Polish Violin

1. Concerto for violin & orchestra
Composed by Krysztof Meyer
Performed by Katowice Polish Radio Orchestra & Chorus with Maria Olszewska , Urszula Bozek-Musialska , Roman Lasocki
Conducted by Karol Stryja

2. Recitativo e arioso, for violin & piano
Composed by Witold Lutoslawski
Performed by Katowice Polish Radio Orchestra & Chorus with Maria Olszewska , Urszula Bozek-Musialska , Roman Lasocki
Conducted by Karol Stryja

3. Capriccio-Impromptu
Composed by Witold Rudzinski
Performed by Katowice Polish Radio Orchestra & Chorus with Maria Olszewska , Urszula Bozek-Musialska , Roman Lasocki
Conducted by Karol Stryja

4. Spanish Fantasy for violin and piano
Composed by Romuald Twardowski
Performed by Katowice Polish Radio Orchestra & Chorus with Maria Olszewska , Urszula Bozek-Musialska , Roman Lasocki
Conducted by Karol Stryja

5. Cyclic Pieces for violin solo
Composed by Rafal Augustyn
Performed by Katowice Polish Radio Orchestra & Chorus with Maria Olszewska , Urszula Bozek-Musialska , Roman Lasocki
Conducted by Karol Stryja

6. Concerto for violin & orchestra No. 7
Composed by Grazyna Bacewicz
Performed by Katowice Polish Radio Orchestra & Chorus with Urszula Bozek-Musialska , Roman Lasocki
Conducted by Karol Stryja

Tracks:

Ladies In Lavender
Olga
Teaching Andrea
Fantasy For Violin And Orchestra
Meditation From Thais
Our Secret
On The Beach
Introduction And Tarantella Op. 43
The Letter
Zabawa Weselna (Polish Dance)
Stirrings
Potatoes
The Girl With The Flaxen Hair
A Broken Heart
Two Sisters
The Carnival Of Venice

Amazon.com

The screenwriting/directing debut of veteran British stage and screen actor Charles Dance tells of a pair of Cornish spinsters (Judi Dench and Maggie Smith) who discover a charismatic young Polish violin virtuoso castaway (Daniel Bruhl) on the beach below their home. The tale leads inexorably to tender romantic conflicts and a warm concert house finale. Composer Nigel Hess masterfully utilizes his background as Music Director and House Composer for the Royal Shakespeare Company to conjure a score that evokes its quiet, emotional dignity via neo-classical orchestral arrangements that feature real life young virtuoso Joshua Bell on solo violin. Hess' intimate original compositions form a virtually seamless tapestry with the story's requisite classical repertory choices, which range from Massenet and Debussy to Bell's delightful variations on Paganini's "The Carnival of Venice." --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Ladies in Lavender.......2007-07-18

The music and melody is romantic and artistically precious. I enjoy this album everyday.

Ladies in Lavender Soundtrack.......2007-05-13

I love this CD. The music carries you away and it is wonderful to go to sleep by. It was such a great movie and the music is delicious.

Ladies in Lavendar - Movie Soundtrack.......2007-03-29

The violin music is wonderful! I knew I wanted a copy of this soundrack when I saw the movie on DVD. Joshua Bell in a wonderful artist.

Ladies In Lavender CD.......2007-03-19

The film "Ladies In Lavender" is touching and a tear jerker, but, so well done. Having the film on DVD was not enough, I needed to have the CD to play when I am driving. The violin virtuosity of Joshua Bell is magnificient and so pleasing to hear when relaxation is desired.

