Best known today for his sumptuously Romantic symphonic poems (8.570452, 8.570295), Mieczysław Karłowicz completed his most ambitious work, the ‘Rebirth’ Symphony, in 1903. Like Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony, premièred eight years earlier (Naxos 8.550523–24), it evokes the soul’s spiritual struggle against fate from tragedy to triumph. The resplendent Prologue from Karłowicz’s music for the play The White Dove leads to a serene Intermezzo. Polish conductor Antoni Wit brings out the brooding, portentous and lyrical characteristics of his compatriot’s richly orchestrated yet seldom-heard scores.