Warsaw PO; Antoni Wit - Henryk Gorecki: Concerto-Cantata; Little Requiem; Three Dances; Harpsichord Concerto (2012)

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Warsaw PO; Antoni Wit - Henryk Gorecki: Concerto-Cantata; Little Requiem; Three Dances; Harpsichord Concerto (2012)

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The ferocity of the folk-tinged first and third of the Three Dances (1973) recalls Bartók and Stravinsky. The bustling ostinatos that open the first dance, competing with stabbing chords, pre-echo the closing bars of the third, which climax with pounding chords. The second is quiet and tranquil, but with an edge of unease.

The brief, busy two-movement Harpsichord Concerto (1980) is presented here in a piano transcription. It has been seen as a satire on post-modernism, with its quasi-neo-classical passages and elements suggesting a dig at minimal music. The first movement develops towards a passage of harmonic conflict, which resolves into a consonant, long-held chord from which the second launches with insistent, finger-busting figures for the soloist.

The Concerto-Cantata (1992) receives its premiere recording here, and the Warsaw Philharmonic does it full justice, playing equally convincingly and intensely in the severe, concentrated slow sections and the all-out loud and fast episodes. Carol Wincenc plays the prominent flute part expressively, as much when merged with (and ranged against) the orchestra in full cry as in the extended, contemplative solo passages.

The Little Requiem (1993) is sometimes sparse and reflective, sometimes violent and bleak, sometimes comical and exuberant, but always riveting.

Review by Barry Witherden, BBC Music Magazine

Polish composer Henryk Mikolaj Górecki was not hugely prolific, but he was something of a hero to listeners who welcomed the mysticism and transparent emotional expressiveness of his works after he turned from the avant-garde to a more accessible post-Modern tonal language in the mid-1970s. A 1993 recording of his Third Symphony ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs," 1976), in fact, became an international best-seller. This recording with Antoni Wit leading the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra includes four works typical of his later style. Little Requiem for a Certain Polka, for piano and orchestra (1993) is in four movements whose dramatically contrasting juxtapositions are typical of the Eastern European minimalist and polystylistic trends of the era: a largely tonal language; a predominantly quiet mood punctuated by startling, rambunctious outbursts (which can sound like Shostakovich on an ironically cheerful day); and a cryptic sense of structure and musical development that owes little to earlier models from the classical (or any other) tradition. Concerto-Cantata for flute and orchestra (1992), which is recorded here for the first time, follows the form of the Requiem surprisingly closely, but is overall less successful due to its tendency to overdo repetition, and the relative blandness of its musical ideas. The brief Harpsichord Concerto (1980), performed in its version for piano, is of an entirely different cast, made up of two very fast movements, marked Allegro molto and Vivace marcatissimo, and its manic energy is completely engaging. In this piece pianist Anna Górecka, the composer's daughter, is given ample opportunity to display her virtuosic gifts. The outer movements of Three Dances (1973) have the direct appeal of Bartók's folk-influenced works, and a middle movement that's a more typically Góreckian elegy.

Wit, who has done much to bring contemporary Eastern European, and especially Polish, music to the attention of broader audiences, delivers compelling performances of the pieces. Some inconsistencies in the playing of Górecki's exposed and not-always-idiomatic orchestral writing, however, are reminders that the Warsaw Philharmonic, although a very fine ensemble, is not among the very top tier of the world's orchestras, particularly in its string section. Naxos' sound is clean and balanced, but not especially lively or present.

Review by Stephen Eddins, Allmusic.com

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Warsaw PO; Antoni Wit - Henryk Gorecki: Concerto-Cantata; Little Requiem; Three Dances; Harpsichord Concerto (2012)

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Warsaw PO; Antoni Wit - Henryk Gorecki: Concerto-Cantata; Little Requiem; Three Dances; Harpsichord Concerto (2012)

Close

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Warsaw PO; Antoni Wit - Henryk Gorecki: Concerto-Cantata; Little Requiem; Three Dances; Harpsichord Concerto (2012)

Close