Chajdecki, Płonka, Chyrzyński, and Widłak. The instrumentalists had the opportunity to showcase their technical skills, play with styles, and unleash their imagination in telling different stories. The recording realization (Aula Florianka) with a slight reverberation adds an ironic distance or mystery to the interpretations at times – Hi-Fi
Fryderyk Chopin – Complete Chaber Works
On this recording, the musicians used the first French editions of Chopin’s works from the collection of the Historical and Literary Society and the Polish Library in Paris. The artists are cellist Jan Kalinowski, violinist Bartłomiej Nizioł, and pianist Marek Szlezer, performing works on a restored Playel piano from 1845. – cdandlp
Joining Szlezer, Nizoł and Kalinowski create an impressively harmonized sound and a performance full of refined details, dynamic energy, and emotional control.
– All Music
Aleksander Tansman – Works for Cello and Piano
[…] Kalinowski and Szlezer, friends since childhood, have a wonderfully natural rapport and there is an arresting quality to their playing that gives life to the music – The Strad
Kalinowski and Szlezer offer a lively, brilliant, and expressively varied interpretation. They emphasize above all the mobility and energy of Tansman’s composition, the rapid changeability of moods and tempos. –Ruch muzyczny.