Various Artists - Alina Błońska: Noche oscura (2022)

This album presents music of Alina Błońska, a Polish composer whose work is known and performed in concert halls and radio stations in many European countries. It features mainly her recent pieces, showing the composer’s artistic path. She is primarily interested in Spanish culture, here represented by the recited poem by C. K. Norwid Towards the Truth Like Don Quixotes translated into Spanish in 2018.

The next piece entitled Noche oscura after a poem of St. John of the Cross (composed in 2018) is also based on mystical poetry; its lyricism is conveyed by subtle mezzo-soprano and cello sounds. Religious themes dominated the next work, Kantate "Christ ist erstanden" (2017), based on Evangelical chant, medieval song and Psalm 130.

The album is crowned with a composition for solo piano For Alma (2005–2006). The variety of topics is bound by Błońska’s compositional style consisting of subtle, balanced sound, excellent sense of tone colour and focused, lyrical musical narrative.

A remarkable interpretation of this original music was provided by first-rate artists: Agnieszka Grzywacz (soprano), Beatriz Oleaga (mezzo-soprano), Enrique Sánchez-Ramos (recitation), Dobrochna Banaszkiewicz (violin), Mikołaj Konopelski (cello), Jaime Fernández Soriano (percussion) and Joanna Barbara Wielec (piano). The sound of traditional early music is due to the ensemble La Spagna specializing in the performance of Baroque music under the artistic direction of Alejandro Marías.