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Górecki is an important figure in Polish music, and his Third Symphony is one of the great ‘success stories’ in all twentieth century symphonic music. This deeply moving quality permeates his other works, but he was also a more ambiguous, interesting composer. These four works showcase different aspects of his art in a broad ranging approach. The nearest match in the current catalog is Nonesuch, which has issued the Harpsichord Concerto coupled with the Little Requiem, but our disc presents the piano version of the Concerto. Anna Górecka’s piano recording of the same concerto is on Conifer but in a mixed recital coupled with Bacewicz and Shostakovich. Antoni Wit is a master of this repertoire and his international reputation is growing all the time.
Henryk Gorecki: Male requiem dla pewnej polki (Little Requiem for a Certain Polka), Op. 66
I. Tranquillo
II. Allegro impetuoso - Marcatissimo
III. Allegro - Deciso assai
IV. Adagio cantabile
Henryk Gorecki: Concerto-Cantata, Op. 65
I. Recitativo: Lento (quasi molto lento)
II. Arioso: Lento assai tranquillissimo - Cantabile - Dolce
III. Concertino: Allegro
IV. Arioso e corale: Lento - Tranquillo cantabile - Dolce
Henryk Gorecki: Harpsichord Concerto, Op. 40 (version for piano and orchestra)
I. Allegro molto
II. Vivace marcatissimo
Henryk Gorecki: 3 Dances, Op. 34
No. 1. Presto, marcatissimo
No. 2. Andante cantabile - Tranquillo
No. 3. Presto
September 2012
*****
“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”
Awards Issue 2012
“[The Three Dances and Harpsichord Concerto] show a side to Gorecki that has often been forgotten since the success of the Third Symphony but is still to be found in his later works - open, eclectic, witty and ironic.”
August 2012
“Anna Górecka, the composer’s daughter, turns in a roller-coaster of a performance of the concerto...Most importantly, though, she plays the work with total commitment, and if ultimately this listener finds the work unconvincing, it is most certainly not the fault of this brilliant player. The playing of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under Antoni Wit in all four works cannot be faulted.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
I. Tranquillo
