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Stanisław Skrowaczewski, and in 1958 Witold Rowicki was again appointed artistic director and principal conductor, a post he held until 1977, when he was succeeded by , serving until the end of the centenary celebrations in 2001. In 2002 Antoni Wit became general and artistic director of the PENDERECKI Philharmonic – The National Orchestra and Choir of . The orchestra has toured widely abroad, in addition to its busy schedule at home in symphony concerts, chamber concerts, educational work and other activities. It now has a complement of 110 players. Utrenja Antoni Wit Hossa • Rehlis • Kusiewicz • Nowacki • Bezzubenkov Antoni Wit, one of the most highly regarded Polish conductors, studied conducting with Henryk Czyz and composition with Warsaw Boys’ Choir at the Academy of Music in Kraków, subsequently continuing his studies with in Paris. He also graduated in law at the Jagellonian University in Kraków. Immediately after completing his studies he was Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra engaged as an assistant at the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra by Witold Rowicki and was later appointed conductor of the Poznan Philharmonic, Antoni Wit collaborated with the Warsaw Grand Theatre, and from 1974 to 1977 was artistic director of the , before his appointment as director of the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra and Chorus in Kraków, from 1977 to 1983. From 1983 to 2000 he was the director of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, and from 1987 to 1992 he was the chief conductor and then first guest conductor of Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. In 2002 he became General and Artistic Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. His international career has brought engagements with major orchestras throughout Europe, the Americas and the Near and Far East. He has made nearly a hundred records, including an acclaimed release for Naxos of the piano concertos of Prokofiev, awarded the Diapason d’Or and Grand Prix du Disque de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque. In January 2002 his recording of the Turangalîla Symphony by (8.554478-79) was awarded the Cannes Classical Award in Midem Classic 2002. In 2004 he received the Classical Internet Award and was nominated for a Grammy for his Naxos recording of Penderecki’s St Luke Passion (8.557149), with a further nomination in 2005 for Penderecki’s Polish (8.557386-87). Antoni Wit is a professor at the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw.

This recording was sponsored by PZU

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Krzysztof Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir PENDERECKI The Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1952 by Zbigniew Soja and gave its first concert in May (b. 1933) 1953, under the then artistic director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Witold Rowicki. The present chorus-master Henryk Wojnarowski has held this position since 1978. In its wide repertoire the choir has more than 150 oratorios and choral works ranging from the medieval to the contemporary. Each year the choir collaborates in some ten Utrenja (1970-71) symphony and oratorio concerts with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the most important part of its artistic . activity. The choir also performs regularly at the Warsaw Autumn Festival and in Wrocław at the Wratislavia Part I: Zlozenie Chrystusa do grobu Cantans Festival. Many of these concerts have been recorded. Polish music, in particular works of Krzysztof (The Entombment of Christ) 40:13 Penderecki, Henryk Mikolaj Górecki and , is a very important part of the choir’s repertoire. The choir has performed all Penderecki’s oratorios and a cappella works, as well as his opera Paradise Lost. The 1 I. Troparion 6:13 Warsaw Philharmonic Choir is also very active internationally, appearing throughout Europe and beyond. There have been collaborations with the most renowned orchestras, and participation in operas at La Scala, Milan, La (incipit: “Blaniy s dresnyem s dreva prechistoye…”) Fenice, and in other major houses. In 1988 and 1990 the choir was invited to the Vatican to take part in celebrations 2 II. Pies´ni pochwalne (Songs of Praise) 16:38 of the successive anniversaries of Pope John Paul II’s pontificate, concerts that were televised and broadcast (incipit: “Blagosloven yesi Hospodi…”) throughout Europe. In December 2001 the choir, together with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, performed for 3 III. Irmos 6:36 John Paul II once again in a special concert commemorating the centenary of the Warsaw Philharmonic, this time presenting the Missa pro pace by Wojciech Kilar. Among the conductors who have performed with the Warsaw (incipit: “Bogoyavleniya Tvoyego, Hristye…”) Philharmonic Choir have been Witold Rowicki, Jerzy Semkow, Kazimierz Kord, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Krzysztof 4 IV. Kanon Wielkiej Soboty, Pies´n´ 9 Penderecki, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Leopold Stokowski, Gary Bertini, Sergiu Comissiona, Lorin Maazel, Seiji (Canon of Holy Saturday, Song 9) 2:13 Ozawa, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Igor Stravinsky and, of course, Antoni Wit, who is the Artistic Director of the (incipit: “Slava otsu i Sinu i Svyatomu…”) Warsaw Philharmonic, the National Orchestra and Choir of Poland. 5 V. Irmologion (Stichira) 8:33 Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (incipit: “Tyebye odyeyushchagosya…”) The National Philharmonic of Poland Part II: Zmartwychwstanie Pan´skie The first performance of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra took place on 5th November 1901 in the (The Resurrection of Christ) 34:38 newly opened Philharmonic Hall under the artistic 6 I. Ewangelia (The ) 2:35 director and principal conductor, Emil Młynarski. The 7 II. Stichira 6:39 soloist was the world-renowned pianist, composer and future statesman Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and the 8 III. Psalm z Troparionem (Psalm with Troparion) 8:22 programme included Paderewski’s Piano Concerto in 9 IV. Kanon Paschy, Pies´ni 1, 3 A minor and works of other Polish composers, Chopin, (Passover Canon, Songs 1 and 3) 3:43 Moniuszko, Noskowski, Stojowski and Z˙elen´ski. In 0 V. Kanon Paschy, Pies´n´ 8 (Passover Canon, Song 8) 2:50 the succeeding years the orchestra won a high reputation, collaborating with leading conductors and ! VI. Kontakion 2:41 soloists, until the outbreak of war in 1939, the @ VII. Ikos 1:43 destruction of the Philharmonic Hall and the loss of 39 of its 71 players. Resuming activity after the war, the # VIII. Kanon Paschy, Fragmenty orchestra was conducted by Straszyński and Panufnik, and in January 1950 Witold Rowicki was appointed director (Passover Canon, Fragments) 6:04 and principal conductor, organizing a new ensemble under difficult conditions. In 1955 the rebuilt Philharmonic Hall was re-opened, with a large hall of over a thousand seats and a 433-seat hall for chamber music, recognised as the National Philharmonic of Poland. Subsequent conductors included Bohdan Wodiczko, Arnold Rezler and 8.572031 2 7 8.572031 572031 bk Penderecki 4/2/09 16:15 Page 6

