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Review by onenairb May 28, 2007 (8 of 8 found this review helpful)
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This is a live concert conducted by Mr Gorecki himself. In fact, it is the only available performance I know of, which Gorecki conducts. It was recorded in the Holy Cross Church in Zakopane, Poland, in December 2003. Why? Well the second song of the symphony is based around words that were scratched on the basement wall of the Villa Palace in Zakopane, the Gestapo headquaters during the German occupation, hence the venue for the concert. They are a letter/words to the mother of an 18 year old girl who was imprisoned and tortured for helping the Polish resistance. Apparently they have now been removed/plastered over by the present owners of the Villa.
This is a hybrid SACD in 5.1. Both the CD stereo and the SACD 5.1 layers are excellent as are the performances. The soprano, Zofia Kilanowicz, is superb and being a live recording shows so much passion in her singing which is sometime lost in the studio IMHO. The orchestra delivers a very well controlled performance under the direction of Gorecki.
Sonically I have nothing to complain about. The double basses are magnificent at setting the ambience for the performance. Then the strings, piano and soprano. There is some very low bass from the orchestra that I have not experienced in other recordings.
The 3rd Symphony is one of my favourite peices. If you are a fan of Gorecki's 3rd Symphony you will love this.
I should also mention that there is a DVD (Dolby 5.1) of the same concert which also contains a film of Gorecki talking about the history of his 3rd Symphony, the three sorrowful songs, and his love of Chopin.
Obtaining this was not easy but it is availible from www.merlin.pl - a Polish website.
Highly recommended SACD and if you can get the DVD, do so.
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