Gorecki: Symphony No. 3

Polish composer Henryk Górecki wrote his Symphony of Sorrowful Songs in 1976. It’s a heart-rending work whose set texts include an inscription by an 18-year-old Polish girl on the wall of a Gestapo prison in Zakopane. It read, “Oh, Mamma, do not cry. Immaculate Queen of Heaven, you support me always.” This beautifully recorded performance by the London Sinfonietta, soprano Dawn Upshaw and conductor David Zinman was released in 1992 and, thanks to its lamenting second movement, instantly topped the classical charts in both Britain and the US. Górecki, then still a relatively obscure composer, was catapulted to fame, his symphony becoming something of a classical soundtrack to the decade. Aside from the wonderful music-making of orchestra and soloist, the performance is beautifully and spaciously recorded.