LADIES in LAVENDER.......2007-02-19

This is the most amazing and beautiful CD I've heard in a long time. Joshua Bell excells on his violin with this touching and haunting music. I listen to it often.
Sarah

Average customer rating:

Best of Elgar

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

$6.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music

Instrumental | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance Marches Op. 39; Enigma Variations Op. 36
Elgar: Enigma Variations
The Best of Fauré
The Best of Shostakovich
Best of Prokofiev

ASIN: B0000014HN
Release Date: 1997-03-18

Tracks:

Pomp And Circumstance March In D Major, Op. 39, No. 1
Enigma Variations, Op. 36: Nimrod
Intoduction And Allegro, Op. 47
Cello Concerto In E minor, Op. 85 - Adagio
Salut d'amour, Op. 12
Symphony No. 1In A Flat Major, Op. 55, - Andante nobilmente e semplice (Excerpt)
Serenade For Strings In E Minor, Op. 20: Larghetto
Serenade For Strings In E Minor, Op. 20: Allegretto
Violin Concerto In B Minor Op. 61 - Andante
Pomp and Circumstance March In G Major, Op. 39, No. 4
Cockaigne Overture (In London Town), Op. 40

Average customer rating:

Derivative but thoroughly enjoyable
One led to the other
Horror in Every Aspect of the Word
Horror has never been so clearly expressed...
Perfect expression of horror and despair

Penderecki: Anaklasis; Threnody; etc.

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Penderecki: Sacred Choral Works
The Ligeti Project II: Lontano / Atmosphères / Apparitions / San Francisco Polyphony / Concert Românesc - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Jonathan Nott
Penderecki: St. Luke Passion
Penderecki: Orchestral Works, Vol. 02
György Ligeti Edition 1: String Quartets and Duets - Arditti String Quartet

ASIN: B000002S5H
Release Date: 1994-03-15

Tracks:

Anaklasis
Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima
Fonogrammi
De Natura Sonoris No. 1
Capriccio
Canticum Canticorum Salomonis
De Natura Sonoris No. 2
The Dream Of Jacob

Amazon.com

This collection of Krysztof Penderecki's music encompasses one of New Music's most intense, even extreme pieces: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima. Played in the extreme registers by 52 string performers, this piece came off in every way as a careening lamentation. Decrying the bombing of Hiroshima at a time when it was still a historical blue ribbon on the war chest of the U.S., Threnody was unforgettable for its vast ranges of sound colors, from the quietest and most brittle to the most raging, swirling bruises imaginable. UNESCO officially selected the composition as one of the finest works of 1961, emblazoning Penderecki's name and the composition's flagrant intensity around the musical globe. The remaining pieces on the CD make this a stunning collection, much of it having functioned as the musical background for The Shining. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Derivative but thoroughly enjoyable.......2007-05-29

Although Penderecki has done very little that could be considered wholly original (most of his work borrows liberally from contemporaries such as Xenakis and Boulez), his oeuvre is still notable for a number of extremely inventive compositions that are possessed of the focus and intensity of their subject matter.

The celebrated, popular "Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima" is one fine example of such a composition. "Threnody" employs emotive and imitative techniques in shattering registers to deliver a sonic equivalent of the horror experienced by the victims of America's most egregious and destructive war crimes. Penderecki's first mature political statement is as effective as it is unbearably loud.

To note that the remainder of this disc's music is lighter fare is to type in a strictly relative context. But so many people seem to disregard the humor and levity of Penderecki's music, focusing only on the "horrific" aspects of his sonic palette. To be sure, Kubrick implemented key extracts from "Anaklasis," "De Natura Sonoris No. 1" and "The Dream Of Jacob" (among other works by Bartok and Ligeti) in the soundtrack for his film adaptation of "The Shining," but the placement of these selections indicate as much an emphasis of a certain sly wit as they do of a blunt, morbid effect.

My personal favorite track from this album is an excellent premiere recording of "The Dream Of Jacob." Although this was composed of a distinctly Catholic sensibility, its' effect isn't dulled in the slightest even when divorced from the myth of a Hebrew patriarch's sacred vision. This must be the one of the most profound, terrifying compositions that I've heard. But its' effect is due in part to relative simplicity - despite the inherent atonality of all of his early popular compositions, Penderecki's popularity is directly related to the accessibility of his work.

