Lutoslawski: Symphony No. 3; Paganini Variations; Paroles Tiss?es; Les Espaces du Sommeil
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Free Music Notes for Lutoslawski: Symphony No. 3; Paganini Variations; Paroles Tiss?es; Les Espaces du Sommeil
Free Music Review: The cry of the clown and of the quail of the partridge of the sweep, of the dead tree of creatures caught
Hit: 4 Stars
My title is an English translation of a line from Chabrun's poem "Paroles tiss?es," which is, of course, Lotoslawski's vision and rendering of the second track on this CD. This piece sort of sets the pace for the entire CD, a surreal composition-noir, somewhat atonal and reminiscent of Schoenberg's "Pierrot lunaire," ("The Sick Moon"), in it's overall ambiance.
Rather than to attempt a futile verbal description of the music, I'll just make some general observations about it.
1. It's all pretty brilliant.
2. It's great music for scholastic study. Any student of piano or voice would much appreciate its numerous unique qualities.
3. As most of the compositions harbor a dark quality, those who are looking for some melodic dinner music should look elsewhere. The "Paganini Variations" are pretty upbeat but they're a bit of a tempest.
4. "Symphony No. 3" is the feature piece, very atmospheric and, at the same time, dynamic. The length of this particular entry is just over 31 minutes.
The chief performers are Bernd Glemser, piano (very competent!); Piotr Kusiewicz, tenor; Adam Kruszewski, Baritone, and; The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit, conducting. All have done a fine job on this recording -- it's all very tight and comprehensible. Naxos has also achieved a spectacular job on capturing the vital overall feel of the performances.
All the compositions fall into the category of "modern music," extending far into that realm beyond the works of, say, Stravinsky. Think Weber, Berg, and Schoenberg. Witold Lutoslawski lived from 1913 to 1994.
I highly recommend the recording for those who have an appreciation for complex, modern classical works but it's clearly not for everyone.
Free Music Review: Half a loaf not always better
Hit: 2 Stars
Lutoslawski's Paganini Variations is very engaging. His vocal music leaves me cold. His Symphony #3 is half annoying and half stunning. Why a talented composer writes a work in which the first section is intended to be unsatisfying--and obtains this result--is beyond me. The second section is stunning, but the composer simply wastes my time with the first section. Unfortunately, he does the same thing in several other of his so-called "mature" works. In sum, the "mature" Lutoslawski is not for me. Caveat Emptor!
Free Music Review: Surrealism in music.
Hit: 5 Stars
Few composers have come as close as Lutoslawski to achieving an aural equivalent to the Surrealist universe. In his epic setting of Robert Desnos' 'Les espaces du sommeil' (the spaces of Sleep), he creates a restless, nocturnal world, fraught and fragile with fragments of sound imploding and exploding, like a dreamer stumbling through a nightmare, fearful of what the next footstep will bring; a fluid world of metamorphoses - of the self, of the elusive object of desire, of the environment, of the atmosphere. The delicious song-cycle 'Parole Tissees' (woven words), based on a poem by Jean-Francois Chabrun, is close to Ravel in its playful use of the orchestra to evoke sounds and colour, describing a very Ravelian world of screeching cats, shadows, spells, horses etc. - the representations aren't dully onomatopaeic, but disturbingly suggestive. The second movement, 'Quand le jour au revert les branches du jardin', has a precarious night stillness, a hush of wonder and imminent transformation, the equal of anything by the master. the use of Polish singers to sing French texts is inspired - not only signifying Lutoslawski's outsider status as a Pole working with a foreign language; but in dramatising that estrangement from one's very self that is the experience of these poems and settings.
Although the monumental Symphony no.3 has no direct basis in Surrealist literature, it carries over this unsettling world-view from the previous works in its vast and terrifying soundscape, its ringing clash of modes and sounds, its lurching from the grotesque and carnivalesque to the lush and melodic. You emerge from it convinced you've voyaged through another world. The CD begins, incongruously perhaps, with yet another variation on Paganini's over-familiar theme, but the composer's very defamiliarising of this piece, his darkening and reworking and reconfiguring it until it sounds new and strange, is itself Surrealist.
Antoni Wit and his Polish National Symphony Orchestra may not agree with what I've just written, but they extract maximum imaginative thought and feeling from these works.
Free Music Review: Magnificent Lutoslawski at a bargain price!
Hit: 5 Stars
This disc is an absolute must for anyone that enjoys the music of Lutoslawski. Considering that these pieces cannot be found on very many recordings, there isn't a lot to compare them to, but in this case, they don't have to be compared to anything - they simply stand wonderfully on their own. The 'Paganini Variations' are superbly performed by Wit and Bernd Glemser. Piotr Kusiewicz makes 'Paroles Tissees' sound like it was written for him. 'Les Espaces du Sommeil' is almost entracing in its beauty, and thrilling in its climax. And, of course, the 3rd Symphony. From the opening and closing Beethovenesque notes to all of the majesty that falls in between, this Symphony is certainly among the top five written in the last quarter-century. And this recording gives an electrifying account of it; maybe even better than the great one with Esa-Pekka Salonen.Free Music Review: The best "Third" and sensational Paganini Var.
Hit: 5 Stars
After listening with great enthusiasm to Salonen's recording of the 3rd (as well as that of the composer conducting), I always skipped that portion of this disc, on the assumption that I already knew the third in excellent performances. What a revelation the Wit performance is. And the Polish RSO has the deepest possible identification with this music. The intensity is almost terrifying but exhilerating. I simply couldn't believe how compelling this reading is. The other performances are equal to most other readings of these pieces and the bargain price makes it a must.
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