Outside Poland, this CD will have a fairly limited appeal, which
is a pity. I don’t know how much of a market there is for recordings
of the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra playing music from
four different eras in classical history, but if the only listener
in the market for such an album is me, well, I’m happy!
The primary cause of my satisfaction is the excellence of the
Warsaw Philharmonic. As everyone ought to know by now, they
are one of the finest orchestras in the world, especially blessed
with a luxurious string section that calls to mind the riches
of central European orchestras decades ago. A secondary cause
of my satisfaction is the presence of Ilya Gringolts as the
soloist in Mozart’s Third Violin Concerto. The concerto gets
a bracing performance from the very first bars, with a speedy
tempo for the first movement. Gringolts’ pliable, romantic tone
is coupled to this brisk performance with delightful results.
It all feels spontaneous and conversational, like the best live
concerts.
Surrounding the Gringolts performance are Bach’s third Brandenburg
Concerto, played not at all in period-performance style but
appealing for the orchestra’s sheer tonal splendor and the way
one’s ears can swim in the inner voices, and Pawel Lukaszewski’s
oboe concerto, Trinity Concerto, here making its first appearance
on disc. It’s an appealing, melodic work with three movements
that never go on too long; try to imagine Vivaldi studying composition
under Poulenc, Martinu, and John Adams (in the exciting second
movement) and you have a bit of an idea of what to expect. I’m
very glad to have heard it, and Aleksandra Rojek-Duda is an
excellent soloist whose account is a real pleasure.
We finish with a brisk account of the Tchaikovsky Serenade,
the introduction stripped of sentimentality and the orchestral
strings in glorious form. It is not the most lavish, romantic
approach in terms of pacing and expansiveness; I suppose with
a huge mass of strings and such impeccable tone, one must rein
something in to prevent excess.
This performance is quite literally a single concert set to
disc: it’s the chamber orchestra’s tenth anniversary celebration,
on 6 December 2011. (I’m writing this on 6 January 2013.) Since
I’ve seen these performers live, I’m not at all surprised by
their precision, power and luxurious feel; in the concert hall
the Warsaw Philharmonic purrs even more smoothly than it does
on its many Naxos discs. Unfortunately the live circumstances
do necessitate an extremely close microphone job, which makes
this a bit dry and makes you feel like you’re truly surrounded
by musicians. The Mozart can be especially claustrophobic. There’s
applause after every piece. For however many of us die-hard
Warsaw Philharmonic fans there are in the world (not enough!),
this album is a delight.
Brian Reinhart
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Ilya Gringolts (violin); Aleksandra Rojek-Duda (oboe)