Krystian Zimerman / Simon Rattle / Berliner Philharmoniker LUTOSLAWSKI Piano Concerto - Symphony No. 2

. . . [Piano Concerto]: the hall's acoustics respond beautifully to the mellow, floating textures. Lutoslawski often writes quiet music, but with such detail that every nuance needs to be heard. Every nuance is heard here, and the effect is spectacular. The piano is always apparent across the orchestra, even when their respective textures call its dominance into question. Of course, Lutoslawski knows what he is doing, and no doubt he is relying on Zimerman's always clear articulation and touch to project the piano's lines . . . The Berlin Philharmonic sound is ideal here, not only for the sheer elegance the orchestra displays, but also for the details that it is able to project, again aided by the excellent audio . . . this Zimerman/Rattle collaboration comes highly recommended. Whatever this mercurial pianist's motivations for returning to the concerto, we should all be glad he did.

(Record Review / Gavin Dixon, Classical CD Reviews) 

. . . [Zimerman's performances of the Piano Concerto] mix complete authority with fresh, questing spirit, as if he were laying out the notes for the first time . . . Zimerman injects both delicacy and virtuosity into the dialogue with Simon Rattle's orchestra, and also holds the key, as probably only a Pole could do, to the serious yet wistful undercurrents of this work . . . Rattle's own input is distinguished . . . he conducts this with a similar ecstatic beauty . . . [the Symphony no. 2 is] a work of warmth, and who better to summon up that than the luxurious-sounding Berliners?

(Record Review / John Allison, BBC Music Magazine)