Piotr Kusiewicz Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933) Utrenja Piotr Kusiewicz enjoys a considerable reputation as a singer in oratorio. He studied piano and voice at the Gdan´sk Conservatory and in 1978 received first prize and two distinctions in the 13th Surprising though it may now seem, the appearance in usage. Part One, Entombment (which is dedicated to the International Antonin Dvořák Vocal Competition in Karlovy Vary. He has appeared in concerts 1962 of the by Krysztof Penderecki conductor Eugene Ormandy), was again commissioned and operas both in Poland and abroad, and has sung in major venues throughout Poland and caused something of a furore in avant-garde music by West German Radio. Its première took place in abroad, collaborating with leading conductors. Piotr Kusiewicz is much sought after for his circles. Coming soon after his radical orchestral works, Altenberg on 8th April 1970 under Andrzej Markowski, interpretations of contemporary music. He performs works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Witold the stark simplicity and emotional directness of the short followed by the Polish première in Kraków on 26th June Lutosławski, Krzysztof Baculewski, Edward Pałłasz, Juliusz Łuciuk, PawełŁukaszewski and choral piece led – not for the last time in the composer’s 1971. The work is for three male voices, tenor, bass and Zbigniew Preisner, and has been entrusted with the premières of their works. Festival career – to accusations of his being reactionary and basso profondo, which correspond, respectively, to the appearances include the Warsaw Autumn, the Gaude Mater (Człstochowa) and the Krzysztof turning his back on musical progress. Over four decades rôles of chaplain, deacon and lector, and for two female Penderecki Festival. He is head and professor of the Vocal Department at the Gdan´sk Musical on, however, the Stabat Mater can clearly be seen as voices, soprano and mezzo-soprano, who fulfil purely Academy and also teaches solo singing at the Musical Academy in Bydgoszcz. His thirty varied recordings include a having initiated that consolidation and synthesis which musical rôles. The soloists are supported by two choirs release of Witold Lutosławski’s Paroles tissées for Naxos. In March 2008 Piotr Kusiewicz was awarded the Holy Cross. Penderecki was to pursue, to varying degrees and on along with an orchestra rich in brass and percussion. different levels, in both the choral and instrumental After the première, West German Radio promptly Piotr Nowacki domains. commissioned Penderecki to compose the second part Equally worth bearing in mind is the composer’s of Utrenja. Thus Part Two, Resurrection, had its

