Penderecki Violin Sonatas Nos.1, 2, Lutoslawski Works for Violon & Piano : Foyle-Stsura Duo

Repression and censorship; optimism and freedom; renewed constraints. If this sounds like a now all too familiar story of political progress achieved and then reversed, then this stunning survey of chamber works by two of Polands leading post-war composers suggests that music was there to bear witness to each twist and turn of the tale. From the post-Stalin thaw of the 1950s and 1960s to the triumphant re-establishment of democracy near centurys end, these vital utterances range from the exploded intensities of Pendereckis Three Miniatures to the lean, focused expressive charge of Lutoslawskis Partita and the millennial anxieties of Pendereckis Violin Sonata No 2. On their first recording with Delphian Records, Michael Foyle and Maksim tura transmit every nuance, while giving these works new life as a statement of intent for virtues so unwavering as to seem like a reproach to the inconstancies of political life alert collaboration, reciprocity, freedom, precision, joy.