This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

With this disc, Miklós Spányi's survey of the complete keyboard concertos of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, begun in 1995, reaches its conclusion. But over the years it has already been described as 'a unique monument to one of the 18th century's most underrated composers' (Gramophone) as well as 'one of the most important and monumental recording projects of the century so far' (MusicWeb International) and 'an epoch-making achievement... in the history of recorded music' (klassik-heute.de). Together, the 64 works - composed over a period of fifty-five years (1733-88) - form an endlessly fascinating picture of their composer's various choices made in the course of a long career. They also illustrate the development of the concerto genre, and, indeed, of music itself during the mid-eighteenth century - a period of experimentation and great variety. All of these aspects are explored in an admirable fashion in the liner notes to the various discs, written by the C.P.E. Bach scholars Jane R. Stevens and Darrell M. Berg. Throughout the series, Miklós Spányi has performed the solo parts on harpsichord, fortepiano and tangent piano, carefully explaining his choices in his own remarks to each volume, and thereby providing much insight into a crucial chapter in the development of the keyboard instruments. The two double concertos on this final volume frame most of Bach's career, with the F major work for two harpsichords hailing from 1740 and the Concerto in E flat major being the fruit of the composer's final year. The latter work is intriguing in that Bach in his score specified that the solo parts should be performed on a harpsichord and a fortepiano respectively, resulting in some fascinating sound effects. The disc ends with a Sonatina for two harpsichords, composed in the 1760s, and remarkable for the size of its orchestra: the work employs the largest forces ever used by Bach, and forms a suitably resplendent finale to this great recording project.

Harald Sæverud (1897-1922) is a gigantic figure in his native country of Norway. (When he died he was given a televised state funeral!). Yet such has been the blinding radiance of Edvard Grieg that Sæverud's music made comparatively little impact outside this native county until BIS started its pioneering project of recording his orchestral music with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. The present disc represents the seventh volume in the series and contains the fifth symphony as well as his oboe concerto and some orchestral pieces for festive occasions.

Tapestries

SCHUMAN Symphonies: No. 3; No. 5. Judith • Gerard Schwarz, cond; Seattle S • NAXOS 8.559317 (67:45)


In the early days of the LP, reviewing was a snap. The Schwann Catalog was the size of a pamphlet, a reviewer therefore had a pretty easy time assessing all that was out there, and in harmony with the Consumer Reports function of a magazine like Fanfare , could easily make his or her case for the best possible (implying definitive) recording of this or that work. Now it’s a whole different universe, with firms like Naxos attempting to record the entire and ever-expanding world’s worth of music—possibly even music not yet composed. To continue my reviewer’s lament for a moment: those of us who review only recordings work at a disadvantage. Critics who deal with live concerts know that a performance is merely a single event in an ever-evolving landscape. On the other hand, those of us who basically deal with recordings often fall into the trap of regarding their first-acquired recording of a particular work as a legitimate template. A live concert is a fleeting affair; a recording will be listened to over and over again until the gray matter of the auditor’s brain is thoroughly grooved and ossified. Add to this that my first exposure to the symphonies of William Schuman were from Leonard Bernstein’s 1960s landmark LP of Schuman’s Third and Fifth Symphonies, which inspired me to acquire his subsequent 1985 recording of Schuman’s Third Symphony paired with Harris’s Third Symphony on DG (similarly impressive, and captured in more impactful sound), one can easily understand my initial reaction when I found this Naxos release in my mailbox: “Why is Schwarz even bothering?”


Listening to this offering, my first reaction was to focus on what Schwarz missed—the snare drum rim shots at the end of the finale were not loud enough and the overlaying brass and woodwinds didn’t provide enough crescendo; his wind solos in the second movement were not as well characterized as Bernstein’s in both his recordings; his opening of the first movement was not nearly as bard-like as Bernstein’s, etc. etc. A good deal of this has to do with recording technology. That earliest 1960 Columbia Masterworks Bernstein offering was, by modern standards, dynamically compressed, making the score’s pianissimos louder, and leading to a more effectively detailed registration of the symphony’s opening bars. In the realm of recorded music, if it’s louder, it’s de facto more impressive. In Bernstein’s subsequent DG go around, the dynamics were more realistic and the resulting sound is closer to Schwarz’s. Nonetheless, Schwarz’s opening still sounds comparably weak and undercharacterized. But what follows does not.


