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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 January 2016
As a young pianist, whenever I listened to a recording by Artur Rubinstein, the music always sounded wonderfully convincing. But then, when it came down to studying the score, it was somewhat disturbing to find that he often performed the music in ways that were contrary to the score. This experience provoked many thoughts and discussions regarding ‘authenticity’, artistic ‘greatness’, and the changing contexts of performance practice.
1 ECM New Series 1495 437956–2 (1993): Sarah Leonard (soprano), Christopher Bowers-Broadbent (organ). Reviewed in Tempo 194 (October 1995).
2 A second recording, released in 1996 – Kontrapunkt 32223: Anne-Lise Berntsen (soprano), Jens. E. Christensen (organ) – while slightly more accurate, is much closer to the ECM recording than to the score. My discussion is directed at the difficulties of the music, rather than intended as a critique of individual recordings.
3 These insights are based on comments the composer contributed to a symposium on his music held as part of the Górecki Autumn Festival, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1–5 October 1997. His animated interjections revealed a passionate interest in performance issues.
4 Agro 436 835–2 (1992): Nikita Storojev (bass), Prague Philharmomic Choir. Czech Philharmonic Orchestra c. John (baritone), Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir c. Jerzy Katewicz; Stradivarius STR 33324 (1993): Tamá Altorjay (baritone), Coro Bartók, The Fricsay Symphonic Orchestra c. Tamá Pál.
5 There are plans, evidently, to release a recording on Elektra Nonesuch.
6 Elektra Nonesuch 7559–79257–2 (1991): London Sinfonietta Soloists (Michael Collins (clarinet), Christopher van Kampen (cello), John Constable (piano); Kontrapunkt 32174 (1994): LINensemble; Olympia OCD 343 (1990): Camerata Vistula; Philips 442 533–2 (1996): Pierre Wondenberg (clarinet), Larissa Groeneweld (cello), Reinbert de Leeuw (piano).
7 Górecki pays explicit tribute to both Beethoven and Messiaen, two of the great musical architects, in the third movement of Lerchenmusik.
8 Luke Howard has made a fascinating study of the infiltration of Górecki's Symphony No.3 into popular culture (c.f. L. Howard, ‘Motherhood, Billboard, and the Holocaust: Perceptions and Receptions of Górecki's Symphony No.3’, The Musical Quarterly 82/1, Spring 1998: 131–159).
9 Adrian Thomas has charted Górecki's evolution with rigour and sensitivity (A. Thomas, Górecki, Oxford University Press, 1997).
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