Lintu’s latest Lutosławski disc up for a Grammy

For the second consecutive year, Hannu Lintu and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra have received a Grammy nomination in the category of best orchestral performance. This time, their nominated disc is a recording of Lutosławski’s Second and Third symphonies, released by Ondine. 

This week, Lintu returns to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 2-4 in the world premiere and CSO co-commission of Serenades, by fellow Finn Magnus Lindberg. Also on the program are Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 and Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, with Ray Chen as violin soloist.

Lintu’s latest release marks the second volume in the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s symphonic cycle by Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994) in these works Lutosławski maps out the principal foundations of his creative legacy. The first volume of Lutoslawski’s symphonies (Nos. 1 and 4) was Grammy nominated in 2020.

Composed in 1967, Lutosławski’s Second Symphony is regarded as  the most radical of his four symphonies and takes full use of aleatoric writing. Ondine’s liner notes report that “the symphonic process is built up not of themes and how they evolve but of the dynamics between entire textures, how they meet and contrast. The movements are of roughly the same length but are completely different in character. The first movement deliberately sketches out music of sporadic ideas and fragments, fostering dissatisfaction and frustration in the listener that are then dispelled by the second movement. The concept is underlined by the titles of the movements, Hésitant and Direct.”

Though Lutosławski began composing his Third Symphony shortly after completing its predecessor, it took until the early 1980s to be finished. By then, he already stylistically had shifted toward more rich and diverse expression. This dramatic 30-minute work was premiered by Georg Solti in 1983 and reflected the social unrest in Poland of that era. For many, this work is “the climax among the composer’s symphonies and belongs to the greatest achievements of the symphonies of our time.”

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