Schwarz takes the symphony’s structure more literally than Bernstein. Its two movements are given Baroque sub designations—Passacaglia and Fugue; Chorale and Toccata. Schwarz is Baroqueishly strict in terms of tempo, and revealingly evenhanded in his instrumental balances; Bernstein is more episodic, projecting the Amerikanisch hymnody underlying so much of Schuman’s thought.


In sum, Bernstein’s two recordings are indeed hard acts to follow, but Schwarz does so with distinction. He achieves, throughout, stunning brass balances. He infuses the music with a wonderfully heady forward momentum, and his more modern recording conveys the loud low percussion with lease-breaking power. Over the years of his tenure as music director of the Seattle Symphony, Schwarz (himself a trumpet virtuoso, which accounts for his expertise in conducting his brass) has forged a fine ensemble able to rise to any and all musical demands.


In Schuman’s “Symphony for Strings,” also designated as the Fifth Symphony, Schwarz again comes head to head with Bernstein. In this piece Schuman proves that he can fugue with the best of them. Bernstein’s 1966 Columbia Masterworks (now Sony) recording is a typically in-your-face effort—viscerally exciting indeed. Here, Schwarz’s recording is more realistically balanced. When all is said and done, Bernstein emerges as the winner. His recording conveys more internal detail than is found here. That aside, Schwarz’s offering, in terms of tempos, is almost identical to Bernstein’s. Here the palm, alas, goes to Bernstein, but Schwarz’s effort is a commendable reading of the score.


The ringer is the last piece— Judith, a choreographic poem for orchestra—commissioned in 1949 by the Louisville Orchestra, which asked Martha Graham to create a ballet dealing with the beautiful Jewish widow who liberated her people from Nebuchadnezzar’s army by seducing and killing its general, Holofernes. The result was a typically Technicolor score from Schuman. Here it is realized most vividly.


As to which recording will I go to when I want to hear Schuman’s Third Symphony—well, it’s a toss up, and that says a lot.


FANFARE: William Zagorski

BACH Violin Concertos: in a, BWV 1041; in E, BWV 1042; in g, BWV 1056; in d for Two Violins, BWV 1043 1 • Elmar Oliveira (vn, cond); 1 Eva Gruesser (vn); Arco Ens • ARTEK 0054 (63:24)


After reviewing Elmar Oliveira’s brilliant performance of Schumann’s Violin Concerto in conjunction with our interview, I have to admit that reviewing this CD of Bach’s violin concertos proved rather difficult for me. The reason is not due to any shortcomings found in Oliveira’s playing or the excellent support he receives from the Arco Ensemble. To paraphrase Shakespeare, the fault, dear reader, lies not in the music-making but in what we’ve come to expect of it. Reflexively, I found myself wanting to reject Oliveira’s approach, not for what it is but for what it isn’t.


In recent times, we’ve become so habituated to hearing this music performed on period instruments, that even when it’s performed on modern instruments, we demand that the players adopt the manners and style of performance informed by historical practice. Examples may be heard in two modern-instrument recordings of these Bach concertos by Hilary Hahn with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Julia Fischer with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Both embrace almost identical approaches: rapid tempos, minimal vibrato, short bow strokes, pointed phrasing, terraced dynamics, and surgically precise articulation. Yet, impressive as their performances are as pure execution, Hahn and Fischer’s versions both strike me as virtually devoid of emotional expression and warmth.


Elmar Oliveira’s readings of these concertos are not what I would call big-band Bach— from a group photo, the Arco Ensemble appears to be composed of 18 string players—but they are what I would call older-school Bach. Tempos are brisk enough, but more moderate than the lightning speeds adopted by so many modern-day ensembles; and the result is that one can actually hear and appreciate the intricate contrapuntal interplay between voices in the orchestra, and the intra -play between ripieno and soloist.


For Oliveira’s part, vibrato, long bow strokes, graduated dynamics, and songful phrasing are part and parcel of the art of making beautiful music and making the music sound beautiful. Time and again, as I listened to these performances, the violinist who came to mind was Arthur Grumiaux, whose patrician style Oliveira’s elegant, refined, aristocratic playing and warm tone very much reminds me of.


The more I listened to Oliveira’s Bach, the more I realized what I’ve been missing in so many recent versions both on period and modern instruments. There’s real feeling in these performances. Just listen to the slow movement of the D-Minor Concerto for Two Violins, in which Eva Gruesser is Oliveira’s perfectly matched partner. Of all the movements in these concertos, this one, with its intertwining solo voices overlapping each other with poignant dissonances, may just be the most touching; only the slow movement of the Violin and Oboe Concerto comes close. Interestingly, that concerto, which is a frequent discmate to the three standard violin concertos, is not included here. Instead, Oliveira has chosen to include the G-Minor Concerto, BWV 1056, which is generally more familiar in its F-Minor version for harpsichord.


