Poldowski

Poldowski was the professional pseudonym of a Belgian-born British composer and pianist born Régine Wieniawski (16 May 187928 January 1932), daughter of the Polish violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski. Some of her early works were published under the name Irène Wieniawska. She married Sir Aubrey Dean Paul, 5th Bt (1869–1961), becoming Lady Dean Paul. Her name appears in a number of forms: Régine Wieniawski Irène Wieniawska Irene Regina Wieniawski or Wieniawska Lady Dean Paul Lady Irene Dean Paul Lady Irene Poldowski Paul (Madame) Poldowski, Poldowsky or Poldowska.

Biography Régine Wieniawski was born on 16 May 1879 in Ixelles, Brussels, where her father, the Polish virtuoso violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski, had earlier settled on his appointment as a professor of the Brussels Conservatory. Her mother was an Englishwoman, Isabelle Bessie Wieniawski (née Hampton), the niece of Irish pianist and composer George Alexander Osborne (who studied under Johann Peter Pixis, François-Joseph Fétis and Friedrich Kalkbrenner and was a close friend of Frédéric Chopin and Hector Berlioz) and a member of a London family that had had associations with Rossini, Meyerbeer, Jenny Lind, Michael William Balfe and Anton Rubinstein. However, some of the above is contradicted by the fact that her name does not appear in any records of the Brussels Conservatory. Sir Aubrey Edward Henry Dean Paul, 5th Bt (19 October 1869 – 16 January 1961) to whom she had been introduced by Nellie Melba. She thus became Lady Dean Paul, and adopted British nationality, but continued to publish works as "Irène Wieniawska" an amateur muralist and opium taker, whose portrait was painted by Lucian Freud) Brenda Irene Isabelle Dean Paul (1907–59); she became a well-known actress and "society drug addict" who was frequently arrested on charges of possession. She spent time in Holloway Prison. She died of a drug overdose in her flat.

The early death of Lady Dean Paul's first-born son devastated her and ultimately led to the break-up of her marriage. It inspired three works, the songs Soir and Berceuse d'Armorique, and the violin-piano piece Berceuse pour l'enfant mourant. She then adopted the pseudonym Poldowski.

Gervase Elwes introduced her Paul Verlaine songs to the English concert stage in 1912 at the Queen's Hall. These songs then had a great vogue in Paris and this performance made a deep impression. He had been impressed with her music ever since he had first encountered it almost 20 years earlier, in 1893 in Brussels. He felt they showed "great originality and for her age, great finish".

Her 1923 series of midday recitals at the Hyde Park Hotel, known as The International Concerts of La Libre Esthétique, attracted Arthur Rubinstein, Jacques Thibaud and the London String Quartet. She also opened a fashionable haute couture boutique where she produced several creations for the British Royal Family. On a 1925 tour of Spain, she was given a gift of a diamond bracelet by the King and Queen of Spain. A recording of the complete cycle by Ensemble 1904, featuring the unpublished 22nd song Nous deux (Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été), was to be released by Resonus Classics in 2017.

Other texts Berceuse d'Armorique (Anatole le Braz) Dans une musette (Marie Closset) Down by the Salley Gardens (W. B. Yeats) La passante (her own text) Nocturne (des cantilènes) (Jean Moréas) Pannyre aux talons d'or (Albert Victor Samain) Sérénade (Adolphe Ratté) Soir (Albert Victor Samain)

Other works Her other works include: Silence, symphonic opera. Premiered on 29 March 1920 at the Duke of York's Theatre as part of the Komisarjevsky-Rosing Russian Matinee Season. Laughter, operetta Nocturnes, orchestra Tenements, orchestra Pat Malone's Wake, piano and orchestra Suite miniature de chansons à danser, wind quintet Caledonian Market, suite for piano The Hall of Machinery – Wembley, piano Sonatine, piano Study, piano Violin Sonata in D minor pieces for violin and piano such as Berceuse de l'Enfant mourant, Largo, Phryne, and Tango. (The Tango was recorded by Jascha Heifetz.)

Many of her larger works are lost. Her complete catalogue of music, including unpublished works, compiled by David Mooney, is available at SMI Music Theses Register.

Discography Tango - Jascha Heifetz, violin ; Emanuel Bay, piano (17 octobre 1946, RCA)35 Poldowski, mélodies [27 mélodies] - Élise Gäbele, soprano ; Philippe Riga, piano ; Sylvain Cremers, hautbois d'amour (2-4 novembre 2006, Musique en Wallonie MEW 0741)36 (OCLC 547232426) A Verlaine songbook [5 melodies] - Carolyn Sampson, soprano ; Joseph Middleton, piano (janvier 2016, SACD BIS Records) [livret en ligne [archive (OCLC 966294235) Poldowski Art'songs [23 mélodies] - Angelique Zuluaga, soprano ; Gwendolyn Mok, piano ; Quatuor à cordes Alexandre ; Ryan Zwahlen, hautbois d'amour (12 ,13, 14 février et 26 août 2016 Delos DE 3538) Poldowski re/imagined, 22 mélodies sur les poèmes de Paul Verlaine - Ensemble 1904 : Jazmin Black-Grollemund, soprano; Angélique Charlopain, violin; Jérémie Decottignies, double bass; David Jackson, piano & arrangements (28-30 novembre 2016, Resonus Classics RES10196) Violin Sonata in D Minor, British Women Composers - Clare Howick, violin; Sophia Rahman, piano (October 2010, Naxos 8.572291) Irena Regina Wieniawska vel Poldowski - Works for violin and piano" - Art Chamber Duo - Jarosław Pietrzak (violin), Julita Przybylska-Nowak (piano) - June 2020, GRANTOR GCD003