# Probably one of the finest CDs ever published



## geoffrey terry (Sep 4, 2008)

The CD that won the 'German Record Critics Prize' for the 'Best Historic Recording' of 2012 (Q4).

An incredible performance, with audiophile sound quality, of Tchaikowsky's fourth. And, on the same CD, the great Wanda Wilkomirska performing the Britten violin concerto. The concert concludes with the 'Mazur' from The Haunted Manor by Moniuszko. Absolutely thrilling.

Don't take my word for it. Here are quotations from internationally recognised critics:
"Wiłkomirska remains sweet, and focused, of tone throughout … her assurance is perhaps at its zenith in her playing of the Passacaglia, which is powerful, virtuosic, expressively cogent, and where we find she retains virtuosity and tonal vibrance to the very end. This joins the admittedly small discography of the work, and does so on sheer merit."

"Rowicki directs a compelling, dramatic Tchaikovsky Four … With a sweeping battalion of strings at his disposal, punctuating brass and amazingly vivid percussion definition, courtesy of another of [OCCDs'] top class microphone placements, this is a seismic rendition of the symphony."

"Hair-shirt production values from this company ensure that terrific concerts such as this have a continuing and richly deserved afterlife."
-Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, December 2011

"Really, your recording is of demonstration quality, with all the clarity one could ask for. The balance between soloists and orchestra, the dynamic range and the stereo separation are excellent. Well done!"
-Graham B. Slater, former BBC engineer, private correspondence, 5th February 2012

"[T]his is a breathtaking performance of the Britten […] Musicianship of the highest order from soloist, conductor, and orchestra IMHO. And a simply stunning live performance exquisitely recorded. Nothing is lost. Quite outstanding, and one of my 'best buys' this year."
-Andrew Magnay, UK on the Violinist.com forum, 22nd May 2012

"[…] Wiłkomirska's radiant performance is typical of her supremely agile, subtly inflected and lyrical playing style, and Rowicki accompanies with his characteristic skill. This disc is well worth acquiring for the Britten alone, but Rowicki's account of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony is remarkable too. This is no routine outing for a familiar warhorse but a thrilling performance that seems to relish living dangerously and that bristles with dark, propulsive energy from start to finish. The impact of the playing is helped by the superb sound of the recording - [… this disc is] an extraordinary success from a technical point of view as well." -Nigel Simeone, International Record Review, June 2012

"Climbing a few rungs up the sonic ladder finds us in the company of the fine Polish violinist Wanda Wiłkomirska with the Warsaw Philharmonic under a favorite conductor of mine, Witold Rowicki, for a brightly lit presentation of Britten's Violin Concerto."

"…stereo results […] rival those that the 'majors' were achieving with a budget of thousands! This particular concert […] also includes a highly combustible Tchaikovsky Fourth and the thrilling 'Mazur' from The Haunted Manor by Moniuszko." -Rob Cowan, Gramophone, July 2012
"[The performances] are, in a word, riveting … [Wiłkomirska's] performance of the very difficult Britten concerto is simply awe-inspiring. I was struck dumb by her increasingly arching upward phrases, at times almost making her violin sound as if she were trying to break into the ionosphere … I was absolutely mesmerized by Wiłkomirska's performance and I think you will be, too."

"[T]his is a heck of a great disc and I recommend it highly. It won the 2012 German Record Critics' prize, and well deserved it." 
-Lynn René Bayley, Fanfare, 36:3, January/February 2013"
Wanda Wiłkomirska is a distinguished advocate of the Britten Violin Concerto, and was clearly on top form at a Royal Festival Hall performance in 1967, […proving] movingly persuasive in the work's many lyrical passages." "Wanda Wiłkomirska is a distinguished advocate of the Britten Violin Concerto, and was clearly on top form at a Royal Festival Hall performance in 1967, […proving] movingly persuasive in the work's many lyrical passages." 
-The Strad, July 2012
The first work on this live concert recording is extremely difficult to capture, balancing the Orchestra is enough of a challenge but to balance the orchestra with the solo violin could easily have resulted in the same technical difficulties that appear on most recordings of the work. The soloist is invariable covered with a 'spot' microphone, which results in the instrument sounding unnaturally forward of the orchestra; conversely the orchestral sections, wind in particular, tend to seem distant and on tutti ff passages the overall sound is often just a jumble.
No such difficulties are apparent on this recording. What is extraordinary is that the balance is perfectly natural, the soloist is never drowned by the orchestra, and every note from the violin, even soft passages, are clear and precise. Extraordinary also because only two microphones were used to capture every detail penned by Benjamin Britten, whose centennial anniversary of birth is 2013. Even more amazing is that the Royal Festival Hall in London has always been considered to have 'difficult' acoustics. This amazing CD belies that judgment.
Witold Rowicki commands the trombones to ensure that no one is relaxing in the audience, as the Tchaikovsky 4th symphony gives the impression of being performed for the first time. The rich sound of the French Horns confirm the order and a momentous journey commences. It is rare to hear the full body of the string section, generally one is conscious of hearing the strings but in this rendering, of what we often forget is one of the greatest symphonies every written, there is no doubt as to the presence of a full compliment of: violins, ten plus ten, violas, ten, double basses ten - a glorious and rich. The plaintive sound of the oboe opens the second movement, with the strings repeating the theme, which gradually builds to a powerful tutti crescendo. The second crescendo of the movement highlights the timpani, which do, unusually, actually sound as we hear them in the concert hall. The horns encourage the development which then slowly diminishes in both dynamic and tempo returning to the original theme on Bassoon this time.
The scherzo is a tour de force both with respect to the orchestration, where the discussions between pizzicato strings and woodwind often seem like birds chirping merrily and excitedly; all emphasized by the eerily realistic sound - suddenly we are really in the RFH. The oboe's sustained, high A, announcing the trio section, is followed by four staccato, pizzicato chords which precede hoity-toity arrogance from the woodwind in close harmony. The brass, supported by woodwind interjections, exerts its authority and instructs that the whole thing should begin again, and so it does until we reach the final conversation: strings, wind and brass, the excitement reaching fever pitch with the piccolo cutting the air with shrill superiority. Phew! Time for relaxation - No chance. The Allegro con fuoco punches us in the mouth with grande fuoco. The glorious sound of a highly professional, symphony orchestra, under the direction of a master, one who has no fear. He drives the passion and romance on. Watch out another ff crash. Is there no relief? Tchaikowsky asked Sergey Tanyef, 'Ought it not to express everything for which there are no words, but which gushes forth from the soul and cries out to be expressed? He went on to say, in late 1878, "I adore terribly this child of mine; it is one of only a few works with which I have not experienced disappointment".
How then could we not be other than disappointed? This great work should not rest on the shelf. Dust it off give it an airing.
Maestro Rowicki delighted in using the Moniuszko Mazur as his trump card and in the concert of April 1967 we have a stark example of how it should be, both in performance and, should it be a recording, in natural sound quality. The audience expresses its delight, a delight that anyone listening to this great CD must also experience; it should be present in all classical music collections.
Here is a link to the CD with a sound sample: http://www.occds.org/cd/cd012.html
Lazinov


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