Krzystof PENDERECKI (b. 1933)
Fonogrammi (1961) [6.55]
The awakening of Jacob (1974) [9.29]
Anaklasis (1960) [6.39]
De natura sonoris I (1966) [8.51]
Partita (1971, revised 1991) [18.44]
Horn Concerto Winterreise (2008) [18.15]
Urszula Janik (flute: Fonogrammi); Elżbieta Stefánska
(harpsichord: partita); Jennifer Montone (horn)
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra/Antoni Wit
rec. Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, August-September 2008, 7 September
2009 (partita) and 14-15 June 2010 (concerto)
NAXOS 8.572482 [68.52]
This latest instalment of Antoni Wit’s survey of the music
of Penderecki for Naxos - see below - concentrates on the music
of the composer’s earlier avant-garde period. Indeed
all the tracks on this disc have been recorded by Penderecki
himself: the earlier pieces in the 1960s and 1970s reissued
several times on CD by EMI, and the Horn Concerto in
2010 by Channel Classics. It must be said that the performances
of the earlier pieces here are better recorded and generally
better played than in the composer’s own recordings made
when the techniques demanded by the music were clearly more
unfamiliar to his Polish players. Only in his recording of Anaklasis
- originally issued as a coupling for the First Symphony
- were the LSO instrumentalists likely to be readily accustomed
to the demands of modern music.
The earliest works here - Fonogrammi, Anaklasis and De
natura sonoris I - are all very much pieces of their time.
Once upon a time they seemed like the cutting edge of experimentalism,
but now they have a slightly dated feel to them. This is largely
because most of the techniques exploited have now become part
of the common currency of orchestral writing. The persistent
string glissandi, the rhythmic irruptions, the clusters
of harmonies and so on, are nevertheless given full measure
by the players here. They seem positively to revel in their
opportunities. These performances suffer nothing by comparison
with the composer’s own, and they are much better played
and recorded.
The slightly later Partita is described on the back of
the CD as “rev. 1991” but there is no indication
as to the nature of these revisions. There seem to be no obvious
differences from the ‘original’ version as recorded
by Penderecki himself, apart from those which one would naturally
expect from players who are more experienced in this kind of
music, and the more immediate recorded sound. The smaller solo
roles for electric guitar, bass guitar, harp and double bass
are taken by Michał Pindakiewicz, Konrad Kubicki, Barbara
Witowska and Jerzy Cembryński respectively. In Penderecki’s
recording these roles were not thought significant enough to
credit the players individually but the players here justify
their billing.
The piece here described as The awakening of Jacob does
not appear to exist in the listings of Penderecki’s works.
The piece is more normally known as The dream of Jacob -
under which title it was twice recorded by the composer. The
otherwise informative notes by Richard Whitehouse do not explain
the change in title, but suggest that the work anticipated the
move to neo-romanticism which he was about to adopt. I must
say that this impression of a move towards a more ‘traditional’
style did not strike me when I heard Penderecki’s original
recording, and does not strike me differently now. It remains
very much a work of Penderecki’s earlier avant-garde
period.
The Horn Concerto is quite another matter. When it was
written over thirty years later Penderecki’s distancing
from experimentalism was total and complete. The subtitle Winterreise
has no reference to Schubert’s song-cycle. Richard Whitehouse’s
note does not explain it, but it appears to have been inspired
by memories of walks in the Polish winter countryside. The piece
sits rather uneasily with the other works on this disc. This
appears to be its second recording within two years of its first
performance. The earlier recording features Radovan Vlatkovic,
who gave the world première. Jennifer Montone has nothing
to fear by comparison with her more illustrious predecessor.
The opening of the work comes as quite a shock, and something
of a relief, after the persistently experimental writing of
the other pieces. After a while there is a suggestion of a return
to some of Penderecki’s earlier styles, but these are
now absorbed and subsumed in the whole together with some very
romantic gestures. There are hints even of Grieg (Peer Gynt’s
homecoming) at 7.38 and Richard Strauss (Die Frau ohne
Schatten) from 7.52. It is a rather likeable piece, with
even some Shostakovich-like humorous galumphing about at 10.57.
The orchestral support is splendid, including superbly delicate
pianissimo piccolo touches at 13.54 and 16.51. One suspects
that there may be a programme behind the music but we are not
given information on this.
It is good that Wit’s comprehensive survey of Penderecki’s
output is extending to works that have already been recorded
by the composer himself and they need fear nothing from their
competition. This is not music that allows for a great deal
of variety in interpretation, but the recorded sound for Naxos
is much superior and more analytical than EMI’s in their
1960s and 1970s recordings, good though that was for its time.
The increased clarity benefits the music.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Reviews of other Penderecki recordings on Naxos
| 8.557386/7 | Polish requiem |
| 8.557766 | Symphony 7 |
| 8.557980 | Te Deum |
| 8.570509 | Works for cello and orchestra |
| 8.572032 | Credo |
| 8.572211 | Concertos for cello and viola |
| 8.572212 | Sinfoniettas |
It is good that Wit is extending to works that have already been recorded
by the composer. He need fear nothing from the competition.