Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra, etc.

2010

“Tortelier's virtues as a conductor – expressive warmth allied to a special rhythmic buoyancy – are apparent in a sizzling account of the Concertofor Orchestra. The musical flow is firmly controlled, yet the effect is never inflexible, and the technical precision and the alertness of the playing is something for the listener to revel in. The sound is bright, well differentiated dynamically, and even if the BBC's Manchester studio lacks some of the depth and atmosphere of Chicago's Orchestra Hall, as caught in Barenboim's version, this recording is generally more vivid, in keeping with a performance which has precisely the kind of bite and energy that the score demands. It's good that Chandos and Tortelier chose Mi-parti to complete the disc, since of all Lutospawski's later instrumental works this one makes out the best possible case for his radical change of technique around 1960.”