John Pitman Review: Katarzyna Musiał and her "Spanish Heart"

Polish-Canadian pianist Katarzyna Musiał loves to play Chopin. She also loves Gershwin. However, the music that truly stirs her heart? The music of Spain. With good reason, too. In her conversation with program director John Pitman, Musiał shares how Spanish music and culture became her passion: it was a part of her upbringing, thanks to her parents who took her there many times. “Spanish Heart” is Musiał’s second CD, and celebrates the diverse styles, rhythms and cultures of the Iberian Peninsula, in music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The familiar (Sevillanas, Ritual Fire Dance), and refreshing (Danza de la rosa is exquisite) populate a CD program that is as colorful as Spain itself. Katarzyna Musiał performed in Portland when she was here to record the interview; here’s hoping that her “Spanish Heart” will lead her back so that Portland audiences can experience her passion for this music sometime again.