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CD Recommendations - Biała flaga

Biała flaga
Hania Rani – Piano
Dobrawa Czocher - Cello
available on Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, Youtube Music

When it comes to recommending contemporary classical music, most would probably suggest the usual household names like Yann Tiersen, Ludovico Einaudi or Ryuichi Sakamoto. But of course, there are so much more to discover beyond these popular few.

Biała flaga is 100% Polish affair, featuring contemporary classical music from Poland and performed by Polish pianist Hania Rani and cellist Dobrawa Czocher. I chanced upon this CD by accident because I wanted to check out further what Dobrawa Czocher had recorded, and I was glad I did. Hania Rani herself contributed a few compositions of her own, but the spotlight of this CD is on the compositions of the late Grzegorz Ciechowski, who tragically passed away at the age 44 in 2001.

Ciechowski’s music could be best described as Yann Tiersen on steroids. More neo-classical than minimalistic, each of his compositions featured here are expertly crafted, with hauntingly beautiful counterpoints and explorations of sound that elevate them beyond just your typical easy-listening music. The superlative Odchodząc exemplifies this; the music begins simply enough before building up to a highly elaborate climatic section featuring complex interactions between the piano and cello that somehow still sounds ethereal.

Hania Rani’s compositions are equally as enjoyable. Her style is decidedly more minimalistic and closer to Philip Glass’ like exemplified in her meditative Intermezzo in F Minor. Both she and Dobrawa Czocher must be commended for their excellent and harmonious performance, without which these compositions would not nearly be as enjoyable. Here are two musicians who fully respected each other; each of them never tried to outshine each other and the ensemble work was tight throughout.

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