After expressing a petulant ignorance of the intention in which "Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima" was composed, an earlier disgruntled reviewer still typed a harsh but fair truth: "Penderecki is the Strauss of the avant-garde, a popularizer of advanced techniques that were developed by real geniuses to express the inexpressible." This much can't be denied; Penderecki's music is built from the influence of far greater minds. But this should not suggest that his product is without merit. To the contrary, Krzysztof Penderecki has composed a handful of enduring - albeit derivative - classics that will likely stand the test of time. This much can't be said of most music that is so atonal in any way or to any degree.

The sound of this disc is excellent. I don't know what I find more impressive: the quality of the original mid-'70s recordings or the excellent remastering that they were subjected to. These recordings sound as clear and brilliant as they possibly could.

The popularity of this disc is obviously related to the fact that no soundtrack album for "The Shining" was ever released. However, it's worth buying simply because there are no available recordings of the compositions on this disc that can rival these. To be certain, Penderecki's interaction with both the PROC and the LSO exhibits a considerable talent as a conductor.

One led to the other.......2007-05-19

In the liner notes, the composer is quoted in regard to Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima "the problem of the great Apocalypse (Auschwitz), that great war crime, has undoubtedly been in my subconscious mind since the war when, as a child, I saw the destruction of the ghetto in my small native town of Debiça". Nazi Germany was responsible for that destruction, not to mention Auschwitz, and although Imperial Japan took no direct part in those atrocities, they were allied with Germany during the war. So the bombing of Hiroshima, in some way, was connected to the atrocity the young Penderecki witnessed. Thus, through this association, the Threnody becomes a lament for all victims of war. At least, I think that's what the composer intended. Perhaps this is a work where title and comments can only detract from its effectiveness. Standing on its own as a pure cry of horror, Threnody has few equals.

Horror in Every Aspect of the Word.......2007-05-11

Dear fellow music lovers, be careful with the 'items' of this disc. I am not sure what accurately to call them; I would not want to use the word 'music', as music to me is this lovely, divine force or language that through structure, harmony, melody and thematics enhances one's life. In Penderecki's items, none of these parameters are to be found. What he has composed is indeed something that generates sound; sound can be found everywhere around us; sound is, however, definitely not the same as music.

I have to credit Mr Penderecki for giving us the collection of alarm-emulating sounds constituting the Hiroshima Threnody. I would imagine these horror sounds quite appropriately to represent the situation prevalent in Hiroshima during the awful nuclear blasting. Experiencing these sounds indeed has some value; other than that I cannot really identify anything to pay for on this disc. Creating various sounds, or even noises as they often turn out to be, can be done by anyone; creating great music, on the other hand, certainly cannot be done by anyone--and unfortunately not by Penderecki.

The second star goes to EMI's sound production, which is amazing considering it was done more than 30 years ago--superior to the vast majority of productions from this source done afterwards. As such, it is more than well in the demonstration bracket. Having said that, be careful demonstrating your hi-fi equipment using this disc, as your friends may indeed expect it to convey music--not horror sounds.

Horror has never been so clearly expressed..........2005-06-22

I am not usually a fan of so-called "avant-garde" music. Though this may fit into that category, everything that Penderecki does seems to be used as a form of expression. What is he trying to express? Horror.

The very beginning of "Threnody" makes one flinch. I remember turning up the volume quite loud when listening to this, and upon doing so, I was in for quite a surprise. I had never heard music quite like this before. "Threnody" starts with a high, shrill note in the violins, and the rest join in. By the time this section is over, just about anything else that follows seems tame.

What amazed me was, although the work was brutally dissonant at times, there was a beauty in the dissonances. The jarring harmonies all seemed to fit in place. They made sense, though they might have been painful to listen to.

The capriccio was fascinating. The violinist was quite good, both technically and expressively. This piece is quite difficult to describe. The term "capriccio" makes one think that it is supposed to be humorous in some way... and in a sense it is, but in a way that is almost terrifying.

The Canticum Canticorum Salomonis was beautiful and haunting. The voices, like spirits, surround you, crying, gasping, whispering, and moaning. At times there seem to be tonal influences, though they are rare. Overall, this is probably my favorite track on the CD.

I would definitely recommend this CD, even to those without much experience with atonal music, if they are willing to give it a try. It really is beautiful, though the beauty can only be found when one realizes that this music is not supposed to be "pretty", it isn't supposed to be tonal, and it IS supposed to contain strong dissonances. That is how it gets its point across, and in that sense, Penderecki knew what he was doing.

Perfect expression of horror and despair.......2005-05-03

If there's ever been a more perfect expression of the emotions of horror, despair, chaos, violence...etc. put on disc than "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima" then I certainly don't know about it.

Yet for all it's dissonance and atonality I found myself drawn to it, and even listened to it several times. This is not background music for a tea party with finger sandwiches, in fact it sounds like fodder for horror movie soundstracks.

Yet the music is so well done; conceptualized and actualized that it's compelling and I find, actually, very listenable.

This goes for the other pieces on the recording, which add to and complement each other very well.

Average customer rating:

This collection focuses more on Prokofiev's ballet works

Best of Prokofiev

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Soundtracks | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Best of Shostakovich
Best Of Stravinsky
The Best of Haydn
Best Of Rimsky-Korsakov
Best of Elgar

ASIN: B0000014HW
Release Date: 1999-06-22

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25: Allegro
Romeo and Juliet, Ballet, Op. 64: Juliet as a Young Girl
Romeo and Juliet, Ballet, Op. 64: Montagues and Capulets
Romeo and Juliet, Ballet, Op. 64: Madrigal
Romeo and Juliet, Ballet, Op. 64: Folk Dance
Violin Concerto No. 1 In D Major, Op. 19: Moderato
Symphony No. 5 In B Flat Major, Op. 100: Allegro marcato
Lieutenant KijSuite, Op. 60: Troika
Love for Three Oranges - March
Piano Concerto No. 3 In C Major, Op. 26: Adante - Allegro
Waltzes, Suite For Orchestra, Op. 110 - No. 1: Since We Met
Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25: Molto Vivace
Cinderella, Ballet Suite No. 1 Op. 107: Fairy Godmother And The Winter Fairy
Cinderella, Ballet Suite No. 1 Op. 107: Cinderella Goes to the Ball
Cinderella, Ballet Suite No. 1 Op. 107: Cinderella's Waltz
Cinderella, Ballet Suite No. 1 Op. 107: Midnight

Customer Reviews:

This collection focuses more on Prokofiev's ballet works.......2001-08-12

I found it quite interesting that the two main CD collections featuring the assorted works of Sergei Prokofiev have so little overlap. Outside of key works like the March from "The Love for Three Oranges" and excerpts from his Classical Symphony in D Major, the two collections go in opposite directions. This particular collection emphasizes "Romeo and Juliet" and "Cinderella," while completely ignoring "Peter and the Wolf." What I like most about this one is that it has an excerpt from Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, which is the one the Amy Irving character plays in "The Competition." Consequently, this is one of the few times when you do not really have to choose between two competing "hits" collections, you can simply pick them both up. The "Best of Prokofiev" might be the one I would recommend picking up second, but it will still be a worthwhile addition to your classical music collection.

Average customer rating:

Best of Schumann

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Best of Haydn
The Best of Mendelssohn
Best of Schubert
The Best of Brahms
The Best of Liszt

ASIN: B0000014HD
Release Date: 1997-09-11

Tracks:

manfred, Op 115 - overture
kinderszenen, Op. 15 - traumerei (Dreaming)
Piano quintet In E Flat Major, Op.44 - scherzo : molto vivace - trio 1 - trio 2 - l'istesso tempo
fantasiestuke, Op. 73 - zart und mit ausdruck
Piano concerto In A Minor, Op. 54 - allegro affettuoso
carnaval Op. 9 - marche des davidsbundler cotre les philistins
Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major, Op. 97, 'rhenish' - scherzo: sehr massig
waldeszenen, Op. 82 - Bird As prophet
Symphony No.1 In B Flat Major, Op. 38, 'Spring' - Andante un poco maestoso - allegro molto vivace