n The Polish bass Piotr Nowacki graduated from the Łódz´ Academy of Music in 1985. He has stance, whether as a progressive composer within the première on 28th May 1971 in Münster, again under won prizes at vocal competitions in Warsaw, Kudowa, Bytom and Krynica, and took part in the conformist environment of post-Stalinist Poland or as a Markowski. This performance was preceded by finals of the Belvedere International Vocal Competition in Vienna, a success that brought him to devout Catholic in a nominally atheist society. The Entombment, and since then the two parts have La Scala, Milan, where he made his début in 1987 in the title-rôle in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Stabat Mater was among the first overt musical generally (though not exclusively) been heard as a unity. Tale of Tsar Saltan. He won a prize in the Luciano Pavarotti Competition in Philadelphia and expressions of religious faith in Poland since the Second The first Polish performance of the complete Utrenja was subsequently invited to sing the part of Wurm in Verdi’s Luisa Miller. He has also World War, and Penderecki did not hesitate to duly took place in Kraków on 16th September 1971 Photo: Jacek Gilu´ performed in Washington and at the Pablo Casals Festival in Puerto Rico. Following his return incorporate it into a fuller expression of faith when a with Jerzy Katlewicz conducting. It should be noted at from the United States in 1990, he has frequently sung at La Monnaie in Brussels and suitable opportunity arose. In 1964 West German Radio this point that, while the critical reception was at best throughout Europe. His operatic repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Richard Strauss, and he commissioned a large-scale choral work to equivocal, the response from Polish audiences in the has taken part in many concerts of oratorios, appearing as a guest at the international festivals in commemorate the 700th anniversary of the consecration aftermath of a governmental crackdown following the Edinburgh and Granada. He is a soloist of the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw. of Münster Cathedral: the Passio et mors Domini nostri Gdansk shipyard riots of the previous year was Iesu Christi secundam Lucam (St Luke Passion) being tumultuous. Gennady Bezzubenkov the outcome [Naxos 8.557149]. Moreover, the sheer Part One commences with the Troparion, which diversity of choral and orchestral techniques employed starts with sepulchral intoning in the lowest registers of People’s Artist of Russia, Honoured Artist of the RSFSR, recipient of the State Prize of Russia, was a paradigm for the large-scale choral works that the chorus, gradually expanding in its harmonic the Golden Sofit for his portrayal of Gurnemanz (Parsifal, 1997) and the Golden Mask, Russia’s Penderecki has since composed. complexity and also increasing in its expressive density. highest theatre prize, for best male rôle in Wagner’s opera Parsifal (1998) and recipient of the Although they were conceived and written Jagged phrases emerge out of the texture before this Baltika prize (2002), the bass Gennady Bezzubenkov was born in Staraya Vitelevka, Ulyanovsk separately, the two parts of Penderecki’s Utrenja form a fades out in the depths. Only with the Songs of Praise Region. He graduated from the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in 1979 and has triptych with his St Luke Passion: one that deals with does the orchestra enter, percussion soon being joined been a Mariinsky Theatre soloist since 1989. His repertoire includes over fifty rôles, ranging the events of the Paschal Triduum. Utrenja is inspired by glowering brass then rushing strings and also from Ivan Susanin, Varlaam, Pimen and Ivan Khovansky to the Commendatore, Don Alfonso, by the Orthodox liturgy of Holy Saturday, with its focus woodwind. The mezzo-soprano now has a solo which is King Marke, Hunding and Gurnemanz. He has toured with the Mariinsky Opera Company to on the lamentation of Christ’s and also of the echoed by the basso profondo and chorus, the latter Germany, France, Scotland (the Edinburgh Festival), Israel, the United States (Metropolitan Easter Sunday morning service which commemorates soon alighting on a harmonic cluster taking in responses Opera), Finland, Italy, Spain, Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Portugal, Luxembourg the Resurrection, and uses an Old Slavonic liturgical from both of the soloists, underpinned by complex and Turkey, and his audio and video recordings with the Mariinsky Theatre include War and text without inhibition as to its traditional function and choral textures. The tempo increases and the soloists Peace, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Iolanta, Sadko, The Fiery Angel and The Tsar’s Bride. 8.572031 63 8.572031 572031 bk Penderecki 4/2/09 16:15 Page 4

