Kabara, Vlatkovic, Penderecki, Sinfonietta Cracovia - Pendereck: Horn Concerto & Violin Concerto No.1 (2010) [SACD]

Penderecki’s 1st Violin Concerto was written in 1976 for Isaac Stern who premiered the work and recorded it shortly afterwards for CBS with the Minnesota Orchestra under Stanislaw Skrowaczewski.
In the 1980s a second recording, conducted by the composer, appeared with Christiane Edinger as soloist. She had given the German premiere of the work in Stuttgart. Now 35 years on we have this phenomenal performance by Robert Kabara and Sinfonietta Cracovia recorded in state-of –the-art sound.
The work was the first example of Penderecki’s move away from his earlier avant-garde compositions, as represented by such pieces as ‘Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima’ and his opera ‘The Devils of Loudun’, to a quasi late-romantic style influenced by, amongst others, the music of Bruckner.
Originally Penderecki intended to write a three or four movement work but settled on a single unbroken span lasting around 40 minutes. This does demand an exceptional degree of concentration from the listener. The concerto is a very personal piece written when the composer’s father was dying and its predominantly sombre mood is suffused with both tragedy and anguish. On this recording Channel have helpfully provided three index points that allow the listener, if they so wish, to become familiar with the piece by breaking it down into four sections. The soloist Robert Kabara copes magnificently with his formidable solo part and his playing throughout is supremely eloquent. Try the cadenza (track 4 from 2’30) to experience the sensitivity of his performance.Penderecki composed much of his music of the last thirty years at his house in the tranquil southern Polish village of Luslawice, a setting that has provided the inspiration for many pieces including this Horn Concerto; its title ’Winterreise’, suggested by the winter landscape of the beautiful countryside around his home.The Horn Concerto is an immediately attractive piece, and in its short span (17’34”) it encompasses a wide variety of moods from the Wagnerian depths of the opening (shades of Das Rheingold) through which the solo horn emerges like the Kraken arising from the deep, to the baroque energy of the faster sections with its echoes of hunting horn calls. The composer’s brilliant orchestration, always one of the strengths of his compositions, is evident in the constantly changing textures of the concerto and his imaginative use throughout of the harp and glockenspiel and percussion. The magnificent horn playing of Radovan Vlatkovic is well known from his many recordings and his virtuosity in this concerto is breathtaking.Penderecki has always been a fine conductor and interpreter of his own music and the Sinfonietta Cracovia respond enthusiastically to his direction with eloquent playing, so it is probably safe to assume that this superb new recording represents the composer’s definitive view of both of these concertos.This is an indispensable recording for all admirers of Penderecki’s music and deserves a top recommendation for both performance and sound quality.Copyright © 2011 Graham Williams and HRAudio.net