These are stunning, unique works, stamped with Szymanowski's unusual and exotic sound world. His textures can be eerie and his use of dynamics radical. There is a unique glistening quality to the orchestration as well as the solos, which tend to linger in the violin's upper reaches. The music yearns in a manner that can only be called rapturous and it is impossible to listen and remain unaffected.  Both concerti are structured in single movements with lengthy, wild cadenzas (particularly so for the second concerto) about half way through. In the first, the heady cadenza leads into a beautiful, gentle finale. The second concerto seems the warmer, more sensual work. Szymanowski drew from the folk music of the Goral Mountains. The cadenza here, three minutes in length and wonderfully virtuosic, moves directly into a thumping, energetic section with brass fanfares. The Nocturne and Tarantella that ends the CD occasionally feels like it comes from another composer: the Nocturne features some Debussy-like impressionism, interrupted by castanets and Spanish sounds, and the Tarantella is a rambunctious piece of street music. Violinist Ilya Kaler is more than up to the task, playing with big, expressive tone when needed and able to reach the lightest, high pianissimi asked for in the cadenza of the first concerto. Antoni Wit gets splendid playing from the Warsaw Philharmonic, and the sonics capture all of Szymanowski's dynamic levels and transluscent orchestration. This is a terrific CD.--Robert Levine