Brahms:       Symphonies Nos.2 & 4

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Conducted by

Witold Rowicki

This disc concludes our Brahms Symphony cycle conducted by Witold Rowicki in 1960/62. These fine performances widen our appreciation of this great conductor, most known outside Poland for his conducting of Polish works and his fine Dvorak symphony cycle with the LSO.

'Witold Rowicki's cycle with the Warsaw Philharmonic dates from the early 1960's and enjoys acceptable stereo sound....Altara appears to have accessed mastertapes. The fourth is given the most remarkable performance , with an expressive swell to the phrasing and at 5'37" one of the fastest scherzos on disc.    'Rowicki's account of the 1st Symphony is full of unexpected but effective shifts in pulse and articulation with violins wildly swirling at the crest of the first movement's development section. Freedom and spontaneity are the keywords here - a rhapsodic, unleashed approach to Brahms, a little rough around the edges at times but consistently involving'.

Rob Cowan, Gramophone: August 2006