Górecki: Symphony No 3; Olden Style Pieces

Advantages: deep
Disadvantages: need to be keen to listen

...A reliving of the second world war thought the eyes the Polish. Written in 1976 and dedicated to his wife, Henry Goreckis third symphoney was first performed in April 1977. Yet it has only had acclaim in recent years. It is a three part story of war. The first movement is dominated at the centre by a setting of the 15th cnetruy polish prayer known as the Holy Cross Lament. It is an amzing display of reversed cannons in the strings, beginning and ending with the double basses. It is only interupted a short time by the fabulous voice of Dawn upshaw and, for that magic moment, the piano strikes almost mystically. The second movement describes the prayer that was incscibed on wall 3 of cell 3 in the basement of the "Palace" - the Gestapos headquarter in Zakopane. Beneath is the signature of Helena Wanda Blazusiakowna and the words 18... Read review

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Advantages: Perfect Execution and some interesting obscurities
Disadvantages: The Real versions of all the pieces sound better

..." albums. So to the music on this album, what do you get? Everything is played in exemplary fashion, but this becomes pointless when real orchestral recordings of songs are available that sound as good as if not better than the Orbit versions. The pieces on the album are divided into three sections: 1: - Commonly Available Pieces: These are: Barber's "Adagio for Strings" (Even the single remix was a terrible kludge, taking the intro from the album and tacking on a rave beat to it, so hardly a remix.), Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante defunte", Mascagni's "Cavaliera Rusticana" and "Xerxes" by Handel . 2: - More Obscure Stuff , Therefore giving exposure to pieces that may not get it, although real renditions would still be prefereable These are: John Cage's "In a Landscape, "Ogive No 1" by Satie, and "Piece in the Old Style 1 and 3" (so... Read review

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Advantages: Great work
Disadvantages: none

...It is an amazing fact that a year after its first performance Anthony Payne's elaboration of Elgar's sketches for his Third Symphony have become part of the mainstream orchestral repertoire. Payne, a musicologist and a composer, took on the monumental task of pieceing together the few sketches that Elgar left before his death and expanding them in a complete symphony. The results are incredible. Although Payne is cautious to guard against calling the symphony an original Elgar work (as so much was of Payne's invention)the piece has an unmistakable Elgar feeling. Originally recorded by the partnership that gave the work's first performance (Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra) this new recording with the Bournemouth Symphony conducted by Paul Daniel (music director at English National Opera) is a much weightier and envigorating... Read review

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