The sheer beauty and affability of these performances will invite me back to them often, more often I daresay than will a number of impersonal and impassive accounts of recent vintage on both period and modern instruments. Oliveira proves once again, if proof be needed, that Bach belongs to no one school of playing, and that pure, heartfelt music-making transcends all ages. This is very strongly recommended.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

Classical Music

Oboe and Oboe D'Amore Concertos - Bach, J.S. / Vivaldi, A. /

This is a very easy call: marvelous music, exceptional performances, top-notch engineering--it all adds up to the strongest possible recommendation. Pilgrims is a lovely, lyrical work for string orchestra that makes an attractive disc-opener, but the two concertos are the standout items. Both are written as suites of brief movements, avoiding traditional forms. They actually resemble song-cycles more than anything else, and given Rorem's acknowledged mastery of that medium, not to mention the relationship between the concerto idea and vocal music generally, it's obvious that he is in his element.


The Flute Concerto is a world premiere. It was composed in 2002 for Jeffrey Khaner, and it's an exceptionally fine piece, beautiful to listen to and (evidently) quite grateful to play. We seem to be enjoying a bonanza of fine modern flute concertos, what with this work and the numerous pieces written for Sharon Bezaly as well. At about 30 minutes, it's a substantial piece, and Rorem's orchestration is beautifully calculated to give the soloist maximum opporunity for display, without the orchestra ever sounding excessively inhibited. Best of all, the thematic material really is memorable.

The same virtues characterize the Violin Concerto (1985), which was recorded previously by Bernstein and Gidon Kremer. Frankly, Philippe Quint plays better, with more attractive tone, and Serebrier offers a very fine account of the accompaniment. Rorem's orchestral music doesn't get the same amount of attention as his songs, but like the French music that he so admires, it allies expressive directness to a keen sense of instrumental color and superior craftsmanship. As a supplement to Serebrier's superb recording of the composer's three symphonies for Naxos, this disc is a must for collectors. [5/19/2006]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

The great niece of the largely unsung early-mid 20th century Austrian writer Heimito von Doderer whose book "Die Wasserfalle von Slunj" brought him rare recognition and was conceived as a novelistic counterpart to Beethoven's 7th Symphony, this premiere of Johanna Doderer's 2nd Symphony 'Bohinj' is an artistic memorial to Lake Bohinj in Slovenia, around 300 km away from the Croatian waterfalls her great uncle wrote about to great effect. Doderer has said she "was fascinated above all by the superb scenery. In the course of time, I found out what happened there during the First World War. In short, the idyll utters a silent scream. My three-movement work also touches on this sound." With the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz conducted by Ariane Matiakh, the release also features teh soprano Anne Schwanewilms as well as the violinist, Yury Revich and is an excellent introduction to U.S. audiences of this prolific and much commissioned contemporary composer.

HAYDN Organ Concertos: in C, Hob XVIII:1; in C, Hob XVIII:8; in C, Hob XVIII:10. Fortepiano Concertos: in G, Hob XVIII:4; in D, Hob. XVIII:11. Harpsichord Concertos: in D, Hob XVIII:2 in F, Hob XVIII:3; in C, Hob XVIII:5 • Christine Schornsheim (org, hpd, fp); Mary Utiger (vn, cond); Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik (period instruments) • CAPRICCIO 5022 (2 CDs: 131:18)


Many of us tend to pigeonhole composers; we think of Beethoven and Brahms as symphonists (and rightly so) and associate the name of Mozart with his 20-odd piano concertos. With Haydn we might answer with either the symphony or his unassailable settings of the Latin Mass. Seldom—if ever­—is the gentleman from Rohrau, Lower Austria, thought of as a composer of concertos. But Haydn wrote a respectable number of them, including ones for flute, bassoon, and double bass that are irretrievably lost. Surviving ones include two each for horn and cello, one for trumpet and a number for keyboard as well. Although Haydn’s gifts as a keyboard performer were not comparable to those of Mozart, Haydn was a confident, not to mention accomplished performer, shown not only in the numerous surviving keyboard sonatas, but also in the solo parts of the keyboard concertos. With the exception of Hob XVIII: 11—the Concerto that concludes with the “all’ungarese,” or “Gypsy Rondo”—all of Haydn’s keyboard concertos were written before 1770.