utter fragmentary gestures over pizzicato strings and passage of unison female voices and plangent Iwona Hossa percussion, leading to a more restrained choral cluster. woodwind. The tenor has an impassioned solo against The soprano and mezzo-soprano now launch an forceful percussion. There follows the Psalm with Polish soprano Iwona Hossa graduated in 1998 at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of impassioned build-up, before the male soloists see the Troparion, which amalgamates the various facets from Music in Poznan´ as a pupil of Ewa Wdowicka. She has won many prizes, including the work’s longest section through to a close against sparse the proceeding two sections into a sustained outpouring Grand Prix and Gold Medal at the Maria Callas International Singing Competition in percussion. where the deployment of the orchestra is heard at its Athens and the Mozart Special Prize at the Ada Sari International Vocal Competition in The Irmos begins with disembodied choral writing most resourceful. Choral chanting over aggressive Nowy Sącz. She was also a finalist of the Francisco Viñas International Vocal Competition that soon extends to spoken as well as to shouted percussion brings the work’s brass-capped climax, in Barcelona, the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg, and the Orfeo 2000 gestures. This once again evolves into a swarming making way for a passage where soprano and mezzo are International Vocal Competition in Hanover. She has taken part in many vocal master- texture, though here with the strident sound of sopranos heard in fervent supplication. classes, including those by Helena Lazarska, Leopold Spitzer, Ewa Podles, Sylwia Geszty at its apex. Gradually dying down, it expires in a haze of The remainder of the work will be dominated by and Ryszard Karczykowski. In 1996 she made her début as Violetta in La traviata at the breathless whispering and rustlings. Sombre brass settings from the Passover Canon. The First and Third State Opera in Poznan´, and since 2000 has been a soloist at the National Opera in Warsaw. chords introduce the Canon of Holy Saturday, then the Songs are drawn upon in music which involves the Her repertoire there includes leading rôles in Moniuszko’s operas, recorded also for EMI, bass launches a powerful monologue. This is contrasted, soloists and the chorus in a powerful entreaty, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Philippe in Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun, Norina in from the start of the Stichira, with the unison chanting intensified by the clamour of brass and percussion. Don Pasquale, Violetta, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Donna Anna in Don of male voices such as grows steadily and also Then, the Eighth Song is made the basis of a section in Giovanni, the title rôle in Aida, and Roxana in King Roger. She has taken part in several opera festivals, including remorselessly into a subdued choral complex to which which the wind and percussion trade vivid gestures, the Carcassone, Wexford and Pesaro, and has an extensive repertoire in oratorio and chamber music. In 2004 she brass and woodwind contribute at the very top of their choral writing being relatively subdued until the male received the Andrzej Hiolski Award for the best female rôle at the National Opera in Warsaw. Iwona Hossa has compass. There then follows a prolonged and resonant soloists have assumed the foreground. Their worked with conductors including Krzysztof Penderecki, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Jacek Kaspszyk, Kazimierz climax that draws on the entire complement of choral contribution leads into the Kontakion, a relatively Kord, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Antoni Wit, Gabriel Chmura, Maurizio Benini, David Jones, and David Agler. and orchestral resources, before leaving the chorus to inward section that draws on all five soloists for the first die down in fragmented textures toward a sombre close, and only time in the work. Equally serene choral Agnieszka Rehlis in the depths of the bass voices with which the work had chanting, soon juxtaposed with that of the basso opened. profondo, informs the Ikos. Suddenly, Fragments drawn The mezzo-soprano Agnieszka Rehlis graduated with honours from the Vocal and Acting Part Two opens with The Gospel, which begins with from the Passover Canon emerge with baleful Department of Wrocław’s K. Lipin´ski Academy of Music in 1996. She held a scholarship a tocsin-like percussive outburst alternating with spoken immediacy, the orchestra then adding its weight to an from the Ministry of Culture and Art from 1993 to 1996. As a student, she won first prize in and sung choral chants. Brass and bells then enter for a outburst in which the unison choral chanting resumes. A the Franciszka Platówna Vocal Competition in Wrocław, and in 1994 she won third prize second Stichira, before the sound of unison chanting last massive tutti for voices and instruments, as if in the oratorio category and a special prize for her rendition of Principes persecuti sunt, emerges in distinctive contrast. A powerful climax now encapsulating the emotional extremes of the work, at from Władysław Z˙elen´ski’s Communio, in the Third Inter-University Vocal Competition in ensues, from which the bass and basso profondo soon length fades into silence. Duszniki-Zdrój. She made her début at the Wrocław Opera in the part of Jadwiga in emerge in fervent imploring. The chorus responds with Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor, a production celebrating the opera house’s fiftieth further unison chant, the two alternating on the way to a Richard Whitehouse anniversary. She has also sung many other major opera parts, including Fenena in Nabucco, Maddalena, Siebel, Cherubino, Mercedes in Carmen, Meg Page in Falstaff and Flora in La Traviata. She has appeared with Wrocław Opera on tour in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy as well as at the Taipei National Theatre in Taiwan. A large part of her concert activity involves oratorio concerts with a repertoire of more than 45 works, ranging from Bach to Penderecki, with performances throughout Europe. With the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra conducted by Penderecki, she has given numerous performances of his Te Deum and A and of Dvořák’s Requiem. In January 2000 she sang in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Seven Gates of Jerusalem at Midem Classique 2000 in Cannes, in a performance conducted by the composer himself and recorded on DVD.

