Record Reviews

GROHMAN ORCHESTRA ~ KLASYKA POLSKIEJ ROZRYWKI 4Q4 004 (Barcode: 5901844920330) ~ POLAND ~ Pop-Classical Fusion Recorded: 2017 Released: 2017 This is the debut album by the Polish Grohman OrchestraFind albums by this artist, a thirteen-piece ensemble of classically trained musicians, which exists since several years. On this album they present arrangements of seventeen Polish Pop evergreens, arranged by pianist / composer / arranger Krzysztof HerdzinFind albums by this artist. The music is a collection of carefully arranged melodies, which originally appeared as Polish Pop songs and achieved enormous popularity over the years. Herdzin also weaved fragments of well-known Classical themes with his arrangements of the songs. The overall result is a very pleasant piece of instrumental music, which is extremely accessible to a wide range of (most probably) older listeners, who might recognize the original songs and at the same time enjoy the new approach. Herdzin´s arrangements are, as usual, perfectly structured and the highly professional orchestra executes them without a hitch. One might wonder what the main purpose of this music is: to popularize and bring the audience closer to Classical music or to bring new audiences to semi-classical environment, using the Pop songs as a hook. In either case the music should be able to achieve the result. Some of the selected songs work better in the new arrangements than others, but the overall result manages to avoid the kitsch trap, which projects like this are usually destined for. Of course this is more entertainment than a serious musical statement, but entertainment that defends its own aesthetical values. In addition to its purely entertainment value, the album is also a tribute to the Polish Pop songwriting, which is a very valuable piece of the overall Polish Culture and this cross-genre approach is a very appropriate step for such an undertaking.

Updated: 26/09/2017Posted: 26/09/2017

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