Paderewski’s epic Polonia Symphony is one of those turn-of-the-century, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink late-Romantic effusions that’s short on formal coherence but big on color and character. Musically, in its alternation of chromatic and diatonic thematic material, it shows the heavy influence of Liszt’s symphonies and tone poems. If you dislike Liszt’s orchestral music, you probably won’t like this either; but all questions of taste aside, it’s a fun piece with a really lovely central slow movement. The finale goes on too long, asking us to witness the composer trying to figure out if his latest peroration really is loud enough to be the last one–but so what?
Hyperion recorded the work in an excellent performance featuring the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Jerzy Maksymiuk, and although that band offers more confident lower brass playing, I prefer the warmer strings of the Cracow Music Academy. In addition, conductor Wojciech Czepiel actually offers a marginally fleeter tempo in the first movement, which is more telling than Maksymiuk’s slightly quicker finale. In short, this well recorded newcomer offers fans of Paderewski’s sprawling symphony a competitive alternate viewpoint, one well worth hearing.