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utter fragmentary gestures over pizzicato strings and passage of unison female voices and plangent Iwona Hossa percussion, leading to a more restrained choral cluster. woodwind. The tenor has an impassioned solo against The soprano and mezzo-soprano now launch an forceful percussion. There follows the Psalm with Polish soprano Iwona Hossa graduated in 1998 at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of impassioned build-up, before the male soloists see the Troparion, which amalgamates the various facets from Music in Poznan´ as a pupil of Ewa Wdowicka. She has won many prizes, including the work’s longest section through to a close against sparse the proceeding two sections into a sustained outpouring Grand Prix and Gold Medal at the Maria Callas International Singing Competition in percussion. where the deployment of the orchestra is heard at its Athens and the Mozart Special Prize at the Ada Sari International Vocal Competition in The Irmos begins with disembodied choral writing most resourceful. Choral chanting over aggressive Nowy Sącz. She was also a finalist of the Francisco Viñas International Vocal Competition that soon extends to spoken as well as to shouted percussion brings the work’s brass-capped climax, in Barcelona, the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg, and the Orfeo 2000 gestures. This once again evolves into a swarming making way for a passage where soprano and mezzo are International Vocal Competition in Hanover. She has taken part in many vocal master- texture, though here with the strident sound of sopranos heard in fervent supplication. classes, including those by Helena Lazarska, Leopold Spitzer, Ewa Podles, Sylwia Geszty at its apex. Gradually dying down, it expires in a haze of The remainder of the work will be dominated by and Ryszard Karczykowski. In 1996 she made her début as Violetta in La traviata at the breathless whispering and rustlings. Sombre brass settings from the Passover Canon. The First and Third State Opera in Poznan´, and since 2000 has been a soloist at the National Opera in Warsaw. chords introduce the Canon of Holy Saturday, then the Songs are drawn upon in music which involves the Her repertoire there includes leading rôles in Moniuszko’s operas, recorded also for EMI, bass launches a powerful monologue. This is contrasted, soloists and the chorus in a powerful entreaty, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Philippe in Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun, Norina in from the start of the Stichira, with the unison chanting intensified by the clamour of brass and percussion. Don Pasquale, Violetta, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Donna Anna in Don of male voices such as grows steadily and also Then, the Eighth Song is made the basis of a section in Giovanni, the title rôle in Aida, and Roxana in King Roger. She has taken part in several opera festivals, including remorselessly into a subdued choral complex to which which the wind and percussion trade vivid gestures, the Carcassone, Wexford and Pesaro, and has an extensive repertoire in oratorio and chamber music. In 2004 she brass and woodwind contribute at the very top of their choral writing being relatively subdued until the male received the Andrzej Hiolski Award for the best female rôle at the National Opera in Warsaw. Iwona Hossa has compass. There then follows a prolonged and resonant soloists have assumed the foreground. Their worked with conductors including Krzysztof Penderecki, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Jacek Kaspszyk, Kazimierz climax that draws on the entire complement of choral contribution leads into the Kontakion, a relatively Kord, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Antoni Wit, Gabriel Chmura, Maurizio Benini, David Jones, and David Agler. and orchestral resources, before leaving the chorus to inward section that draws on all five soloists for the first die down in fragmented textures toward a sombre close, and only time in the work. Equally serene choral Agnieszka Rehlis in the depths of the bass voices with which the work had chanting, soon juxtaposed with that of the basso opened. profondo, informs the Ikos. Suddenly, Fragments drawn The mezzo-soprano Agnieszka Rehlis graduated with honours from the Vocal and Acting Part Two opens with The Gospel, which begins with from the Passover Canon emerge with baleful Department of Wrocław’s K. Lipin´ski Academy of Music in 1996. She held a scholarship a tocsin-like percussive outburst alternating with spoken immediacy, the orchestra then adding its weight to an from the Ministry of Culture and Art from 1993 to 1996. As a student, she won first prize in and sung choral chants. Brass and bells then enter for a outburst in which the unison choral chanting resumes. A the Franciszka Platówna Vocal Competition in Wrocław, and in 1994 she won third prize second Stichira, before the sound of unison chanting last massive tutti for voices and instruments, as if in the oratorio category and a special prize for her rendition of Principes persecuti sunt, emerges in distinctive contrast. A powerful climax now encapsulating the emotional extremes of the work, at from Władysław Z˙elen´ski’s Communio, in the Third Inter-University Vocal Competition in ensues, from which the bass and basso profondo soon length fades into silence. Duszniki-Zdrój. She made her début at the Wrocław Opera in the part of Jadwiga in emerge in fervent imploring. The chorus responds with Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor, a production celebrating the opera house’s fiftieth further unison chant, the two alternating on the way to a Richard Whitehouse anniversary. She has also sung many other major opera parts, including Fenena in Nabucco, Maddalena, Siebel, Cherubino, Mercedes in Carmen, Meg Page in Falstaff and Flora in La Traviata. She has appeared with Wrocław Opera on tour in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy as well as at the Taipei National Theatre in Taiwan. A large part of her concert activity involves oratorio concerts with a repertoire of more than 45 works, ranging from Bach to Penderecki, with performances throughout Europe. With the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra conducted by Penderecki, she has given numerous performances of his Te Deum and A Polish Requiem and of Dvořák’s Requiem. In January 2000 she sang in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Seven Gates of Jerusalem at Midem Classique 2000 in Cannes, in a performance conducted by the composer himself and recorded on DVD.

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Piotr Kusiewicz Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933) Utrenja Piotr Kusiewicz enjoys a considerable reputation as a singer in oratorio. He studied piano and voice at the Gdan´sk Conservatory and in 1978 received first prize and two distinctions in the 13th Surprising though it may now seem, the appearance in usage. Part One, Entombment (which is dedicated to the International Antonin Dvořák Vocal Competition in Karlovy Vary. He has appeared in concerts 1962 of the Stabat Mater by Krysztof Penderecki conductor Eugene Ormandy), was again commissioned and operas both in Poland and abroad, and has sung in major venues throughout Poland and caused something of a furore in avant-garde music by West German Radio. Its première took place in abroad, collaborating with leading conductors. Piotr Kusiewicz is much sought after for his circles. Coming soon after his radical orchestral works, Altenberg on 8th April 1970 under Andrzej Markowski, interpretations of contemporary music. He performs works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Witold the stark simplicity and emotional directness of the short followed by the Polish première in Kraków on 26th June Lutosławski, Krzysztof Baculewski, Edward Pałłasz, Juliusz Łuciuk, PawełŁukaszewski and choral piece led – not for the last time in the composer’s 1971. The work is for three male voices, tenor, bass and Zbigniew Preisner, and has been entrusted with the premières of their works. Festival career – to accusations of his being reactionary and basso profondo, which correspond, respectively, to the appearances include the Warsaw Autumn, the Gaude Mater (Człstochowa) and the Krzysztof turning his back on musical progress. Over four decades rôles of chaplain, deacon and lector, and for two female Penderecki Festival. He is head and professor of the Vocal Department at the Gdan´sk Musical on, however, the Stabat Mater can clearly be seen as voices, soprano and mezzo-soprano, who fulfil purely Academy and also teaches solo singing at the Musical Academy in Bydgoszcz. His thirty varied recordings include a having initiated that consolidation and synthesis which musical rôles. The soloists are supported by two choirs release of Witold Lutosławski’s Paroles tissées for Naxos. In March 2008 Piotr Kusiewicz was awarded the Holy Cross. Penderecki was to pursue, to varying degrees and on along with an orchestra rich in brass and percussion. different levels, in both the choral and instrumental After the première, West German Radio promptly Piotr Nowacki domains. commissioned Penderecki to compose the second part Equally worth bearing in mind is the composer’s of Utrenja. Thus Part Two, Resurrection, had its

n The Polish bass Piotr Nowacki graduated from the Łódz´ Academy of Music in 1985. He has stance, whether as a progressive composer within the première on 28th May 1971 in Münster, again under won prizes at vocal competitions in Warsaw, Kudowa, Bytom and Krynica, and took part in the conformist environment of post-Stalinist Poland or as a Markowski. This performance was preceded by finals of the Belvedere International Vocal Competition in Vienna, a success that brought him to devout Catholic in a nominally atheist society. The Entombment, and since then the two parts have La Scala, Milan, where he made his début in 1987 in the title-rôle in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Stabat Mater was among the first overt musical generally (though not exclusively) been heard as a unity. Tale of Tsar Saltan. He won a prize in the Luciano Pavarotti Competition in Philadelphia and expressions of religious faith in Poland since the Second The first Polish performance of the complete Utrenja was subsequently invited to sing the part of Wurm in Verdi’s Luisa Miller. He has also World War, and Penderecki did not hesitate to duly took place in Kraków on 16th September 1971 Photo: Jacek Gilu´ performed in Washington and at the Pablo Casals Festival in Puerto Rico. Following his return incorporate it into a fuller expression of faith when a with Jerzy Katlewicz conducting. It should be noted at from the United States in 1990, he has frequently sung at La Monnaie in Brussels and suitable opportunity arose. In 1964 West German Radio this point that, while the critical reception was at best throughout Europe. His operatic repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Richard Strauss, and he commissioned a large-scale choral work to equivocal, the response from Polish audiences in the has taken part in many concerts of oratorios, appearing as a guest at the international festivals in commemorate the 700th anniversary of the consecration aftermath of a governmental crackdown following the Edinburgh and Granada. He is a soloist of the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw. of Münster Cathedral: the Passio et mors Domini nostri Gdansk shipyard riots of the previous year was Iesu Christi secundam Lucam (St Luke Passion) being tumultuous. Gennady Bezzubenkov the outcome [Naxos 8.557149]. Moreover, the sheer Part One commences with the Troparion, which diversity of choral and orchestral techniques employed starts with sepulchral intoning in the lowest registers of People’s Artist of Russia, Honoured Artist of the RSFSR, recipient of the State Prize of Russia, was a paradigm for the large-scale choral works that the chorus, gradually expanding in its harmonic the Golden Sofit for his portrayal of Gurnemanz (Parsifal, 1997) and the Golden Mask, Russia’s Penderecki has since composed. complexity and also increasing in its expressive density. highest theatre prize, for best male rôle in Wagner’s opera Parsifal (1998) and recipient of the Although they were conceived and written Jagged phrases emerge out of the texture before this Baltika prize (2002), the bass Gennady Bezzubenkov was born in Staraya Vitelevka, Ulyanovsk separately, the two parts of Penderecki’s Utrenja form a fades out in the depths. Only with the Songs of Praise Region. He graduated from the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in 1979 and has triptych with his St Luke Passion: one that deals with does the orchestra enter, percussion soon being joined been a Mariinsky Theatre soloist since 1989. His repertoire includes over fifty rôles, ranging the events of the Paschal Triduum. Utrenja is inspired by glowering brass then rushing strings and also from Ivan Susanin, Varlaam, Pimen and Ivan Khovansky to the Commendatore, Don Alfonso, by the Orthodox liturgy of Holy Saturday, with its focus woodwind. The mezzo-soprano now has a solo which is King Marke, Hunding and Gurnemanz. He has toured with the Mariinsky Opera Company to on the lamentation of Christ’s death and also of the echoed by the basso profondo and chorus, the latter Germany, France, Scotland (the Edinburgh Festival), Israel, the United States (Metropolitan Easter Sunday morning service which commemorates soon alighting on a harmonic cluster taking in responses Opera), Finland, Italy, Spain, Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Portugal, Luxembourg the Resurrection, and uses an Old Slavonic liturgical from both of the soloists, underpinned by complex and Turkey, and his audio and video recordings with the Mariinsky Theatre include War and text without inhibition as to its traditional function and choral textures. The tempo increases and the soloists Peace, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Iolanta, Sadko, The Fiery Angel and The Tsar’s Bride. 8.572031 63 8.572031 572031 bk Penderecki 4/2/09 16:15 Page 2