The question of a solo instrument in these concertos is not an easy one to put to bed. The compass of the solo part in the five earliest concertos (Hob XVIII:1, 2, 5, 8, and 10) suggests the organ, with the first of these designated on the manuscript as “Concerto per l’organo.” But in his own catalog of compositions, Haydn wrote “per il clavicembalo,” so it seems that substitutions as pursued here by Schornsheim in the aforementioned concertos are entirely appropriate. However, in the later concertos (Hob XVIII:3, 4, and 11), the solo instrument was more than likely intended to be the harpsichord, the instrument of choice in Austria until around 1780. This explains the designation of the solo instrument in hand-written copies. But in the published versions, generally after the mid 1780s, the performer is offered a choice of either harpsichord or fortepiano.


As for the music itself, it is unquestionably solidly written, but it is not the Haydn of the middle or late symphonies; his comparative lack of interest in the keyboard concerto speaks volumes of his course and objective as a composer, as well as of the popular trend of the period. Beginning in the 1760s, the symphony emerged as the most accomplished form of orchestral music, and most composers placed the concerto in lesser regard. In Johann Georg Sulzer’s General Theory of the Beautiful Arts , we read that concertos were “nothing more than an exercise for the composer and performer, and an entirely indefinable, aimless diversion for the ear.”


Last year, Naxos released two CDs of Haydn’s keyboard concertos: the first disc (8.570485) contains Hob XVIII:3, 4, 9, and 11 performed by pianist Sebastian Knauer and the Cologne Chamber Orchestra. The second (8.570486) offers another five concertos, Hob XVIII: 1, 8, and 10 played by organist Ketil Haugsand and Hob XVIII:5 and 7 in performances by harpsichordist Harald Hoeren, both with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra. But all of the music on the Naxos discs may not be by Haydn, for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians lists Hob XVIII:7 and 9 as spurious, with the first possibly written by Georg Christoph Wagenseil. There is also a period-instrument set of these concertos included in the 150-CD Haydn commemorative edition issued by the Dutch label Brilliant Classics, but I wouldn’t recommend buying it simply for the keyboard concertos unless they are something that you simply cannot live without, especially since the new Capriccio releases are now available stateside.


Schornsheim’s talents are hardly challenged by this music; her playing exhibits sparkling virtuosity and an exceptional sense of line. The outer movements exude typical Haydnesque vigor and the slow movements are appropriately lyrical, with nicely shaped melodic lines as well as fluent but never tedious ornamentation. Energetic, vibrant, and colorful, these comfortably paced performances are supported with sympathetic and precise, but never antiseptic playing from Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik, their biting brass and potent timpani adding much ceremonial pomp to Hob XVIII:1 and 8.


FANFARE: Michael Carter

Classical Music

TARTINI, G.: Violin Concertos, Vol. 1 (L'Arte dell'Arco) -

My French colleague Christophe Huss called a few days ago and said "You've got to try the new Bruch Concerto disc on Naxos. It's really excellent." Now Christophe really does know his stuff, and even his Bruch, which is saying a lot. Tovey thought Bruch was a genius, especially for his choral works, but then he said the same thing about Parry, so even great writers on music have their weak spots. Still, there's no denying that in writing for violin and orchestra Bruch was in his element, and the neglect of these two works is rather remarkable.

The Second concerto always has impressed me as being every bit as good as the First. Like its more famous predecessor, it avoids that Romantic Achilles' heel, the sonata-form first movement. Here a voluptuous and melodically stunning Adagio leads to a brief, dramatic recitative and a lively finale. The Third concerto isn't quite so lucky--sonata form rears its ugly head in the very long first movement--but violinist Maxim Fedotov and conductor Dmitry Yablonsky take Bruch's "energico" directive at face value and all comes out well. Certainly, Bruch had no issues with finales (almost as big a problem as opening movements), and that of the Third concerto is particularly winning, and marvelously scored.

Fedotov plays both works splendidly. He has that gutsy, vibrant tone characteristic of so many Russian string players, which means that he's able to relax into the lyrical music without ever turning coy. In the finale of the Third, especially, his double-stopping is a joy, his passage work pretty immaculate, and he projects both concertos with real virtuoso relish. Yablonsky and the orchestra accompany with similar enthusiasm, and the sonics are extremely natural and well balanced. You might be tempted to overlook this release--but don't. Thank you, Christophe!

