Dresden Philharmonic / Bruckner, Szymanaowski
“Stanislaw Skrowaczewski… demonstrated in the violin concerto how to partner an orchestra without resorting to extravagant gestures, whilst keeping the overall view of the piece in mind. In Anton Bruckner’s 2nd Symphony in C minor, he showed how to steer such a giant with only few visible gestures. What a contrast to the leaping, waving, dancing “stars of the podium”! We already have Skrowaczewski to thank for a recording of the complete Bruckner Symphonies, which rightly puts him in the category of Bruckner specialist.
It was quickly obvious how much intensive work had gone into rehearsing this piece, in order to achieve such a high standard of performance. Because of this, Skrowaczewski could keep control with very few means. He allowed the Philharmonie plenty of space to play, for which they thanked him with their dedication to the music.
It was especially obvious in the finale, made up of so many sound pictures, that we were dealing with a conductor who understood how to use the diverse abilities of the Philharmonie, and harness them to give a wildly applauded performance.”
Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, November 2008
“Hatte Stanislaw Skrowaczewski dem Solokonzert schon eine Partnerschaft geboten, die er ohne großen Aufwand mit großer Übersicht erreichte, so wurde mit Anton Bruckners 2. Sinfonie c-Moll deutlich, mit wie wenig sichtbaren Impulsen auch ein solcher „Brocken“ zu steuern ist. Welch Unterschied zu springenden, fuchtelnden, tänzelnden „Pultstars“! Dem Dirigenten verdanken wir eine Gesamtaufnahme der Bruckner-Sinfonien, was ihn zu Recht in die Reihe der Spezialisten stellt.
Schnell ahnte man, welch intensive Probenarbeit zugrunde liegen musste, um den hohen Rang der Ausarbeitung zu präsentieren. So konnte Skrowaczewski mit wenigen Mitteln die Balance halten. Er ließ den Philharmonikern viel „Spiel“-Raum, was sie ihm mit großer musikalischer Hingabe dankten.
Auch im aus vielen Bildern gefügten Finale wurde deutlich, dass wir es mit einem Dirigenten zu tun hatten, der es verstand, die mannigfaltigen Potenzen der Philharmoniker zu nutzen, sie in den Dienst einer stürmisch bejubelten Aufführung stellte.“
Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, November 2008
Hallé Orchestra / recording of Shostakovich symphonies 5 & 10
"Arguably the most completely satisfying version of Shostakovich's Tenth on disc - thrillingly played and comfortably seeing off most of the bigger guns."
BBC Music Magazine, February 2008
New Skrowaczewski Flute Concerto a marvel
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, 84, has graduated from being an institution to being a phenomenon. It's hard to think of another living musician who has trod a comparable path: from prodigy -- he wrote his first orchestral composition at age 7 -- to elder statesman. Both facets of the Polish-born composer-conductor, who has conducted the Minnesota Orchestra in each of the past 47 seasons, are on striking display this week in Orchestra Hall (an edifice he helped build).
The program's centerpiece is the world premiere of Skrowaczewski's "Fantasia for Flute and Orchestra - The Piper in the Night," commissioned by the Saarbrücken [Germany] Radio Symphony (with which the conductor has lately recorded the Beethoven symphonies) and written for flautists Adam Kuenzel, the Minnesota Orchestra's principal, and Roswitha Staege, formerly principal in Saarbrücken. Effectively a flute concerto (with the first of its several cadenzas at the very beginning), the work, in three movements, is scored for both the standard flute and its lower-pitched, more somber alto sibling. Much of the best writing is for the latter, which Kuenzel plays gorgeously.
Skrowaczewski's music typically feels open-ended. His scores aren't self-contained, neatly wrapped musical objects; they are a means for conversing with their maker - especially when he's on the podium.
Kuenzel's performance is masterful (though I wish he could dispense with the score and address himself directly to the audience). Whether playing long, tensile lines or incorporating extended techniques (bent notes, key clicks, blowing into the instrument), he is intensely and unfailingly musical.
Framing the "Fantasia" are two of Vienna's crown jewels: Mozart's "Jupiter" Symphony and Brahms' Second. If Skrowaczewski's vigorous "Jupiter" seemed a bit retro in sonority with overweight strings, his Brahms was glorious: rich but not padded. The Adagio, in particular, attained a tragic nobility that recalled the legendary conductors of old.
