More fine Dvorak from Wit, from Navarre

Dvorak Mass in D; Te Deum

I'm a big fan of the conductor Antoni Wit. His Naxos discography is extensive, and a string of awards has people paying more attention to his new releases. The discs I've enjoyed the most have been with the excellent Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, including a very fine 2015 Dvorak Requiem. Wit is also (since 2013-14) the Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarra, and this I believe is his first recording with this orchestra.  The Mass in D and the Te Deum are both very appealing works from a choral composer of the first order. Though both are smaller in scope, they reach the same peaks of pathos, awe and consolation as Dvorak's Requiem. The lovely swinging opening Kyrie of the Mass is sung and played by Wit's Spanish musicians with the utmost delicacy, though Wit teases out the backbone as well. Dvorak's Brahms and Beethoven models are perhaps more forward than they might be with a Eastern European orchestra. The choral singing from the Orfeon Pamplones is superb, and all four soloists are strong, with soprano Ewa Biegas a stand-out.

This disc is due for release on May 12, 2017.

More excellent music-making from Warsaw

From June 24, 2015:

Thirty-five years separate the first work on this new Naxos disc, the Magnificat from the mid-1970s, and the 2009 Kadisz. During that time Penderecki made a major stylistic shift, from an avant-garde international style to a more emotional and personal tonal one. But both works share some typical Pendereckian traits: an intense expressionism and a focus on instrumental and vocal colour.

Antoni Wit has put together an impressive string of CDs for Naxos in the past few years, conducting the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonic Choir. Here is another. His soloists have character-filled voices, full of emotion but always musical. In the Magnificat Penderecki makes effective use of a choir of boys’ voices, and the Warsaw Boys’ Choir are excellent in this recording. Incidentally, it’s been interesting to hear how much children’s choirs can add to a work with a choral element. Just in the past month I’ve reviewed discs by Villa-Lobos and Honegger that also make good use of the special colour and extra-musical connotations of children’s voices.

We have Naxos to thank for their support for Wit the conductor, as he continues the great tradition of musical excellence in Poland. Keep ‘em coming!

An outstanding Dvorak Requiem

From February 4, 2015:

Dvorak’s Requiem is a big work full of amazing tunes, awesome effects of instrumentation, choral and solo voice writing, and emotional peaks. Written for an English audience more familiar with oratorios than opera, it doesn’t have the same dramatic logic of that other great 19th century Requiem, Verdi’s. What’s needed in a great recording of Dvorak’s work is a well-matched set of soloists with musicianship at least matching their strong voices, a very good orchestra and an outstanding choir. But above all one needs a conductor with a vision of the work as a whole, and the ability to keep the fire lit under everyone in its not infrequent valleys as well as its peaks. Antoni Wit has the experience, the background, and the intimate knowledge of his forces to do just that. This is a recording to match his best, such as his Grammy winning Penderecki disc, or (since Wit is about much more than Polish music) his amazing Mahler 8th Symphony. Back in 2011 Wit mentioned in an interview that Naxos wanted him to record all of Dvorak’s choral music. I hope that happens, and that he can continue the excellent work begun with the Requiem, with his Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir.

An important premiere

From June 26, 2012:

This new Naxos disc in Antoni Wit's survey of music by Henryk Gorecki includes some well-known pieces as well as a world premiere recording of an important work.

The Harpischord Concerto, written in 1980, shows up here in the alternate version for piano. The piece loses some of its colour and texture without the harpsichord, though perhaps its underlying driving structure is more obvious. The composer's daughter, Anna Gorecka, plays the piece with panache. This is Gorecka's second recording of the concerto. Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra provide a superior accompaniment and Naxos a much better recorded sound than the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra under Agnieszka Duczmal on a Classicord disc from Polish Radio in 1991.

It's also great to see a new recording of The Three Dances op. 34, which are favourites of mine. The Warsaw musicians shine in these delightfully virtuosic pieces. Delightful is also the perfect word for the Little Requiem for a Certain Polka, a puzzle-piece for orchestra that's spooky, mocking, seductive and funny by turns.

The strongest, most important work on the disc, though, is the Concerto-Cantata from 1992, which for some reason is receiving its premiere recording. There aren't so many flute concertos out there that such an interesting work for flute & orchestra can afford to be ignored. I trust that this will be the first of many recordings to come in the future. Carol Wincenc provides an assured performance on the flute, and again Wit and the Warsaw orchestra provide impressive support. It's easy to recommend such a varied and interesting CD!

Beautiful orchestral sound from the Warsaw Philharmonic

From May 2, 2012:

Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic have been on a major hot streak with their Naxos recordings, winning major awards and rave reviews, and they continue with this release of music by Leos Janacek. Janacek writes passionate music of great beauty and delicacy which requires expert instrumentalists and a conductor with vision and control. The whole package is here, and once again the music is presented to best effect by the Naxos engineers. Wit's Taras Bulba is especially impressive; I would put it in the same league as the famous recordings by Charles Mackerras and Vaclav Talich. It's encouraging that in the New Europe a Polish orchestra can really get behind this music, since the Poles are the bad guys in Janacek's version of Gogol's novel about a Cossack revolt. It all happened more than 300 years ago!

The Lachian and Moravian Dances are beautifully played, though maybe a bit polished for my taste. I like this music to sound slightly more earthy. Still, Wit brings out a beautiful orchestral sound with exciting climaxes and dreamy, graceful interludes.

Super-Romantic music from Poland

From November 10, 2011:

Mieczyslaw Karlowicz's music has been fairly well served on CD, especially by Chandos and Naxos, but he doesn't seem to have broken through in the same way some other formerly obscure composers have. That's a pity, since this music is easily accessible, with a rich sound and memorable melodies. Karlowicz turns up the Romantic dial to 11 in this music, which isn't surprising considering its main influences are Tchaikovsky's Pathetique and Wagner's Tristan.

Both the Symphony and The White Dove music are relatively early works, though Karlowicz didn't live long enough to build a very large body of work. He was killed in an avalanche while skiing at the age of 33. This music very much wears its heart on its sleeve, and Wit lets his Polish musicians loose in the kind of music they must know well. I found the entire disc very appealing. Naxos does its usual excellent job of capturing the mood and presenting unfamiliar music well worth our time and money.