Penderecki: Sinfoniettas; Oboe Capriccio / Artur Pachlewski, Jean-Louis Capezzali

Penderecki: Sinfoniettas; Oboe Capriccio / Artur Pachlewski, Capezzali - Naxos
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Label: Naxos (USA)
Catalog No: NXS 8572212
Format: CD
Release Date: 2012-02-28
Number of Discs: 1
Running time: 58 min.
Mono/Stereo: Stereo
UPC Code: 747313221271

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> 3 Pieces in Old Style - No. 1. Aria
> 3 Pieces in Old Style - No. 2. Menuetto I
> 3 Pieces in Old Style - No. 3. Menuetto II
> Serenade - I. Passacaglia
> Serenade - II. Larghetto
> Sinfonietta - I. Allegro molto
> Sinfonietta - II. Vivace
> Intermezzo - Intermezzo
> Capriccio for Oboe and String Orchestra - Capriccio for Oboe and String Orchestra
> Sinfonietta No. 2 - I. Notturno: Adagio
> Sinfonietta No. 2 - II. Scherzo: Vivacissimo
> Sinfonietta No. 2 - III. Serenade: Tempo di valse
> Sinfonietta No. 2 - IV. Abschied: Larghetto

Notes & Reviews:

Composed over a period of some thirty years, the six string works in this program cover the full stylistic range of Penderecki's towering compositional career. The Sinfoniettas are transcriptions of two chamber works, impassioned in texture, courting elegy and terse gesture alike. With the Three Pieces in Old Style we are in the world of Baroque pastiche, whereas introspective intensity runs through the Serenade of 1997. Radicalism informs the Intermezzo whilst the Capriccio, written a decade earlier, reveals Penderecki's lighter, more piquant side in scintillating fashion. 'Antoni Wit's Penderecki series for Naxos has been uniformly excellent... Top recommendation'. (ClassicsToday.com on 8.572032)

"This collection of works for string orchestra swings effortlessly from courtly baroque pastiche to radical avant garde...Here was a leading enfant terrible producing stately minuets, played with elegant warmth by the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in the latest of Antoni Wit's excellent Penderecki series for Naxos...All elements combine in the closing, elegiac Sinfonietta No 2." -The Observer

The Flip Side
this disc concentrates on his string music spanning 35 years, from 1963's baroque-influenced Three Pieces in Old Style to the modernist intensity of 1997's Serenade. In between, Sinfoniettas 1 & 2 (1992, 1994) are captivating orchestrations of chamber works, while the Capriccio for Oboe has a lightheartedness atypical of the usually overwrought composer. Antoni Wit conducts the fine Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, and soloists Artur Pachlewski (clarinet) and Jean-Louis Capezzali (oboe) shine in the spotlight.

The Northern Echo
The Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Antoni Wit, bring together some of Penderecki's least-known works, covering the whole stylistic range.

The Observer (London)
This collection of works for string orchestra swings effortlessly from courtly baroque pastiche to radical avant garde, such is Krzysztof Penderecki's prodigious musical imagination... played with elegant warmth by the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in the latest of Antoni Wit's excellent Penderecki series.

David's Review Corner
A gently flowing opening Notturno, leads to an energetic scherzo and short lyric waltz, the somber finale totally changing the work's mood. The Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra is formed from leading members of the parent orchestra, and, as we would expect, is of exceptional quality. Wit has already shown his strong links with the composer, and here again you will be fortunate to hear performances of this quality. The sessions took place in the second half of 2008 and are well balanced and infinitely detailed.

BBC Music Magazine
Though none of the pieces on this disc counts among his major works, it adds up to an attractive portrait of the composer...[the Sinfoniettas] inhabit a sound-world suggesting Shostakovich, but without its bleak pessimism. Conductor Antoni Wit sculpts the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra's playing, and two wind soloists shape every line with purpose.

Fanfare
No single release of which I am aware captures Penderecki's stylistic variety as dramatically as this one does.

Notes & Reviews:

Recording information: Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw, Poland.