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

McLEOD The Emperor and the Nightingale 1. 3 Celebrations. Rock Concerto 2 • Uwe Grodd, cond; 1 Helen Medlyn (narr); 2 Eugene Albulescu (pn); New Zealand SO • NAXOS 8572671 (67:35)


The version of The Emperor and the Nightingale we hear here is a 2010 revision of a piece commissioned in 1985. It is an expertly composed tale for children, well narrated by the close-miked Helen Medlyn. Jenny McLeod’s lightness of touch and wit goes hand in hand with Medlyn’s approach, which includes some delightful impressions. The story is, of course, taken from Hans Christian Andersen’s The Nightingale . McLeod’s deft hand and her charming responses to the text bring much enjoyment.


McLeod was born in 1941 in Wellington, New Zealand. Her varied education is certainly not immediately obvious from the sound world of her narrated piece here. After a period with Douglas Lilburn at Victoria University of Wellington, McLeod traveled to Europe for study with Messiaen (Paris) and Stockhausen (Cologne). You will be hard-pressed to find any trace of either Messiaen or Stockhausen on the present disc. As far as I can see, the only other available piece by this composer is For Seven , an early work from 1965–66, on a disc of music by New Zealand women composers (Lorelt 116). For Seven is referred to in the booklet notes of the present release as “an early avant-garde chamber work” that had some success over the years. The works on this disc come from the ’80s, after she apparently rebelled against her earlier music (including a tour of New Zealand with her own pop band).


The Three Celebrations for orchestra continue in the highly appealing mode of The Emperor and the Nightingale. They were commissioned in 1986 by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for its 40th birthday celebrations, and there is more than a hint of the jubilant about them. Each movement has a title. “Journey Through Mountain Parklands” is highly evocative of the vistas of the southern snowy mountains, while “At the Bay” is a gentle pastorale. The finale is titled “A & P Show” and evokes a typical agricultural and pastoral fair (which sounds like a carnival crossed with a English country fair from the description). Hints of Coplandesque near-hoe-downs add to the fun. The performance is spot-on. Uwe Grodd has clearly spent much time rehearsing this; rhythms are beautifully tight.


Finally, a piano concerto (1986) based on her Rock Sonata for solo piano written for Eugene Albulescu; the pianist requested a version for piano and orchestra, and this is the result. The cadenza, interestingly, is meant to be improvised on the spot (an idea inserted at Albulescu’s request). Here, the program notes describe it as “held in check,” which implies a measure, at least, of premeditation. It is not difficult to hear the shadow of Gershwin here. The first movement is titled “To Distant Friends,” one of whom is referred to in the second movement (“Elegy for Charlie French”; French was an Aboriginal activist and friend of the composer’s). This is a poignant movement, quite extended at nine minutes. Albuslescu plays most beautifully here, spinning McLeod’s simple but effective lines with great tenderness. There is a real swing to the finale (“Rondo Latino”). Albulescu clearly has a great technique, as well as the capacity to enjoy himself, even under studio conditions.


The recording (produced and engineered by Tim Handley) is exemplary. Recommended.


FANFARE: Colin Clarke

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s passionate Sixth Symphony is dedicated to the memory of the writer George Mackay Brown, with the ‘very special musical virtuosity’ of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in mind. It is one of his most beautifully expressive works and, whilst not untroubled, reaches moments of serene beauty. Composed for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, Time and the Raven is a brilliant and exciting collage, whilst few contemporary works enjoy such popularity as the magical An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise.

LOLLI: Violin Concertos Nos. 1-9 (Complete)

GALUPPI: Concerto a 4, Nos. 1-7

Classical Music

Paganini Played On Paganini's Violin, Vol. 3

Vytautas Bacevicius Remained Virtually Unknown As a Composer During His Lifetime, in Contrast to the Fortunes of His Sister Graz?Yna Bacewicz, Who Retained Her Polish Nationality. Rendered Stateless By the Outbreak of WWII While on Tour As a Concert Pianist in Argentina, He Eventually Settled in New York Until His Death in 1970, Giving Acclaimed Piano Recitals, Teaching, and Writing Astoundingly Original Orchestral Scores. He Never Lost His Deep Allegiance to and Nostalgia for Lithuania. This Recording Gives An Eloquent Introduction to His Pianistic Virtuosity and Mystical, Scriabinesque Orchestral Vision.

