New Album KRAINA Released, Featuring Alexandra Nowakowski And Michał Biel

Lexicon Classics has announced the release of Kraina, a new album featuring rarely heard Polish art songs sung by Polish American soprano Alexandra Nowakowski and played by Polish pianist Michał Biel. The artistic team recorded the album in a Polish concert hall Nowa Miodowa, with Polish sound engineer Mateusz Banasiuk. The album's artwork includes images by Polish photographers, Karpati&Zarewicz.

Nowakowski drew inspiration from one of Chopin's songs to choose Kraina as the project's title. The term translates in English to mean "motherland" or "homeland." Nowakowski's parents were part of the economic migration of Polish people who left Poland with a heavy heart in the 80s after living under challenging conditions. She dedicated the album to her family and many like them who had no choice but to leave Poland when it was under occupation but will never forget their homeland (Kraina) in their hearts. Kraina features thoughtfully curated songs by Chopin, Paderewski, Szymanowski, and the most famous in Poland for art songs and opera, Moniuszko.

For Nowakowski, the project is deeply personal. After studying in the U.S., Nowakowski had little exposure to the Polish repertoire. To make this seemingly obscure music more accessible to a global audience, she released this album to make the songs and composers more easily searchable online. Her passion is palpable: "I firmly believe that Polish music should be a part of the operatic and art song canon. As a country occupied by foreign invaders for so many years, Polish music was never at the forefront of what we teach in the music conservatory - yet other Slavic languages are! It's time for Poland to have its time to shine."

Pianist Michał Biel brings his unique talent to the project, offering expressive playing that serves more as a dialogue to Nowakowski's voice than an accompaniment. A frequent collaborator with Nowakowski, Biel will join forces with her later this season for a recital at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona. Renowned as the pianist of Jakub Józef Orliński, Biel is thrilled to continue his promotion of Polish music and culture.

Gillian Riesen, the founder of Lexicon Classics, expressed her passion for highlighting the repertoire featured on the album: "Kraina serves to shed light on works by composers that have largely gone unheard through no fault of their own, other than geography. Lexicon is proud to help create recordings that celebrate those people and cultures that are underrepresented within the industry and to inspire others to do the same."

Alexandra Nowakowski returns to The Metropolitan Opera for the 2022/23 season for assignments on several productions, including The Hours (Puts), Don Carlo, and Der Rosenkavalier. A recent alumna of Washington National Opera, Wolftrap Opera, and The Academy of Vocal Arts, the young soprano's star is rapidly rising.

The entire album is available on Lexicon Classics, including program notes by Evan L. Snyder.