SOUNDS AND VIEWS: A recorded tribute to Daria Hordynska-Karanowycz (07/27/03)

SOUNDS AND VIEWS

by Roman Sawycky

A recorded tribute to Daria Hordynska-Karanowycz

A new compact disc titled "Daria Hordynska-Karanowycz, pianist: A Tribute to an Artist" came out last year on the Ukrainian Masters (UM-4) label, music by Ukrainian composers. The disc, produced by Ukrainian Music Institute of America, Inc., includes a 12-page bilingual booklet on the pianist's place in the history of piano performance.

According to the biography of Ms. Karanowycz by Prof. Natalia Kashkadamova of the Lysenko Music Academy that appears in the liner notes, this noted pianist (1908-1999) was born in Kolomyia, Ukraine. She studied with the eminent composer and pianist Vasyl Barvinsky at the Lysenko Advance Music Institute in Lviv and later at the Vienna Music Academy.

Her first concerts were in the late 1920s, but it was in the 1930s that Ms. Karanowycz's concert activities blossomed, as she toured Austria, Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Beside performing solo concerts, she played with chamber ensembles, among them the Vienna Philharmonic String Quartet.

Upon arriving in the United States, Ms. Karanowycz became involved in pedagogy, teaching piano to countless numbers of students. She also recorded numerous piano performances on reel-to-reel tape, however, these were never released. She released only one LP (Imperial Record Corp. 1985).

The newly released CD contains performances both from the aforementioned tapes and the LP, as well as a recording of a Radio Lviv interview and performance.

The disc has garnered the following notices in America and Ukraine:

"In the recent release of the late Daria Karanowycz's recordings, ... we hear what an extraordinary artist she was. To her, technique was merely a means to an end - the end being performances of high emotional content and poetic emanations, rare qualities in any generation. Her chief intent was to express the inner meaning of the works she performed. And she has done this with consummate artistry and technical control. These recordings are a must for all serious musicians and music lovers." - Seymour Bernstein, pianist and educator (New York).
"Everyone who has listened to Daria H. Karanowycz's performance of this rare collection of Ukrainian piano music will agree that she is a wonderful pianist, with masterful technical command and a sensitive and refined style.

"She keeps a beautiful singing melodic line with poetic expressiveness in all the pieces she played, ranging from Vasyl Barvinsky's miniature arrangements of Ukrainian Folk Songs to his romantic early works - Scherzo and the Preludes. Daria's brilliant and powerful technique is displayed in her rendition of the lively and humorous Ukrainian Folk Tunes, V. Groudine's Étude, and as well as in the more modern Lov Revutsky's grand Preludes, where the music erupts into passionate big chords with massive sounds.

"Despite the fact that these recordings were made before the innovations of today's technology, this CD is a beautiful and vivid remembrance of our dear friend Daria - a great pianist and musician." - F. Ming Chang, professor emeritus, Seton Hall University; and Dr. Julius Zsako professor emeritus, Seton Hall University.

"These recordings reflect the pianist's prevailing interest in Ukrainian music, which characterized her American performances. Most representative are works by Vasyl Barvinsky, for Daria Karanowycz belonged to that small group of musicians (even in Ukraine itself), which knew and nurtured the unclear authentic and composer-established tradition of their interpretation." - Prof. Natalia Kashkadamova, musicologist, Lviv.

The CD may be obtained for $20, plus $2 shipping, by making checks payable to Roman Sawycky Jr. For additional information and her disc please contact: Ukrainian Masters, P.O. Box 424, Cranford, NJ 07016.

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