Penderecki: Cello Concerto; Partita; Symphony; Threnody

Average customer rating:

staring into the abyss

Penderecki: Cello Concerto; Partita; Symphony; Threnody

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Le Sacre du Printemps [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B000NPCMF8
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Tracks:

Anaklasis For Strings & Percussion - London Symphony Orchestra
Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima
Fonogrammi
De Natura Sonoris No.1
Capriccio For Violin And Orchestra
Canticum Canticorum Salomonis
De Natura Sonoris No.2
The Dream Of Jacob

Tracks:

Emanationen For Two String Orchestras
Partita For Harpsichord And Orchestra
Cello Concerto
I: Arche-Dynamis I - London Symphony Orchestra
II: Dynamis II-Arche II - London Symphony Orchestra

Album Description

Specially priced 2-CD set in space-saving brilliant box with accompanying three-language booklet. Digitally remastered to the highest standards at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios.

Customer Reviews:

staring into the abyss.......2007-07-02

This is a fantastic two-disc set of Penderecki's avant-garde music of the 1960s (1959-1974), with seven pieces and 76 minutes on Disc One, and four pieces, including the first Symphony, and 72 minutes on Disc Two. All the music is conducted by the composer, and performed by the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, except the first Symphony, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The original EMI recordings are from 1972, 1973 and 1975. This is a reissue in the GEMINI series of a set previously released by EMI in 2001 called ORCHESTRAL WORKS, VOL. 1. So if you already have it, take note! I missed it the last time around, and I am very glad EMI has reissued it.

Penderecki blazed to fame shortly after graduating from the Krakow Academy of Music in 1958. He won awards in Poland with his compositions, and the "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima" won the UNESCO Prize in 1960. Other than "Hiroshima," I have found no political references regarding Penderecki's early music, but I can't help concluding from its tone that the composer was deeply affected by social and political events. This music is unremittingly dissonant and anguished, and it seems to be concentrating the sense of dread of living under the threat of all-out nuclear war which was especially intense before the SALT agreements of the 1970s. Some might consider these works to be dated, a symptom of the post-war avant-garde run amok, but I find them to continue to exert a baleful power, and as the new millennial world has certainly not given any cause for calm repose or complacency, they are arguably more relevant as ever.

Of particular note is the "Symphony." In two movements, the first 19'51" and the second 11'23", it is an astonishing journey through sonorities and textures never before heard from an orchestra. But far from being a display of odd effects for their own sake, it tells a powerful story of wayfaring through a strange, dark land. It is one of the most powerful works of the late 20th century, and should not be missed by anyone interested in modern and contemporary music.

Following the period represented here, Penderecki either retrenched or grew out of his avant phase, take your pick. Perhaps his most well-known work, the ST. LUKE PASSION for chorus and orchestra, is from the late 1960s, and so uses radical musical language to express the Catholic vision that would increasingly dominate Penderecki's music from the 1970s on, with more conventional, tonal means. It seems to me that he was on the edge, staring into the abyss, while writing his 1960s music. Then he, and the world, stepped back and kept going.

In other words, I believe that he was a reluctant radical, unlike others of the avant-garde who persisted (and persist) with a radical vision, aesthetic, social, political, and/or spiritual, impervious to world events. I know there are those who think that either Penderecki's radical phase must have been insincere, or the more traditional music he has written since is insincere, but this music has the utmost integrity, and I believe that the same is true of the composer. I look forward to hearing more of his music. (See my review of Anne-Sophie Mutter's recording of his Violin Concerto No. 2, METAMORPHOSES.)

