Listening to the new album by Julia Kociuban is a great opportunity both to become acquainted with less frequently played Polish music and to experience the art of one of the greatest Polish pianists.

The album includes a number of polonaises ranging from well-known and often performed works (pieces by Fryderyk Chopin and Ignacy Jan Paderewski) to those almost completely forgotten today (compositions by Alfons Szczerbinski and Jan Kiszwalter).

Julia Kociuban is considered one of the leading pianists of her generation. Her debut album Schumann, Chopin, Bacewicz was recognised by critics as one of the most interesting Polish piano recording debuts, while her recording of the Piano Sonata No. 2 by Grazyna Bacewicz was described as the most magnificent registration of the piece in the world. Moreover, the next two albums featuring concertos and piano quintets by Grazyna Bacewicz and Alexander Tansman were nominated for a Fryderyk. The artist regularly performs in renowned concert halls in Europe (including Herkulessaal in Munich, Konzerthaus in Vienna or Laeiszhalle in Hamburg).

Already recorded in the 16th-century tablatures, by the beginning of the 19th century it crystallised into a musical showcase of Polishness. On an international and local scale, in which it finally settled under its imported French name, namely polonaise. At the threshold of Romanticism, this dance was not only a recollection of an idealised noble idyll, but also by far the most popular, most published genre in the dancing culture of the capital's urban salons.