5905683648059

Format: 2CD

Cat No: NIFCCD093-094

PRE-ORDER: This item will be shipped with the aim to deliver on release day.

Release Date:  25 October 2024

Label:  NIFCCD

Packaging Type:  Digipak

No of Units:  2

Barcode:  5905683648059

Genres:  Classical  Opera  

  • Description

    The opera The Pariah [Paria] is unlike any of Stanislaw Moniuszko's other operas. It differs from them in its subject matter, musical form and the time which the composer devoted to conceiving and composing it. Moniuszko's opera The Pariah took many years to complete and stage. Though he was inspired by Delavigne's tragedy of the same name, he wasn't the first to see its operatic potential; Gaetano Donizetti had also explored it with his opera Il Paria.

    By 1859, after successes with Halka and The Raftsman, Moniuszko was highly regarded and received numerous librettos. Returning from Paris, he revisited The Pariah, collaborating with Jan Checinski, who was handed Moniuszko's detailed Polish translation of Delavigne's text. Moniuszko's libretto was meticulously prepared, with careful attention to operatic structure, including act and scene divisions, stage directions, and specific performance instructions. He also included practical notes, such as recommending vowel sounds that are easier to sing. This detailed preparation reflects his dedication to the opera's success.

    At the 'Chopin and his Europe' festival, Fabio Biondi interprets operas by Moniuszko alongside the operas of his fellow Italians: Bellini, early Verdi and less familiar Donizetti. In that company, Moniuszko seems rather behind the times. But then the whole of our national culture, stifled by the partitioning powers, was behind the times. Moniuszko, however, lifted himself up with his talent. And his Pariah proves to be an interesting late Romantic opera of European calibre.

  • Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. Moniuszko: The Pariah Introduction
      • 2. Prologue: Scene One 'Amid the shadows of night'
      • 3. Scene Two 'Catch him!'
      • 4. Scene Three 'Pariah! Yet another one of this caste, despised'
      • 5. Ouverture
      • 6. Act One: Tableau One: Scene One 'From under a starry mantle'
      • 7. Scene Two 'Send humble prayers from purest soul!'
      • 8. Scene Three 'Oh, my dear! My dearest one!'
      • 9. Tableau Two: Scene One 'Oh! Great Surya!'
      • 10. 'Brahmins, I have called you as the matter is vital'
      • 11. 'There is one word to have such great power'
      • 12. 'Eternal God!'
      • 13. 'Whatever you decide today enact without delay'
      • 14. Scene Two 'Idamor!'

      Disc 2

      • 1. Moniuszko: The Pariah Act Two: Scene One '"Son!" Should he be my father?'
      • 2. Scene Two 'Idamor! So, today I shall become your wife'
      • 3. Scene Three 'Neala! Why are you not with us?'
      • 4. Scene Four 'Pariah! He is a pariah!'
      • 5. Scene Five 'An old wanderer has arrived here'
      • 6. Scene Six 'I know a splendid town'
      • 7. 'Yet in vain I have wandered'
      • 8. Scene Seven 'It is! He himself!'
      • 9. Act Three: Scene One 'The altar is set for the star of the world'
      • 10. Scene Two 'Gods of love, gods of delight'
      • 11. Balet Ballabili
      • 12. Scene Three 'What do I see?! My father!'
      • 13. 'You say nothing? You ungrateful creatures!'
      • 14. Scene Four 'O my poor child!'
      • 15. Scene Five 'How to comprehend a change so terrible?'
      • 16. 'It was not a dream!'
      • 17. 'Death upon them!'