Krzysztof Penderecki - Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 (Antoni Wit)

Information

Composer: Krzysztof Penderecki

• (01) Symphony No. 2, "Christmas Symphony"
• (06) Symphony No. 4

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Antoni Wit, conductor

Date: 2000
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.554492

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

Volume Three of Naxos’ Penderecki orchestral series pairs two seemingly disparate works. The Christmas Symphony (No. 2), was composed in 1979 and was met with hostility by the avant-garde establishment (which Penderecki had been a part of) for its neo-romantic tendencies. The work is primarily tonal, utilizes 19th-century motifs and gestures, and even quotes “Silent Night”. This from a composer who had formerly been a cutting-edge modernist! The symphony is in one movement that more or less divides into a long introduction/exposition, a development incorporating a scherzo, and an extensive recapitulation. A dissonant ascending musical idea dominates much of this dark and dramatic work, and at two points it is clothed in Rimsky-Korsakov-style harmonies and orchestration. The Symphony No. 4, premiered in 1989, finds Penderecki continuing along the path he began in the Third Symphony, combining the traditional with the modern. Also in one movement, it’s highly varied in structure and mood and far less lyrical than the Second Symphony. Much emphasis is placed on exploring instrumental sonorities, especially in the middle section, which sounds like an extended version of the Third Symphony’s slow movement. Penderecki also brings back the Third’s angry fugal writing and tuned percussion. Perhaps the best way to describe the contrast between the two works would be to say that Symphony No. 4 offers intellectual interest first and foremost, while No. 2 is more obviously emotional and direct in its impact. Antoni Wit and his Polish Radio Symphony turn in yet another stunning set of performances–vigorous, committed, and very well played. Naxos’ sound has been consistently fine for this series.

-- Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.554492&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Penderecki-Orchestral-Works-Vol-Symphony/dp/B00004R7N7

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Krzysztof Penderecki (23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) is a Polish composer and conductor. He studied music at Jagiellonian University and the Academy of Music in Kraków. Penderecki has composed four operas, eight symphonies and other orchestral pieces, a variety of instrumental concertos, choral settings of mainly religious texts, as well as chamber and instrumental works. Among his best known works are Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, Symphony No. 3, his St. Luke Passion, Polish Requiem, Anaklasis and Utrenja. In 2012, The Guardian called him the Poland's greatest living composer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzysztof_Penderecki
http://www.krzysztofpenderecki.eu/en/

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Antoni Wit (born February 7, 1944 in Kraków) is a Polish conductor. He studied with Henryk Czyż, Krzysztof Penderecki and Nadia Boulanger. He has recorded over 90 albums, most of them for the Naxos label, and many of them with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, of which he managed and was artistic director from 1983 to 2000. Since year 2002 he has been music director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Wit specializes in the works of Polish composers such as Henryk Gorecki, Witold Lutosławski, Karol Szymanowski and Krzysztof Penderecki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Wit

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