PANUKNIK · LUTOSLOWSKI · SZYMANSKI : Piano Concertos (Ewa Pobłocka) (1998) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

PANUFNIK · LUTOSLAWSKI : String Quartets (Tippett Quartets) (2014) FLAC (tracks), lossless

 Polish composers Andrzej Panufnik (father of Roxanna) and Witold Lutoslawski were near contemporaries, but the string quartets of Panufnik here (and much of his other music besides) follow that of Lutoslawski chronologically as well as stylistically. The three quartets by Panufnik and the single example by Lutoslawski here share a reflective, deliberate mood and several principles of organization: a nonserial, but pitch-collection-oriented, tonal world; extreme yet subtly handled textures; and aspects of aleatoric (chance) procedure, controlled as to its overall effect but imparting a kind of instrumental freedom. The program makes sense, but it's hard to escape the feeling that Lutoslawski does it better: the dry structural organization of the Panufnik quartets doesn't quite fit with the extramusical content like the rhythm of wind in telegraph wires. The Tippett Quartet is very much in its element here, though, and it is likely that these rather underexposed works will find an audience among those interested in the consistently strong Polish contemporary scene of the later 20th century. James Manheim

ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK : Nocturne - Symphonic Works, Vol. 1 ( Łukasz Borowicz / Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra ) (2010) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The six pieces on this program have not been recorded often. Prior to the release of this disc, the Heroic Overture had three recordings; the Nocturne had two; the Tragic Overture, the Katyn Epitaph, and Harmony had one recording apiece; and A Procession for Peace has never been recorded before. But all of them are magnificently played here. Lukasz Borowicz and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra give everything they've got to the music, and the result is not only wholly compelling from start to finish, it easily outclasses virtually all previous performances of these pieces. Each work here, while characteristic of the composer, is distinctive. The Tragic Overture is stark and relentless, the Nocturne is dark and sinister, the Heroic Overture is mighty and majestic, the Katyn Epitaph is harsh and demanding, and Harmony is smooth, sleek and silky, while the world-premiere A Procession for Peace turns out to be a powerful tonal march with brass and percussion well to the fore. Thus, any fan of Panufnik should by all means try this disc, and any fan of postwar modernism probably should, too. CPO's digital sound is cool but clear. by James Leonard
All tracks & Credits

ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK : Polonia - Symphonic Works, Vol. 2 (Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Łukasz Borowicz) (2010) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK : Mistica - Symphonic Works, Vol. 3 (Łukasz Borowicz) (2011) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK : Sacra - Symphonic Works, Vol. 4 (Łukasz Borowicz, Konzerthausorchester Berlin) (2011) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK : Votiva - Symphonic Works, Vol. 5 (Łukasz Borowicz) (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK : Speranza - Symphonic Works, Vol. 6 (Łukasz Borowicz, Konzerthausorchester Berlin) (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik departed for Britain in 1954, when the Communist experiment in Poland began to go sour. His music, though, remained more Polish than British. At times he seems to have aimed at a somewhat simpler version of the style of his friend Witold Lutoslawski, with whom he played duets in Warsaw cafes during the darkest days of World War II (concerts and other public gatherings being forbidden). His later works often involve the use of small melodic cells, heavily manipulated. Panufnik's Symphony No. 9 ("Sinfonia di Speranza") was commissioned in 1986 for the 175th anniversary of the Royal Philharmonic Society. The orchestra suggested a choral work on the model of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125. Panufnik rejected the suggestion, but the 40-minute symphony, although not tonal, seems to have characteristics of both the first movement and the chorale finale, with its reworked and ultimately triumphal musical motif of hope (the work's subtitle means "symphony of hope"). With a little help from the booklet notes, which are largely quoted from Panufnik's own writings about the work, the music is quite accessible. There is a six-note "hope" motif, falling into two halves, that appears at the beginning of the work in various melodic and rhythmic guises, falls away in a central section that Panufnik calls "cold"), and returns for a stirring finale. The performance here by the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Lukasz Borowicz captures the essentially Romantic quality of the work, despite its modern harmonic world and theoretical basis, and CPO's sound engineering, executed on the orchestra's home ground of the Konzerthaus Berlin, is very strong. The very colorful Concertino for timpani, percussion, and strings, with an unusually melodic timpani part originally premiered by the great Evelyn Glennie, is a thoroughly enjoyable curtain-raiser, and either work on the program here might serve an orchestra well for contemporary programming that makes no crossover concessions but should be accessible to a wide range of audiences. by James Manheim 

ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK : Sfere - Symphonic Works, Vol. 7 (Łukasz Borowicz) (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

ANDRZEJ PANUFNIK : Concertos - Symphonic Works, Vol. 8 (Kupiec, Sitkovetsky, Wallfisch, Borowicz) (2014) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless