Lutosławski: Concerto for Orchestra & Symphony No. 1

Featuring

Stanisław Skrowaczewski
NFM Wrocław Philharmonic
Witold Lutosławski

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Composer Biography

Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994) worked slowly and diligently, with the First Symphony's initial ideas predating WWII and much of its composition occurring during the Nazi occupation.

Performer Biography

Stanisław Skrowaczewski, the conductor on this album, is a renowned conductor and composer who, at 90 years old, was the oldest working major conductor at the time of this recording.

Recording & Production

The recording project is subsidized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage under the 'Lutosławski 2013 - Promesa' programme.

Composition History

Lutosławski's Concerto for Orchestra was commissioned by Witold Rowicki, director of the Warsaw Philharmonic, and took five years to complete.

Performer Biography

Stanisław Skrowaczewski's career as a pianist was cut short by a hand injury during the war, leading him to focus on composing and conducting.

Compositional Technique

The Concerto for Orchestra is based on authentic folk material from 19th-century Mazovian anthologies by Oskar Kolberg, but Lutosławski uses it for microstructures and building blocks, not to evoke folk atmosphere.

Recording & Production

This album is part of a project to record all of Witold Lutosławski's collected works, led by Artistic Director Andrzej Kosendiak and the Witold Lutosławski Philharmonic in Wrocław.