Lutoslawski: Piano Concerto; Symphony No. 2

This album continues the successful collaboration of Krystian Zimerman and Sir Simon Rattle; for their DG recording of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Berliner Philharmoniker they received the German Record Critics' Award. Lutoslawskis Piano Concerto was completed in 1988 and is dedicated to Krystian Zimerman, who also first introduced it to Salzburg audiences in the same year, in 1992 DG released a first version of the concerto with Lutoslawski as conductor and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The piece features extremely virtuosic demands, its dense pianistic gestures at times recall the piano concertos of Bartók and Prokofiev. Both the Piano Concerto and the Symphony No. 2 are inspired by the music of John Cage. The Symphony No. 2, created with techniques of limited aleatoricism (Lutoslawski) fascinates with its orchestral surfaces that offer an insight into their creators ability to organize sounds in a very precise way and their iridescent and colorful vitality. The Second Symphony received its first complete performance in Katowice on 9 June 1967, when the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra was conducted by the composer. Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music program. Recording: Berlin, Philharmonie, Großer Saal, 9/2013 Executive Producer Deutsche Grammophon: Angelika Meissner Executive Producers Berliner Philharmoniker: Olaf Maninger, Robert Zimmermann Producer: Christoph Franke Recording Engineer (Tonmeister): René Möller Project Manager Deutsche Grammophon: Burkhard Bartsch Project Manager Berliner Philharmoniker: Felix Feustel Piano Technician: Thomas Hübsch Publishers: Chester Music Ltd. (Piano Concerto); Edition Wilhelm Hansen (Symphony No. 2); both administered by Internationale Musikverlage Hans Sikorski, Hamburg