Post Description

With this reissue of 10 of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski's (1882-1937) most important works, EMI has made available in one boxed set of more than five and a half hours of music -- nearly, but not quite, all of the composer's works recorded by Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Under Rattle's leadership, the orchestra and chorus have made something of a specialty of Szymanowski, and these performances demonstrate a sure grasp of the composer's styles, which echo Strauss, Mahler, Ravel, and Scriabin filtered through the sensibilities of the composer's eastern European roots and his profoundly romantic temperament. This collection, which includes pieces from the 1910s to the end of his life, offers a broad and generous introduction to Szymanowski's work, in superlative performances, with state-of-the-art engineering.