Larry Fuchsberg, Star Tribune, 18 October 2007
Skrowaczewski makes concert memorable
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski belongs to a small club of 20th century dual composer/conductors whose distinguished ranks include names like Mahler, Strauss, Bernstein and Boulez. That the 84-year-old continues to pursue both careers into the 21st century is astonishing.
This week, the Minnesota Orchestra is giving the premiere performances of the latest work by its conductor laureate: a flamboyant, three-movement sonic exercise for flute and percussion-heavy orchestra titled "Fantasie per Flauto ed Orchestra, Il Piffero della Notte ". The composer conducted the first performance Thursday, with Principal Flute Adam Kuenzel as soloist.
Typically, Skrowaczewski tried to direct the majority of the resulting applause to the soloist and performers and not to himself. The 20-minute work, according to program notes, was commissioned by the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, where Skrowaczewski is principal guest conductor, and it was written for that orchestra's flautist and her husband, a percussionist. It requires not only a huge percussion battery, but a flautist who has to switch frequently between the standard orchestral flute and the longer alto flute.
A first reaction is that it's quite a showpiece - a cavalcade of instrumental colors and shifting moods. It's filled with solo cadenzas. The three movements proceed almost without pause and they range from pounding Stravinsky-style chords to rapid figurations, "bent" notes, glissandos, and a tremendous selection of percussive effects using chimes, marimbas, temple blocks, vibraphone, celesta and other less-than-familiar percussion devices.
Skrowaczewski may have seemed self-effacing when he directed applause to Kuenzel, but it's not like the soloist didn't earn it. It was an exemplary performance exhibiting great technical skill and musical interpretation.
David Hawley, Pioneer Press , 18 October 2007
Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra / Beethoven Symphonies 5 & 6 (Oehms OC523)
"This Americano-Polish conductor's mastering of the baton is enthralling, placing his reading of the symphonies at the essential top in the history of their interpretations... One cannot but praise this art to make a string section resonate with so much balance, efficiency, clarity in the articulation while keeping the vibrato under masterful control... The generous direction of the phrases is exemplary, alternating between forward-moving rhythms and beautiful legato. Each element of this sumptuous radio orchestra falls into place naturally."
Classica Repertoire, December 2006
Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra / Beethoven Symphonies 1 & 4 (Oehms OC521)
"Skrowaczewski's primary qualities are precision down to the fifth quaver (a metronome in his head!), a quest for internal voices and for a dialogue between the musicians, a brilliant balance of the sonic masse... Unrivalled in these musical sculptures, the Americano-Polish conductor is the undisputed best of his contemporaries."
Classica Repertoire, December 2006
The Hallé / Manchester's Shostakovich and His Heroes festival
"… Stanislaw Skrowaczewski's blazing performance with a Hallé orchestra at the peak of excellence always put the music first. Who could bother with theories and shadow plays when the musical arguments were so cogently presented, the instruments' interplay so involving?
Beyond the perfection of colour and line, Skrowaczewski's command of structure made this account special. In some conductors' hands, Shostakovich's longer movements come at us waywardly, in splinters; here we had an organic sense of matter and matters building, tensing, transforming."
"Skrowaczewski's baton seemed to mesmerise his players: their ears and spirits became fine-tuned, their bodies stretched and firmed for the massive Eleventh Symphony... Skrowaczewski's skill was to enjoy the primary colours of Shostakovich's poster paint, but also to trace with precision the fine line-drawing beneath it."
The Times, January 2006
Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra, Liszt Piano Concerto No.1, Shostakovich Symphony No.5
"…very few conductors understand how to intensify the sparse orchestral lines as Skrowaczewski does… The performance never deviated from its purpose, with a sense of the architecture of the whole work. Through accenting individual details and effects he pulled the disparate motives of the work together. One hopes that Skrowaczewski will also come to lead the DSO in Bruckner."
Berliner Zeitung, December 2004
Minnesota Orchestra / Shostakovich Sympnony No.8 & Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3
"In the skilled hands of Skrowaczewski and a Minnesota Orchestra that may be at the peak of its powers, the symphony became an engrossing aural journey, an intensely powerful hour-long musical odyssey that should linger in the memories of those attending this weekend's concerts for quite some time."
St. Paul Pioneer Press, October 2004
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski is represented by Leyla Günes at Intermusica
Tel [44] 207 239 0160, Email: lgunes@intermusica.co.uk