Life of the Worlds: Journeys in Jewish Sacred Music

Average customer rating:

Life of the Worlds: Journeys in Jewish Sacred Music

Manufacturer: Five Souls Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Jewish & Yiddish Music | Folk | Styles | Music

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Middle East | International | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Tuning The Soul: Worlds of Jewish Sacred Music
Kabbalah Music: Songs of the Jewish Mystics
Sing My Heart
Abayudaya - Music from the Jewish People of Uganda
Music of Kabbalah

ASIN: B000172L72
Release Date: 2003-12-03

Tracks:

Ha'aderet Veha'emunah/LeKhay Olamim - Yemen
Le'El Adir Neranenah - Afghanistan
Bati Legani - Eastern Europe
Kinah Lekhurban Gan Eden - Eastern Europe
Sephardi Yerushalmi Khatsi Kaddish - Jerusalem/Spain
Navah Tehilah - Afghanistan
Hayoshevet Baganim - Yemen
Eyn Keloheynu - Morocco
Modeh Ani/Elohay Neshamah - Salonica
Eli Shema Koli - Morocco
Reb Nachman's Niggun - Ukraine
Hishtapkhut Hanefesh - Belarus
Niggun of the Alter Rebbe - Belarus
Ve'erastikh Li - Salonica
El Mistater - Poland
Ashrey - Eastern Europe/Spain
Yemeni Shema - Yemen
Grandfather Sang a Song - Eastern Europe

Amazon.com

The modern-day traditional Jewish music revival is filled with artists exploring klezmer's Eastern-European roots, but you'll hear no clarinet and little violin on cantor/educator Richard Kaplan's Life Of The Worlds. Although these are traditional songs, there is a broad range of the Diaspora represented on his second album, including Afghani, Spanish, Moroccan, and Algerian traditions. Kaplan dives into the sacred and the secular, the prophetic and the exultant, finding commonalities amongst different tribes and fusing them together. Musical accompaniment comes in the form of an occasional flute, piano, and violin as well as Moroccan clay drums, oud, dumbek, and other pre-modern-era instruments, but the instrument at the center of each song is Kaplan's voice--his high baritone majestically soars, quavers with sensitivity, and rings out with joy. To hear him sing solo versions of traditional Niggiun is to hear a world-class master savor the multifaceted nuance of each note and transcend the concept of song, turning it into religion and high art. --Tad Hendrickson

Album Description

A remarkable collection of vocal performances of Jewish sacred music from the Middle East, Andalusia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia - songs of exultation, longing, love, and Divine immanence - accompanied by an ensemble of masterful musicians.

Instruments include: oud, ney, kanun, Egyptian accordian, violin, mandolin, dumbek, doira, riqq, Yemenite can, tar, saz, clarinet, mey (Turkish duduk), tilinca (Rumanian shepherd's flute), piano, string bass, balaban (Klezmer drum set), cimbalom, and a chorus of voices.

Among many special songs, the CD features an 'eco-lament' (ecological lament) based on lament melodies for the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. It is called "Lament on the Destruction of the Garden of Eden" (Kinah Lekhurban Gan Eden), and updates the use of these tunes to mourn the wounding of our larger temple, Gaia - Mother Earth.

LIFE OF THE WORLDS contains 18 songs, 77 minutes of music, and contains a 32-page booklet which includes informative song descriptions; all texts are provided in transliteration, English translation, and in Hebrew or Yiddish.

Tracks:

Vn Con in a, Op.82: Moderato-Andante sostenuto-Allegro
Vn Con in a, Op.53: Allegro ma non troppo
Vn Con in a, Op.53: Adagio ma non troppo
Vn Con in a, Op.53: Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo
Romance for Vn and Orch in f, Op.11

Customer Reviews:

Great Violinist.......2000-07-20

Ilya Kaler is simply a superb artist. Check out any of his recordings available on Naxos. This one is a particular favorite of mine. Possibly the best versions available of Dvorak's Violin Concerto and the Romance, and at a bargain price to boot.

