“The first words of the Creed: “I believe in one God…” are sung with a power not experienced since the time of Handel’s oratorios and Beethoven’s Mass. (…) The expression of confidence and strength is complemented with Mozartian calm melodiousness”, writes Mieczyslaw Tomaszewski in an essay on the album. This may well be the most impressive work of Penderecki, one with a clear structure, beautiful sound and a very moving message. This music makes perfect listening. The smartly edited 2000 catalogue shows clearly the range of CD Accord’s interests; it presents Polish music from the Renaissance to the present day, as well as masterpieces of the world repertoire in the interpretation of the finest Polish performers. A distinctive graphic design has been given to the series of recordings made with the National Philharmonic Orchestra under Kazimierz Kord. CD Accord has had several major successes since its foundation in 1996. About a dozen albums have been nominated to the Fryderyk award. A few won the award; some were named as “The Album of the Year” by the magazine Studio; others received nominations from foreign music periodicals. Similar success is expected for Krzysztof Penderecki and his newly-released “Credo”, an unusual monumental composition. Large-scale vocal-instrumental works with a spiritual or religious message are a significant part of Penderecki’s output. The Passion According to St. Luke, Morning Prayer, Magnificat, Te Deum or Polish Requiem formally refer to great works of the past era. However, with the introduction of modern means of expression they synthesize all ways of expressing religious meanings through music. Such, too, is the character of Credo. Penderecki’s original intention was a mass. He started with the Creed, the third link of the mass liturgy, which because of its temporal dimensions and finite artistic shape became a complete self-contained entity. The quotations from traditional religious songs, the enchanting lyrical phrases of solo melodies, the intriguing consonances in the choral parts, the logic in shaping the form, the frankness of emotions – all these create a great piece of music, a very communicative one though very modern. There is no doubt that all the performers rose to the occasion. The voice of Ewa Marciniec in Et incarnatus est sounds really beautiful and the solemn mood is amplified by the remarkable acoustics of St. Mary Magdalene’s Cathedral in Wroclaw, where the recording was made. (MUZYKA PAP)

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