The Polish Requiem had its origins in a setting of the Lacrimosa dedicated to Gdansk shipyard workers who died during clashes with the Communist authorities in 1970. Though the work's tendency to swing between bombast and sentimentality may make you long for the austerity of an Arvo Pärt, if you approach it as a valid attempt to continue the tradition of 19th-century concert Requiems – Verdi's, above all – then you may well feel it has much to offer.
This performance is well played and conducted, Antoni Wit ensuring that the big climaxes make their effect without labouring the less eventful episodes. The choral singing is robust, though the sustained high writing is demanding enough to give the Polish Philharmonic Choir some anxious moments. Of the vocal soloists, both Jadwiga Rappé and Piotr Nowacki are excellent, but the normally reliable Izabella Kposinska was clearly under strain, and Ryszard Minkiewicz also sounds out of sorts in places. The sound is typical of Naxos's Polish recordings in being rather too bright and generalised for music that depends for its effect on such strong contrasts between the very quiet and the extremely loud.

Works Penderecki: A Polish Requiem Conductors Wit, Antoni Groups & Artists Rappé, Jadwiga Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra