Gorecki's Symphony 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"

[NedNickerson]

The beautiful third symphony of Gorecki has been discussed in various threads, most recently in this thread:

http://justusboys.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120487

Most critics agree that the best recording of this symphony is the one recorded in 1992 by David Zinman with vocals by Dawn Upshaw. Although the symphony was written in 1976 and first performed and recorded in 1977, it was the Zinman recording which made it famous worldwide.

A Wikipedia article about the symphony:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._3_(Górecki)

Another interesting article:
http://inkpot.com/classical/goreckisym3.html

Recently Rhino Records re-released the original 1977 world premiere recording of Gorecki's Symphony 3 as conducted by Ernest Bour with soprano Stefania Woytowicz.

This YouTube video uses the symphony to great effect. It's a montage of the Russian film Idi i smotri
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/

The video montage is filled with disturbing images, but as the symphony itself was written in response to the holocaust in Poland during World War II, it somehow fits appropriately against the images of death, war, and man's inhumanity to man. The video features music from the second half of the first movement. This is from the Zinman/Upshaw recording.

Requiem pour un massacre
[

 

[belamy]

Meh, it brings me memories from when I still shared a room with an elder brother who would play that...

 

[NedNickerson]

The full second movement of the Zinman/Upshaw recording, using a montage of scenes from The Passion of the Christ.

Text from the symphony:

My son, chosen and loved,
Let your mother share your wounds
And since, my dear son,
I have always kept you in my heart,
And loyally served you,
Speak to your mother,
make her happy ,
Though, my cherished hope,
you are now leaving me.

 

[NedNickerson]

From the creator of this video:

"A series of drawings and paintings of the faces of victims of Stalins terror. These faces are based on photographs taken while these people were being interogated by the secret police and are the last record of these people. I first saw these pictures in a Sunday Times article by David King a few years ago. David King has subequently written a book, Ordinary Citizens, that details how these people were arrested under trumped up charges ,hearsay and falsified evidence. Interestingly some secret police themselves became victims.

The animation morphes the drawings and paintings together and is set to an original sound track that I wrote and recorded, called 'A theme on Gorecki. And is similar in style to that composer."

Ordinary Citizens

 

[NedNickerson]

Two videos of Dawn Upshaw in rehearsal of Sain François d' Assise by Olivier Messiaen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Messiaen

 

[operafan]

On a sad note, Dawn Upshaw has withdrawn from her commitments as she beings treatment for breast cancer.

Fucking disease.

 

[NedNickerson]

On a sad note, Dawn Upshaw has withdrawn from her commitments as she beings treatment for breast cancer.

Fucking disease.

Thanks for the heads up about this bit of news... I had not heard about this. It appears to be early stage breast cancer and her doctors are optimistic about the outcome.

===============================================

http://news.aol.com/entertainment/m...-begins-cancer-treatment/20061116123609990001

Dawn Upshaw Begins Cancer Treatment
By ULA ILNYTZKY, AP
NEW YORK (Nov. 16)

Soprano Dawn Upshaw began treatment for early stage breast cancer Thursday, canceling her engagements through January 2007, her manager said.

Upshaw, 46, who had been scheduled to give a performance in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday of Osvaldo Golijov's "Ayre" with the Kronos Quartet, was being treated in New York, said Alec Treufhalt, the singer's New York manager at IMG Artists. He declined to name the medical facility to protect her privacy.

Upshaw, a resident of Westchester County, received the diagnosis at the end of August, and had taken the time since then to decide her course of treatment, Treufhalt said.

She canceled several orchestra engagements in Europe at the end of August and early September after learning about her cancer.

"The doctors are so optimistic. She has a family history of the disease ... and because of it has been checked very religiously. That is one of the reasons doctors are very optimistic of the outcome," Treufhalt said.

He said Upshaw "intends to be back on the stage for a U.S. tour recital in mid-February."

Upshaw has canceled her appearance in the world premiere of Kaija Saariaho's new opera/oratorio, "La Passion de Simone," at the New Crowned Hope festival in Vienna on Nov. 26-30. Finnish soprano Pia Freund will replace Upshaw, for whom Saariaho wrote the score's only solo role.

On Dec. 7-9, Upshaw had been scheduled to appear in Boston in John Adams's oratorio "El Nino" with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under conductor David Robertson. Soprano Jessica Rivera will fill in for her.

The U.S. premiere of "La Passion de Simone" on Jan. 12-14, 2007, with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will be postponed to the next season, and replaced with Webern's Five Pieces for Orchestra and Mahler's Symphony No. 7.

Upshaw is scheduled to appear in "La Passion de Simone" at the Barbican Centre in London on July 10-12, 2007.

"She's great," Treufhalt said of Upshaw's outlook. "It didn't come as a surprise, out of the blue. She is approaching it in the same way that she approaches everything else - calmly, thoughtfully."

The three-time Grammy winner is a member of the faculty at the Tanglewood Music Center and has designed a master's degree program in vocal arts at Bard College Conservatory of Music.

 

[Croynan]

What a really fine person and grand artist she is. Good wishes are being sent.



eM.

 

[rooby]

Hope you might be interested in the track 'Gorecki' by the (sadly no-more) english trip-hop duo Lamb. Themes from this beautiful piece are taken and re-woven into something decidely 'other'. Look it up, it's worth the search.

 

[Ddouble]

Hope you might be interested in the track 'Gorecki' by the (sadly no-more) english trip-hop duo Lamb. Themes from this beautiful piece are taken and re-woven into something decidely 'other'. Look it up, it's worth the search.

Lamb - Gorecki


Hotshots - Gorecki

 

[JSB_01]

That's a beautiful piece, although I've never listened to the entire symphony. It's a shame that Upshaw has cancer, but it sounds like everything is going to be okay with her. As a side note, Marilyn Horne was also diagnosed with cancer (pancreatic) earlier in the year.

 

[Ddouble]

Another video featuring Dawn Upshaw.