Bloch’s so-called Jewish Cycle—the Israel Symphony, Schelomo, Trois Poèmes Juifs and the String Quartet—earned the composer the kind of esteem in America that had been lacking in Europe. The Israel Symphony, premièred in Carnegie Hall in 1917, is the cycle’s centrepiece and originally intended as a gigantic three-part work, but later reduced in size. Powerful and evocative, it also fuses pastoral and sensuous elements in a rich tapestry. The award-winning Suite for Viola and orchestra or piano is a rhapsodic but cyclical tour de force, a ‘vision of the Far East’, in Bloch’s own words.

On this wonderful recording of Flute Concertos are rare transcriptions for flute by C. Furstenau and F. Devienne. Flautist Mario Carbotta is a Viotti specialist and has recorded his full works for flute and piano.

This album from Naxos' acclaimed Wind Band Classics series presents three highly contrasting new works. David Maslanka' Concerto for Trombone and Wind Ensemble is a heartfelt memorial to the late Christine Nield Capote, flutist, teacher and friend.

I vividly remember seeing Penderecki conduct the New York Philharmonic in a particularly wrist-slashing concert consisting of his De Natura Sonoris No. 2 (I loved it when the percussion section appeared to attack a filing cabinet with a hacksaw), this Viola Concerto, and as a cheery finale, Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Symphony. It was winter, and snowing heavily. By the end of the concert there were about a dozen people left in the hall, which came as no surprise. The Viola Concerto struck me as uniformly grey and dismal, and it still does. Try as I might, and as well played as it is here, I’m not convinced that this is one of the composer’s more compelling efforts.

The Second Cello Concerto, on the other hand, is terrific, a large piece recognizably in the composer’s later, neo-romantic style. It’s still dark-ish, but far more varied in texture, timbre, and expression than the Viola Concerto, and it’s very well played here. You also always can count on Wit and his Polish forces to deliver the goods, particularly in Penderecki, and they don’t disappoint. You may also like the Viola Concerto more than I did. This isn’t a top recommendation in this series, then, but I have no qualms about the quality of the music making or the engineering.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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This is a compelling addition to the already impressive series of Naxos CDs devoted to the music of one of Europe's most important living composers. These two substantial works by Krzysztof Penderecki date from the early days of the period where he was, in his own words, "saved from the avant-garde snare of formalism by a return to tradition". In other words, any listener not enamoured of the post-war hardcore European modernism in which Penderecki more than dabbled - as his renowned Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima or the notorious De Natura Sonoris I and Fluorescences testify - can safely read on.

Nevertheless, neither the Viola nor the Second Cello Concerto can be construed as especially easy listening. The music is a heady mixture of neo-Romanticism and early modernist elements, employing a language that both Shostakovich and Bartók would have recognised, yet going beyond the relatively mainstream idiom of his 'Christmas' Symphony. In character both works are certainly darksome, a sense of menace never far off - perhaps a reflection of difficult times in communist Poland. The bleak, eerie strings-only opening of the Second Cello Concerto is particularly memorable: the work was written for and premiered by Mstislav Rostropovich and is as relentlessly Cimmerian as any Penderecki, or any other composer for that matter, has written. Confrontational, multi-climactic and superbly scored, this is one of Penderecki's key works. The Viola Concerto is notably shorter and less spectacular, but is nevertheless stylish and accessible, providing also a convenient route into the sterner challenges of the Cello Concerto.

Guided by the expert but still underrated Antoni Wit, the excellent Warsaw Philharmonic give surely award-winning accounts of these demanding scores. The Russian soloists are majestic too: intuitive, expressive and virtuosic. This is Grigori Zhislin's first recording for Naxos, but he knows the Viola Concerto very well by now: a friend of Penderecki's, he gave the Russian premiere of the composer's Violin Concerto, and then took up the viola at Penderecki's request in order to be able to give the premiere, a quarter of a century ago, of his new Viola Concerto! Some may recall Tatjana Vassiljeva's only other recording for Naxos, her 'Cello Recital' (8.555762) almost a decade ago, on which she performed the Sonatas of Britten and Debussy among other works. Naxos released that in their occasional 'Laureate Series', in which they showcase award-winning newcomers. The surprise is that it took them so many years to re-record someone of Vassiljeva's great talent.

Sound quality is very good. The booklet notes are informative, albeit focused on a step-by-step guide to the music. Despite the short running time, for anyone new to Penderecki, but perhaps familiar with Shostakovich's symphonies and concertos, this disc is an ideal place to begin what should be a thrilling exploration.

-- Byzantion, MusicWeb International