Antoni Wit
Veteran conductor Antoni Wit has been a major champion of Polish contemporary music but also has a wide repertory of music from many countries. He was conductor of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, and then the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra for many years.
Wit (pronounced Vit) was born in Kraków, Poland, on February 7, 1944. He attended the Kraków Academy of Music (then the State Higher Academy of Music), studying conducting with Henryk Czyż and composition with Krzysztof Penderecki. After graduating in 1967, he went on to serve as assistant to Witold Rowicki at the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra while earning a law degree at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków in 1969. He benefited from relatively liberal Polish travel policies and was able to study conducting in Paris with Pierre Dervaux at the Ecole Normale de Musique and composition privately with the famed teacher Nadia Boulanger. Wit went on to attend conducting classes at the Tanglewood Music Center in the U.S. with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and Seiji Ozawa in 1973. He then became the conductor and artistic director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland from 1974 to 1977, moving on from 1977 to 1983 to the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra and Chorus. During this period, he began a long track record of conducting new Polish music, leading the premiere of Penderecki's Lacrimosa in 1980.
Wit became the conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, in 1983, remaining in that position until 2000. With that group, he made his recording debut in 1988 on the Titanic Records label, backing violinist Roman Totenberg in concertos by Brahms and Karol Lipiński. In 1993, he led the orchestra in a cycle of Tchaikovsky symphonies for the Naxos label, and he has remained associated mostly with that label over his long and prolific recording career. Wit became the conductor of the Warsaw Philharmonic in 2002, remaining there until 2013. He was also the principal guest conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra in Spain from 2010 to 2017, and he made numerous appearances as a guest conductor around Western Europe with such major groups as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Italy, and several top British orchestras.
He has remained active as a guest conductor and recording artist, releasing albums with many of the orchestras with which he has been associated. In 2022, Wit moved to the Capriccio label, leading the Rheinland-Pfalz Staatsphilharmonie in a recording of works by early 20th century composer Zygmunt Stojowski; he followed that up in 2023 with an album of works by 19th century composer Zygmunt Noskowski. By that time, his recording catalog comprised some 300 items, seven of which were nominated for Grammy Awards. Wit taught conducting for many years at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Fantasias after Shakespeare
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Leaper, Antoni Wit
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 28 jun. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BRAHMS / MENDELSSOHN: Piano Concertos
Jenő Jandó, Benjamin Frith, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit, Robert Stankovsky
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 28 sep. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 38 "Spring"
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Klassiek - Released by Naxos Special Projects on 1 jun. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wieniawski - Saint-Saens: Violin Concertos
Vadim Brodski, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit, Andrzej Straszynski
Klassiek - Released by DUX on 1 mrt. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
8th Lutoslawski Forum (Witold Lutoslawski - Krzysztof Meyer - Krzysztof Penderecki)
Klassiek - Released by CD Accord on 25 mrt. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, 'Pathetique'
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 19 okt. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
FAMOUS SYMPHONIC POEMS, VOL. 1
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit, Kenneth Schermerhorn, Matyas Antal
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 8 nov. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Edition (Volume 3)
Idil Biret, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Concertmuziek - Released by Idil Biret Archive on 4 dec. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4 / TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6, 'Pathetique'
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Anthony Bramall, Antoni Wit
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 17 nov. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arias
Andrzej Dobber, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Dariusz Machej, Antoni Wit
Opera - Released by DUX on 24 sep. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart/Brahms: Violin Concertos
Vadim Brodski, Polish Radio and Television Orchestra, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, Agnieszka Duczmal, Antoni Wit
Klassiek - Released by DUX on 1 mrt. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner, R.: Der Fliegende Hollander (Richard Wagner)
Opera - Released by CD Accord on 1 mei 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 1 Op. 14
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vadim Brodsky, Antoni Wit
Concertmuziek - Released by Arts Productions Ltd on 7 nov. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concertos pour piano (Concerto Edition - Volume 1)
Idil Biret, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Concertmuziek - Released by Idil Biret Archive on 8 apr. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven Edition (Volume 7)
Idil Biret, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Concertmuziek - Released by Idil Biret Archive on 12 feb. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concerto No. 2 /
Idil Biret, Jenő Jandó, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 1 jan. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Schumann: Introduction and Concerto-Allegro
Jenő Jandó, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Concertmuziek - Released by Naxos on 5 mei 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : Symphonies n°1 & 3
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 14 jun. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
DVORAK: Piano Concerto in G minor / BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor"
Jenő Jandó, Stefan Vladar, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, Antoni Wit, Barry Wordsworth
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 11 aug. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 2 / SCHUMANN: Introduction and Allegro appassionato
Idil Biret, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 1 jan. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nishimura: After Glow (Works for Violin and Orchestra)
Saschko Gawriloff, Antoni Wit, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Camerata Tokyo on 7 jul. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo