Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra

“This is a significant new release of mostly minor Shostakovich rarities - painstakingly restored by Mark Fitz-Gerald, faultlessly delivered by first-class Polish musicians in bright, clear sound and deservedly annotated by no less than five experts.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2009 *****

“Shostakovich's forgotten film music and first ideas for the Ninth Symphony. …The Girlfriends (1935) is the most diverse of all the composer's earlier film scores: cues for string quartet make way for those in which chamber ensembles alternate with brass fanfares, folk choruses and even the Internationale on solo theremin before a powerful orchestral apotheosis. No other such score gives as many clues to Shostakovich's development, and to have it complete and so finely realised is as pleasurable as it is instructive.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2009

“The faster carols have the same sort of energy and modality that you find in Kodály… it's a lovely collection of pieces for dipping into, and they're affectionately performed and recorded.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2005 ****

“Ilya Kaler is a Russian virtuoso, a pupil of Leonid Kogan. He's a first-rate fiddler and an excellent musician. Paganini's once fiendish pyrotechnics hold no terrors for him, not even the whistling harmonics, and how nicely he can turn an Italianate lyrical phrase, as in the secondary theme of the first movement of the First Concerto.
Then he can set off with panache into a flying staccato, bouncing his bow neatly on the strings when articulating the delicious spiccato finales of both works. Stephen Gunzenhauser launches into the opening movements with plenty of energy and aplomb and is a sympathetic accompanist throughout. How nicely the violins shape the lyrical ritornello introducing the first movement of the Second, and there's some sensitive horn playing in the Adagio.
Kaler's intonation is above suspicion and he's naturally balanced: there's none of the scratchiness that can ruin your pleasure in Paganinian pyrotechnics. With excellent notes, this is a superior product at super-bargain price. The recordings were made in the Concert Hall of Polish Radio in Katowice. It has an ideal ambience for this music: nicely warm, not clouded.
Great value on all counts.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Naxos's super-bargain price foray into the contemporary repertory is all the more commendable for managing to include Lutoslawski's finest late work, the Symphony No.4 (1992)...Antoni Wit's shaping of the symphony's satisfying substantial structure is well conceived.” Gramophone Magazine

“This new Naxos offering enshrines an interpretation of no mean stature and individuality: an undoubted bargain, I would say.” Gramophone Magazine

“This disc seems a clear first choice.” Classic CD

“This recording is virtually as good as the betterknown Zinman version. The performance is exceptionally fine, although the acoustic is more resonant, the orchestral choirs less closely balanced and Antoni Wit isn't as meticulous as Zinman in his observance of minor details.
Interpretatively, Wit leaves the more austere impression. His relative inwardness squares convincingly with the symphony's harrowing texts and 'Sorrowful Songs' sub-title. If spectacular singing is your main priority, then Upshaw's is the vocal tour de force. Zofia Kilanowicz displays stronger lower registers and a brilliant, bleached-white soprano that reflects the score's innate pathos, its sense of shock. Her enunciation is more idiomatic, while her partial suspension of vibrato is a powerful interpretative ploy. What's most impressive about this performance is its spirituality; and given the overall excellence of the recording, the conducting and the singing, it's strongly recommended, particularly to those who have yet to discover the Symphony's hypnotic sound-world. It's also commended to those who do know the work but who find Upshaw and Zinman too 'plush'.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“[On the Second Piano Concerto] One of the most compelling accounts I have ever heard.” Classic CD

“Kliegel manages to convey a feeling of spontaneous improvisation and her command of the instrument is impressive. Naxos's recording is nicely ambient.” Gramophone Magazine

“Glemser has a bold impetuous way with Rachmaninov...he generates plenty of excitement and expressive fervour in all three works.” Penguin Guide

“An outstanding bargain.” Classic CD