Polish Chamber Orchestra, Jerzy Maksymiuk

Jerzy Maksymiuk produced recordings of reference rank, including a recording of Bart?k's "Divertimento", which the sound magicians of MDG have now conjured up from the depths of the archive for the new "Preziosa" series. From a time when the world still looked completely different, the recording surprises with an almost youthful freshness. By no means self-evident, for the situation in socialist Poland was anything but easy, even after martial law was lifted. But the proverbial willingness of the people to help made up for many a shortcoming, as producer and sound engineer Werner Dabringhaus recalls in the entertaining and interesting booklet text. And so, a recording was made that the French T?l?roma even counts among the orchestra's best. Above all, the sheer unbelievable richness of sound colours thrilled the reviewer. In Germany, the LP immediately jumped onto the coveted quarterly list of the German Record Critics' Prize, and the usually highly critical British Gramophone also gave it top marks. Bart?k's Divertimento, composed in 1939 shortly before the composer's emigration, casts a hopeful glow into the otherwise rather gloomy and pessimistic output of those years. Maksymiuk juxtaposes this key work with Britten's rarely heard Variations on a "Theme of Frank Bridge" - an extremely humorous stylistic retrospective of the 19-year-old composer, which the Polish Chamber Orchestra celebrates with audible enthusiasm. Just listen to the Aria Italiana...

• Bartók: Divertimento for Strings, Sz. 113
• Britten: Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10