Average customer rating:

Neo-Romantic Penderecki, gloriously played and recorded

Penderecki: Orchestral Works, Vol. 4
Penderecki , Chee-Yun , Wit , and Polish Nat'l Rso
Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Penderecki: Orchestral Works, Vol. 02
Penderecki: Orchestral Works, Vol. 03
Penderecki: Orchestral Works, Vol. 01
Penderecki: St. Luke Passion
Penderecki: Sacred Choral Works

ASIN: B00008IHVW
Release Date: 2003-03-18

Tracks:

Concerto For Violin And Orchestra No.1
'Metamorphosen' Concerto For Violin And Orchestra No.2

Customer Reviews:

Neo-Romantic Penderecki, gloriously played and recorded.......2003-04-26

I think I've been reading too much 19th-century music criticism lately. Back then the height of music commentary was to write a descriptive program to go with the music - you know, Liszt saying that the slow movement of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto was Orpheus taming the Furies, or Schumann calling the Fourth Symphony a Norse giant between two slender Greek maidens. But when I listened to these two violin concerti by Krzysztof Penderecki (b.1933) my imagination went wild, supplying pictures and scenario, and I was never able to get rid of them. So now, you lucky folks, I'll share them with you. [Read no further if, like me, you don't ordinarily go for this sort of thing.]

The First, a one movement mammoth, begins with a solemn introduction in the low strings and timpani, setting the stage for the Pastor (the solo violin) to mount the lectern and begin his sermon. Picture Orson Welles as Father Mapple in the movie of 'Moby Dick.' His tone is now declamatory, then haranguing, now imploring, then minatory. Sometimes his rhetoric is so intense that he speaks in long unaccompanied cadenzas that are as virtuosic as they are impassioned. Sometimes he almost loses control of himself in his desire to convey his message, and sparks fly. Ultimately he flings out a Cassandra-like warning before he, exhausted, lapses into silence.

Konstanty Kulka, the violinist in the first concerto, is a middle-aged Polish violinist whose playing reminds me of David Oistrakh. He has a big, burnished tone with an intense vibrato which he uses here in the service of a larger-than-life performance, perfect for the rhetoric of this larger-than-life concerto. The piece itself often reminds me, in tone but not in construction, of the Passacaglia movement from Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto, but expanded to an almost 40-minute length. Imagine that degree of passion for that length of time! Kulka pulls it off. I have not heard the recording by Isaac Stern, the concerto's dedicatee, but knowing his playing I'd assume it is wonderful; I think it is still available.

The second concerto, subtitled 'Metamorphosen' and also in one large movement, is an altogether different animal. Written in 1994-95, twenty years after Penderecki wrote the First Concerto, it is an introspective work. If the First is an Oration or a Sermon, the Second is a Soliloquy. This set of variations (structurally it is just that) conjure up the inner struggle of a young man caught up in a tragedy of passion (picture Anthony Perkins as Hippolytus to Melina Mercouri's Phaedra; the step-son having an affair with the step-mother that each is powerless to break off and which ultimately ends in tragedy). Hippolytus (the violin soloist) moons, yearns, becomes agitated with inner conflict, tries to break away, struggles (a masterful fugal passage), and ultimately gives in and is destroyed, sadly, quietly, resignedly.

The violinist here is the young American-trained Korean, Chee-Yun, whose tone is slenderer, silvery, more fine-grained than Kulka's, but still intense and passionate when necessary. There can be an inward, almost improvisatory quality to her playing that fits this soliloquy nicely. Again, I have not heard the recording of the Second Concerto's dedicatee, Anne-Sophie Mutter, but can only imagine that it, too, is quite fine.

Antoni Wit, conducting the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Katowice), provides solid, musical, flexible support for the two soloists, and during the fairly rare orchestral passages - the soloists are front-and-center throughout most of these concerti - reveals an ability to shape the material dramatically. I was especially struck by the opening tutti of the First Concerto: it unequivocally sets the stage for the Sermon to come by signalling 'this is important - pay attention!'

Once again Naxos has given us really special performances of important music in warm and refulgent sound, and at bargain prices. Whatta deal!