Reviews

Excellent new addition to this important series
Highest compliments to Naxos for their ongoing expansive collection of the works of Polish composer Krzystof Penderecki. Penderecki is already recognized as one of Poland's greatest composers and certainly a very influential voice in contemporary music whose writing spans nearly six decades. This disc focuses on some of his music for strings and makes for very rewarding listening. The Three Pieces in Old Style dates from 1963 and is a charming play on Baroque models. Originally written as a film score, the work consists of an "aria" and two menuets. The resemblance to Baroque dance forms is quite evident and there are few hints of the harmonic intrigue that permeated many of Penderecki's later works. However, his Serenade (1997) opens with a passacaglia structured around one of the composers favorite melodic intervallic patterns (ascending or descending minor 2nds follow by minor 6ths) This is a poignant work said to be the earliest of his "new style" characterized by works such as The Gates of Jerusalem and the opera Paradise Lost. The Sinfonietta No. 1 is actually a reworking of the String Trio. This an urgent work with a "troubled" sound emphasized by the persistent alternating of some slashing dissonant chords followed by some very plaintive and mournful solos for individual strings, most notably the viola. This works presages the "middle period" for Penderecki, characterized by dissonances and block chords for dramatic effect, frequently programmatic, and typified by his Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima. The Intermezzo for 24 Strings is a very short and nervous sounding work. It also contains some of the large block glissandi that go with the preceding style; it is also one of his last works written in this genre. This very nice and compelling collection closes with two works for solo wind and strings. The Capriccio for Oboe and Strings, from 1964, is also the earliest work represented here. There is a consistently frantic nature to the work but not without a bit of wry humor as well. The oboe and ensemble get to dwell on a single pitch at times, and the solo oboe is put through a wrenching array of contemporary techniques. The effect is nearly automated at times and the oboe in spots is barely distinguishable in the fray. Soloist Jean-Louis Capezzali has appreciable technique and performs this quite difficult work very well. The Sinfonietta No. 2 for Clarinet and Strings is a very different affair. This is the composer's transcription of his Clarinet Quartet and is structured in four movements. Many of the same Penderecki trademarks with minor seconds, bits of chromatic melody and some tonal, but unresolved, harmonic centers are present. The final movement, "Abschied" (German 'Farewell') is the longest and provides a mysterious, sad and questioning conclusion. There are some wonderful passages and interchanges for the solo clarinet and for individual solo strings. The work ends beautifully and peacefully but with a sense of the unresolved. Clarinetist Artur Pachiewski plays wonderfully and with conviction. All of the editions in this fascinating collection of Penderecki's music is by the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and their conductor, Antoni Wit. Wit is a superb interpreter of Penderecki's music and the Warsaw group plays with the passion and sensitivity one expects for their countryman. Highly recommended!
Submitted on 03/09/12 by Modern Clarinet Guy 
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Works Details

>Penderecki, Krzysztof : Pieces (3) in Baroque Style, for orchestra
  • Conductor: Antoni Wit
  • Ensemble: Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra
  • Running Time: 6 min. 11 sec.
  • Period Time: Contemporary
  • Written: 1963

>Penderecki, Krzysztof : Serenade for string orchestra
  • Conductor: Antoni Wit
  • Notes: Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw, Poland (09/06/2008/09/07/2008)
  • Running Time: 9 min. 55 sec.
  • Period Time: Contemporary
  • Written: 1996-1997

>Penderecki, Krzysztof : Sinfonietta, for strings (orchestration of String Trio)
  • Conductor: Antoni Wit
  • Notes: Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw, Poland (09/08/2008/12/03/2008)
  • Running Time: 8 min. 44 sec.
  • Period Time: Contemporary
  • Form: Orchestral
  • Written: 1992

>Penderecki, Krzysztof : Intermezzo for 24 strings
  • Conductor: Antoni Wit
  • Running Time: 6 min. 54 sec.
  • Period Time: Contemporary
  • Written: 1973

>Penderecki, Krzysztof : Capriccio for oboe & 11 strings
  • Performer: Jean-Louis Capezzali (Oboe)
  • Conductor: Antoni Wit
  • Notes: Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw, Poland (09/08/2008/09/09/2008)
  • Running Time: 6 min. 10 sec.
  • Period Time: Contemporary
  • Written: 1965

>Penderecki, Krzysztof : Sinfonietta no 2, for clarinet & strings (orchestration of Clarinet Quartet)
  • Performer: Artur Pachlewski (Clarinet)
  • Conductor: Antoni Wit
  • Notes: Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw, Poland (09/22/2008/09/23/2008)
  • Running Time: 14 min. 11 sec.
  • Period Time: Contemporary
  • Written: 1994