Szymanowski: Symphonies 3 & 4; Stabat Mater

When he programmed the symphonies of Szymanowski in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, Valery Gergiev paired them with the symphonies of Brahms, and also coupled the former's Stabat Mater with the latter's German Requiem. On disc, the luscious, headily hedonistic sound-world of Szymanowski is presented on its own. The Third (1916) and Fourth Symphonies (1932) are anything but conventional. The Orientally exotic Third employs a chorus and tenor soloist (Toby Spence) for Polish translations of mystical Sufi texts. The Fourth is a Symphonie Concertante – effectively a piano concerto (soloist Denis Matsuev) saturated with the folk music of the Tatra Mountains. Gergiev handles them, and the gorgeous Stabat Mater, with complete conviction. url.ie/4u5f