Discography

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

Release date: 2009-06-30

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

Release date: 2013-03-12

 

Beethoven, Shostakovich & Ryu: Sonatas for Cello & Piano

Suspended between lyricism and unbridled vitality is the musical substance of the sonatas presented by the young and promising Korean cellist Joo Yeon Choi and Polish pianist Marek Szlezer. Beethoven – a classical reference point for composers of all subsequent generations, including, of course, Dmitri Shostakovich – especially during the period when he wrote his sonata for cello and piano – one of the first to treat the cello as a full-fledged, concerting instrument, did not always create classically. The sonata from 1815 presented on the disc is an example.

Release date: 2017-03-30

Borkowski: Complete Works For Solo Piano

This album contains recordings of all the solo piano pieces by the distinguished composer, pianist, and musicologist Marian Borkowski. Written between 1955 and 1977, they belong to the early period of his career. Their chronological arrangement on the disc allows us to trace the evolution of the composer’s style. From simple miniatures written before he began his composition studies, through the Rachmaninoff-inspired “Preludes,” the archly Polish “Mazurkas,” the romantic Variations, to the avant-garde, motoric and percussive “Fragmenti,” and an unexpected return to neo-Romanticism in the stylized “Interludes,” with their improvised origins. The composer’s hallmark is his faithfulness to personal musical reflection, despite trends, but also his skill as a virtuoso pianist, who has recorded selected cycles of his own works in the past.

Release date: 2023-12-13

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

Release date: 2021-11-15

Chopin: Selected Works

This album features a wide variety of compositions, from well-known, almost emblematic ones, such as the “Polonaise in A major, Op. 40” and the “Mazurkas” from Op. 59, through the immensely beloved “Nocturnes,” to later works, the crowning achievements of the composer’s oeuvre, such as his famous “Ballad in F minor, Op. 52.” The last two pieces on the album are particularly interesting – Szlezer’s partially reconstructed unfinished “Prelude No. 27 in E-flat minor, Op. posth.” And the song “Spring, Op. 74, No. 2,” one of Chopin’s songs arranged for piano by the composer himself. Everyone can find music on our album that will resonate with their sensibilities, delight them, and allow for a moment of rest and solace.

Release date: 2022-08-05

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

Release date: 2014-07-01

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

Release date: 2023-12-27

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

Release date: 2023-07-24

Friemann: Works For Clarinet & Piano

Witold Friemann (1889-1977), the author of approximately 1,300 solo, chamber, and orchestral works, is today one of the forgotten composers, which is largely a consequence of historical events and the composer’s life choices, as he spent the last years of his life as a teacher at the Institute for the Blind in Laski, near Warsaw.

Release date: 2019-10-01

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

Release date: 2010-07-22

Fryderyk Chopin

  1. Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49 • Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47 • Nocturnes, Op. 27 • Mazurkas, Op. 30 • Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35 No. 2 • Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53

Release date: 2010-12-15

Jadwiga Sarnecka: Ballades and Miniatures for Solo Piano

  1. The album marks the premiere recording of works by the composer, who died prematurely from tuberculosis.
  2. The Ballades constitute one of the most significant achievements of this genre in Polish piano music. The album features six Ballades. The seventh, arguably the artist’s last work, remained unfinished. The fourth was awarded second prize at the composition competition in Lviv, won by Karol Szymanowski. While battling illness throughout her life, Sarnecka also pioneered the art of female composition, finding critical acclaim at the time. Thanks to the support of Feliks Jasieński, a renowned patron of Young Poland artists, most of her works were published, although the Museum cycle included on the album remains only in manuscript.

Release date: 2025-12-01

Jadwiga Sarnecka- works for piano solo  

1. I. Theme et variations. Lento et tranquillo
2. II. Romance. Vivo. Con sentimento
3. III. Scherzo. Con anima
4. IV. Finale. Presto [4:18] Etiuda f-moll (“Quasi un dolore”)
5. Agitato [2:13] Quatre impressions op. 12 (1911)
6. I. Molto espressivo
7. II. Con fuoco
8. III. Con sentimento e dolore
9. IV. Gentille
10. Impression, Tranquillo
11. Impression, Vivo. Con sentimento e passione
12. IV Ballada, Tranquillo molto cantando

Release date: 2009-07-25

Krzysztof Meyer Works for Piano vol. 1  

1. Aforyzmy na fortepian op. 3 | Aphorisms for piano Op. 3 (1961)
2. I Sonata fortepianowa op. 5 | Piano Sonata No. 1 Op. 5 (1962)
3. II Sonata fortepianowa op. 7 | Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 7 (1963)

Marek Szlezer – fortepian | piano

Release date: 2013-09-05

Krzysztof Meyer Works for Piano vol. 2

The recording features piano works by Krzysztof Meyer, one of the most well-known and respected contemporary Polish composers. The three piano sonatas on this recording provide an excellent insight into the composer’s original musical language, which employs avant-garde timbral and harmonic means within a deeply thought-out formal and contrapuntal structure.

Release date: 2015-04-03

Krzysztof Meyer Works for Piano vol. 3

Krzysztof Meyer’s third album of piano music, performed by Marek Szlezer, features Preludes, Op. 43.

Release date: 2020-05-25

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

Release date: 2014-07-29

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

Release date: 2025-01-15

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

e-book

Na Mej Duszy Strunach

Katarzyna Wiwer – soprano
Marek Szlezer – piano

Release date: 2025-02-07

Polish Chamber Music

This five-disc album features recordings made over 30 years of the DAFO String Quartet’s career. The ensemble, which hails from the Krakow Academy of Music, celebrates its milestone anniversary by taking listeners on a journey through time. It’s no coincidence that the album’s repertoire consists of recordings of contemporary Polish music – the DAFO Quartet specializes in performing new music, a distinction for which it has received numerous accolades, including the “Fryderyk” award.

Release date: 2024-03-13

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.p

Release date: 2018-12-14

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

Release date: 2015-12-23

Sergei Rachmaninov – Etudes Tableaux op.33 & op.39 

Release date: 2004

Stanisław Moniuszko- utwory fortepianowe/ piano works

The album was subsidized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund as part of the “Musical Trace” program, implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance.
performers: Marek Szlezer – piano

Release date: 2019

Stojowski: Piano Concertos

Co-financed by the Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Culture Promotion Fund as part of the “Musical Trace” program, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

Marek SZLEZER fortepian | piano  1–3
Witold WILCZEK fortepian | piano  4–16
Polska Orkiestra Sinfonia Iuventus im. Jerzego Semkowa
Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra
Marek WRONISZEWSKI dyrygent | conductor  1, 3–16
Zofia GUZ dyrygent | conductor  2

Release date: 2021-12-27

Szymanowski: Piano Music

• 9 Preludes, Op. 1 (1899–1900) • Prelude in C sharp minor (1899–1900) • 4 Etudes, Op. 4 (1900–1902) • Prelude and Fugue in C sharp minor • Variations on a Polish Folk Theme in B minor, Op. 10

Release date: 2018-06-12

Szymanowski: Piano works

A standalone 80-minute final set of works spanning ten years (1924–1934), belonging to different periods of Szymanowski’s work.

Release date: 2021-06-21