Witold Rowicki & Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Witold Rowicki conducts the 1st and 3rd symphonies of Johannes Brahms with the orchestra of which he was artistic leader for many years. These recordings were made in 1961 & 1962

Johannes Brahms
Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op.68 44'19"
Symphony No.3 in F major, Op.90 32'57"

Issued in co-operation with Polskie Nagrania (www.polskienagrania.com.pl)

'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

Rowicki shows himself here to be more of an iconoclastic than an eccentric Brahms interpreter whose sense of urgency and emergency makes the music sound less monumental and, perhaps to some listeners, more necessary. Altara Archiv's sound is .... direct and strong.

Review on www.allmusic.com - 2006