Krzysztof Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir PENDERECKI The Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1952 by Zbigniew Soja and gave its first concert in May (b. 1933) 1953, under the then artistic director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Witold Rowicki. The present chorus-master Henryk Wojnarowski has held this position since 1978. In its wide repertoire the choir has more than 150 oratorios and choral works ranging from the medieval to the contemporary. Each year the choir collaborates in some ten Utrenja (1970-71) symphony and oratorio concerts with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the most important part of its artistic . activity. The choir also performs regularly at the Warsaw Autumn Festival and in Wrocław at the Wratislavia Part I: Zlozenie Chrystusa do grobu Cantans Festival. Many of these concerts have been recorded. Polish music, in particular works of Krzysztof (The Entombment of Christ) 40:13 Penderecki, Henryk Mikolaj Górecki and Wojciech Kilar, is a very important part of the choir’s repertoire. The choir has performed all Penderecki’s oratorios and a cappella works, as well as his opera Paradise Lost. The 1 I. Troparion 6:13 Warsaw Philharmonic Choir is also very active internationally, appearing throughout Europe and beyond. There have been collaborations with the most renowned orchestras, and participation in operas at La Scala, Milan, La (incipit: “Blaniy s dresnyem s dreva prechistoye…”) Fenice, and in other major houses. In 1988 and 1990 the choir was invited to the Vatican to take part in celebrations 2 II. Pies´ni pochwalne (Songs of Praise) 16:38 of the successive anniversaries of Pope John Paul II’s pontificate, concerts that were televised and broadcast (incipit: “Blagosloven yesi Hospodi…”) throughout Europe. In December 2001 the choir, together with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, performed for 3 III. Irmos 6:36 John Paul II once again in a special concert commemorating the centenary of the Warsaw Philharmonic, this time presenting the Missa pro pace by Wojciech Kilar. Among the conductors who have performed with the Warsaw (incipit: “Bogoyavleniya Tvoyego, Hristye…”) Philharmonic Choir have been Witold Rowicki, Jerzy Semkow, Kazimierz Kord, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Krzysztof 4 IV. Kanon Wielkiej Soboty, Pies´n´ 9 Penderecki, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Leopold Stokowski, Gary Bertini, Sergiu Comissiona, Lorin Maazel, Seiji (Canon of Holy Saturday, Song 9) 2:13 Ozawa, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Igor Stravinsky and, of course, Antoni Wit, who is the Artistic Director of the (incipit: “Slava otsu i Sinu i Svyatomu…”) Warsaw Philharmonic, the National Orchestra and Choir of Poland. 5 V. Irmologion (Stichira) 8:33 Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (incipit: “Tyebye odyeyushchagosya…”) The National Philharmonic of Poland Part II: Zmartwychwstanie Pan´skie The first performance of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra took place on 5th November 1901 in the (The Resurrection of Christ) 34:38 newly opened Philharmonic Hall under the artistic 6 I. Ewangelia (The Gospel) 2:35 director and principal conductor, Emil Młynarski. The 7 II. Stichira 6:39 soloist was the world-renowned pianist, composer and future statesman Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and the 8 III. Psalm z Troparionem (Psalm with Troparion) 8:22 programme included Paderewski’s Piano Concerto in 9 IV. Kanon Paschy, Pies´ni 1, 3 A minor and works of other Polish composers, Chopin, (Passover Canon, Songs 1 and 3) 3:43 Moniuszko, Noskowski, Stojowski and Z˙elen´ski. In 0 V. Kanon Paschy, Pies´n´ 8 (Passover Canon, Song 8) 2:50 the succeeding years the orchestra won a high reputation, collaborating with leading conductors and ! VI. Kontakion 2:41 soloists, until the outbreak of war in 1939, the @ VII. Ikos 1:43 destruction of the Philharmonic Hall and the loss of 39 of its 71 players. Resuming activity after the war, the # VIII. Kanon Paschy, Fragmenty orchestra was conducted by Straszyński and Panufnik, and in January 1950 Witold Rowicki was appointed director (Passover Canon, Fragments) 6:04 and principal conductor, organizing a new ensemble under difficult conditions. In 1955 the rebuilt Philharmonic Hall was re-opened, with a large hall of over a thousand seats and a 433-seat hall for chamber music, recognised as the National Philharmonic of Poland. Subsequent conductors included Bohdan Wodiczko, Arnold Rezler and 8.572031 2 7 8.572031 572031 bk Penderecki 4/2/09 16:15 Page 8

Stanisław Skrowaczewski, and in 1958 Witold Rowicki was again appointed artistic director and principal conductor, a post he held until 1977, when he was succeeded by Kazimierz Kord, serving until the end of the centenary celebrations in 2001. In 2002 Antoni Wit became general and artistic director of the Warsaw PENDERECKI Philharmonic – The National Orchestra and Choir of Poland. The orchestra has toured widely abroad, in addition to its busy schedule at home in symphony concerts, chamber concerts, educational work and other activities. It now has a complement of 110 players. Utrenja Antoni Wit Hossa • Rehlis • Kusiewicz • Nowacki • Bezzubenkov Antoni Wit, one of the most highly regarded Polish conductors, studied conducting with Henryk Czyz and composition with Krzysztof Penderecki Warsaw Boys’ Choir at the Academy of Music in Kraków, subsequently continuing his studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He also graduated in law at the Jagellonian University in Kraków. Immediately after completing his studies he was Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra engaged as an assistant at the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra by Witold Rowicki and was later appointed conductor of the Poznan Philharmonic, Antoni Wit collaborated with the Warsaw Grand Theatre, and from 1974 to 1977 was artistic director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic, before his appointment as director of the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra and Chorus in Kraków, from 1977 to 1983. From 1983 to 2000 he was the director of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, and from 1987 to 1992 he was the chief conductor and then first guest conductor of Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. In 2002 he became General and Artistic Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. His international career has brought engagements with major orchestras throughout Europe, the Americas and the Near and Far East. He has made nearly a hundred records, including an acclaimed release for Naxos of the piano concertos of Prokofiev, awarded the Diapason d’Or and Grand Prix du Disque de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque. In January 2002 his recording of the Turangalîla Symphony by Olivier Messiaen (8.554478-79) was awarded the Cannes Classical Award in Midem Classic 2002. In 2004 he received the Classical Internet Award and was nominated for a Grammy for his Naxos recording of Penderecki’s St Luke Passion (8.557149), with a further nomination in 2005 for Penderecki’s Polish Requiem (8.557386-87). Antoni Wit is a professor at the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw.

This recording was sponsored by PZU

8.572031 8 Also available

8.557386-87 8.557766

8.557980 8.557149 CMYK NAXOS NAXOS Penderecki’s Utrenja was inspired by the Orthodox liturgy for Holy Saturday with its focus on the lamentation of Christ’s death and the Easter Sunday morning service commemorating the Resurrection. The composer remarks that ‘Utrenja is a combination of pure, a cappella vocal writing and orchestral effects (for strings and percussion) very much connected with electronic music’. Enthusiastically received by audiences, it stands beside his Polish Requiem (8.557386-87) DDD PENDERECKI: and St Luke Passion (8.557149) as one of the towering masterpieces of modern Polish music. PENDERECKI: 8.572031 Krzysztof Playing Time PENDERECKI 74:51 (b. 1933) Utrenja . Utrenja 1-5 Part I: Zlozenie Chrystusa do grobu Utrenja (The Entombment of Christ) (1970) 40:13

6-# Part II: Zmartwychwstanie Pan´skie

(The Resurrection of Christ) (1971)* 34:38 www.naxos.com Disc made in Canada. Printed and assembled USA. Booklet notes in English &

Iwona Hossa, Soprano • Agnieszka Rehlis, Mezzo-soprano 2009 Naxos Rights International Ltd. Piotr Kusiewicz, Tenor • Piotr Nowacki, Bass Gennady Bezzubenkov, Basso profondo • Warsaw Boys’ Choir* Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra • Antoni Wit

This recording was sponsored by PZU Please see page 2 of the booklet for a detailed track list Recorded at Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, Poland, from 24th to 27th September, 8.572031 on 30th September, and from 3rd to 4th December, 2008 8.572031 Produced, engineered and edited by Andrzej Sasin and Aleksandra Nagórko (CD Accord) Publisher: Schott Music International • Booklet notes: Richard Whitehouse Cover image: Star by Sybille Yates (dreamstime.com)