There is never a guarantee that this kind of thing will be
a great performance, but the sense of poignancy around ‘last’
recordings will always be something of a draw. We are fortunate
that what turned out to be Witold Lutosławski’s final appearance
as a conductor was recorded by CBC, and while all of these pieces
can be found in excellent studio recordings elsewhere in the
Naxos catalogue this turns out to be a fine programme, well
performed and very serviceable as a live recording.
The Partita was originally written for violin and piano,
and while the orchestration is the composer’s own I’m not sure
I prefer this version to the purity of the chamber version.
The trademark orchestral colours are quite distinctive and very
effective, but transcribed from piano notes the result somehow
sound a bit leaden and dated. Fujiko Imajishi is an able soloist,
and I’m glad her part is not overly spot-lit in the recorded
balance – mixing with and melting into the upper sonorities
of the orchestra where the score demands this effect. The central
Largo is always a movingly emotive section, and both
soloist and orchestra create a nice atmosphere here. The delicate
passages in the final Presto are lovely, and the harp
and tuned percussion create a remarkable halo around the soloist.
With this live recording we are treated to a wash of applause
at the end of each piece, but audience noise is otherwise very
low. It needs to be at the opening of the magical Interlude,
which begins with impossibly quiet strings. The piccolo is a
little heavy handed for the first few little interjections,
but apart from one or two mildly abrasively tuned string entries
this is a decent enough performance. Conceived as a ‘dialogue
for violin and orchestra’, Chain 2 is wider ranging than
the Partita, and the playful effects of soloist and a
variety of stunning orchestral effects is vibrant and lively
in this recording. With good energy and such a wide range of
contrasts this is a fine performance filled with plenty of stunning
moments, with all of that edgy advantage a good live recording
should have.
Chantefleurs et Chantefables is a continuation of Lutosławski’s
fascination with the poetry of Robert Desnos, beginning in the
1970s with ‘Les Espaces du sommeil’. This set of nine songs
is filled with character and ranges in emotion from the perfumed
romanticism of the opening La Belle-de-nuit to the sliding
elusiveness of La Véronique, and including songs like
L’Alligator which are rich in wit and warmly sardonic
humour. The texts are unfortunately not given in the booklet,
but Valdine Anderson’s singing is certainly one of the highlights
of this disc. She doesn’t go too far out of her way in terms
of ‘acting’ the various roles in a vocal sense, but the audience
response at certain points certainly indicates some extra visual
interaction. Her vocal quality is nicely pure, beautifully intonated
and expressive, the orchestral accompaniments sensitive and
potent by turns.
Potent indeed is the final work, Chain 1, which was written
for the fourteen virtuoso London Sinfonietta players in the
early 1980s during the period when Michael Vyner was their artistic
leader. The ensemble playing might have been a bit tighter than
it appears here in certain patches, but given once again the
atmosphere of a live performance in which the players are clearly
giving their all for their guest conductor/composer, and you
are left with little cause for complaint.
This CD is more than just a souvenir of Witold Lutosławski’s
last conducted concert. Despite the availability of ‘cleaner’
versions of these pieces in Naxos’s excellent Lutosławski
series this recording can stand on its own two feet as an impressive
testament to one of Poland’s legendary figures of 20th
century music. It should certainly be added as a supplement
to anyone’s Lutosławski collection, and belongs firmly
shoulder to shoulder with his earlier studio recorded legacy
on EMI.
Dominy Clements
Fujiko Imajishi (violin) (Partita, Chain 2) 
