Karol SZYMANOWSKI (1882-1937)
Etude in B-flat Minor, Op. 4 No. 3, transcribed by Grzegorz Fitelberg (1900-1902) [5:56]
Ignacy Jan PADEREWSKI (1860-1941)
Suite in G Major for String Orchestra (1884) [12:14]
Grażnya BACEWICZ (1909-1969)
Concerto for String Orchestra (1948) [15:23]
Stefan KISIELEWSKI (1911-1991]
Concerto for Chamber Orchestra (1943, rev. 1949) [14:24]
Witold LUTOSŁAWSKI (1913-1994)
Dance Preludes for Clarinet, Harp, Piano, Percussion, and Strings (1955) [10:06]
Little Suite for Chamber Orchestra (1950) [9:31]
Szymon Emil Parulski (clarinet)
Witold Lutosławski Płock Symphony Orchestra/Marek Wroniszewski
rec. December 2020, Płock, Poland
Reviewed as 16-bit download from press preview
Polish Music - Volume 1
DUX 1624 [67:53]
This album’s greatest strength is its programming, a cross-section of nineteenth and twentieth century Polish composers both familiar and unfamiliar. First is Karol Szymanowski’s Etude in B-flat Minor. Conductor and Szymanowski champion Grzegorz Fitelberg (1879-1953) made this well-known orchestral transcription from the piano original. An early work, it is dreamy and lush in the manner of middle-period Alexander Scriabin. Musical tension only slowly accumulates before peaking in a brief climax. The long-breathed melody then returns, even softer than before.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski is famous for both his music and his role in re-establishing an independent Poland after World War I. His Suite in G for strings is an early, unfinished work, straightforward in its tunefulness and charm. The first two sections sing and march along, respectively, the Scherzo whirls in triple meter, and the slow movement is restful. Paderewski either never completed a final movement or its whereabouts remain unknown.
Grażnya Bacewicz’s Concerto for String Orchestra is a twentieth century work with a Baroque inspiration. The first movement has restless rhythmic interest with up-and-down scalar passages and bursts of repeated notes, periodic relief provided by lyrical interludes. The middle movement is static by comparison and features long melodic lines from a solo cello. The rhythmic energy returns in the finale with viola and violin solos providing brief peaceful passages. Bacewicz’s harmony is mildly abrasive with enough dissonance to increase the sense of drive while staying well within a tonal Neo-Classical framework.
Stefan Kisielewski was unknown to me until now but on the strength of his Concerto for Chamber Orchestra, I am eager to hear more of his music. Kisielewski was another composer-politician with a knack for coining witty but biting criticisms of the Communist regime in Poland after World War II. Two samples: “Socialism heroically overcomes difficulties unknown in any other system” and “It’s not a crisis, it’s a result.” Kisielewski’s Concerto is likewise pleasantly acerbic, described by the liner notes as a combination of Neo-Classicism and the “grotesque.” Chattering woodwinds lead the first movement, injecting many twists and flourishes to their melodies over pulsing strings. The second movement has a folky melancholy. The third movement has “plenty of humorous phrases,” as the liner notes put it, in its pithy and urbane character. Jean Francaix could have written it. Indeed, I hear an affinity for the style of the Frenchman in this Polish composer.
Finally, there is Witold Lutosławski, who achieved fame in his own lifetime as the greatest Polish composer since Szymanowski, or, according to some, perhaps even Chopin. His Dance Preludes are a compact culmination of his folk-music influences, what Lutosławski described as his “farewell to folklore.” The solo clarinet is dazzling and reflective by turns, with the emotional weight coming in the fourth movement. The earlier Little Suite also draws upon Polish folk music, although within the sinister context of Socialist Realism, the artistic norm expected and enforced by Communist authorities across Soviet dominated states. The Little Suite nevertheless reflects Lutosławski’s genuine interest in folk music and sounds as innocent as one could wish. Lively and colorfully orchestrated dances contrast to heartfelt passages of instrumental song.
Unfortunately, the performances are the weak point of this album. The Witold Lutosławski Płock Symphony Orchestra simply does not possess the collective virtuosity needed in this music. The Szymanowski Etude and Lutosławski Dance Preludes fare the best. The Płock players sustain the languor of the Etude and bring more bite to its climax than Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philarmonic Orchestra on Naxos 8.570722 but suffer from a recessed recording that requires bumping the volume up several notches. Clarinet soloist Szymon Emil Parulski shines in the Dance Preludes and the orchestra provides a successful accompaniment. Alternative performances from Michael Collins as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra led by Edward Gardner on Chandos CHSA5106 and Martin Fröst with the Australian Chamber orchestra under Richard Tognetti on BIS SACD-1863 have slightly better balances between the soloist and orchestra and a rounder sound quality.
The remaining performances disappoint. The Capella Bydgostiensis under Mariusz Smolij on Naxos 8.579085 give a more spirited rendering of the Paderewski Suite than the Płock forces. Smolij also combines the first two sections into one track and reorders the remaining movements to create a more “complete” fast-slow-fast arrangement to the unfinished suite. The same forces on a different Naxos disc (8.573229) also outclass this new album in the Bacewicz Concerto. The Capella Bydgostiensis fly along compared to the Płock Symphony, which feels earthbound and flat. Timings show some dramatic differences: the Płock performance is 31 seconds slower in the first movement and 30 seconds slower in the third.
Differences in timing are extreme in the Kisielewski. The Sinfonia Varsovia under Renato Rivolta on Warner Classics 190295748296 are fleeter by 39 seconds, 16 seconds, and 33 seconds, respectively, for each movement. The Płock orchestra is simply sluggish by comparison. Tempi are up to speed in the Lutosławski Little Suite save for its final movement. The BBC Symphony Orchestra under Edward Gardner on Chandos CHSA5106 actually have a longer recording timing but take the dance at a noticeably faster pace. The difference comes from the slower tempo for the contrasting middle section.
The documentation for this album emphasizes its local nature. The mayor of the central Polish city of Płock, home to the Witold Lutosławski Płock Symphony Orchestra, contributed both an essay and a portrait photograph that lead off the liner notes. In his essay, the mayor highlights the merits of “local patriotism” and the combination of national music, hometown orchestra, and local son Szymon Emil Parulski. Orchestra member Adam Mieczykowski adds a moving description of the orchestra’s adaption to uncertain circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic and the decision to record an all-Polish album of works for reduced forces as a symbol of “hope and optimism.”
Any orchestral recording made under lockdown restrictions is a symbol of optimism and I hope the Płock musicians can soon delight their audiences in a pandemic-free future. Szymon Emil Parulski can also look forward to a successful professional career – his biography already gives a list of accomplishments as long as your arm – but this album is uncompetitive overall. Listeners curious about this repertoire should listen to the alternative recordings given above.
Christopher Little
