Penderecki: Complete Choral Works - Magnificat, Stabat Mater, Veni Creator, etc / Jan Lukaszewski, Polish Chamber Choir

For fans of Polish post-modernist Krzysztof Penderecki, this disc of his complete a cappella choral music, performed by Polski Chor Kameralny under the direction of Jan Lukaszewski, will be mandatory listening. Penderecki's music has been performed and honored in his native country for more than four decades, and these artists bring both enthusiasm and authority to their performances. Instead of being presented in chronological order, the pieces are mixed so that the composer's many styles are juxtaposed. The extreme expressivity of the In pulverem mortis from his 1965 St. Luke Passion, for example, appears alongside the intense austerity of the Agnus Dei from his 1981 Polish Requiem. This strategy works to the composer's advantage since it continually surprises the listeners, constantly keeping them alert and involved. The Polski Chor Kameralny sings with impeccable intonation and flawless diction despite the music's extraordinary demands, and Lukaszewski directs them with consummate mastery and interprets the music with complete sympathy. Recorded in startlingly vivid digital sound, this disc is in its way ideal.