Stanislaw Moniuszko: Hrabina (The Countess)
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Description
Introducing 'The Countess' (1860) ~ an opera in three acts, in a concert version presented here as a World Premiere studio recording on period instruments with Fabio Bondi and Europa Galante.
On 7 February 1860, at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, Stanislaw Moniuszko led the premiere production generating this comment: 'Although a light opera, with immeasurably accessible music […] it contains such marvels […] that one must examine them well, enumerate them and relish them'.
The Countess, nowadays overshadowed by a three-act opera with a libretto by Wlodzimierz Wolski (Halka), was
enthusiastically received by the audience, which appreciated both the beauty of the music and the well-observed social critique inscribed in the work, but above all easily caught all the political allusions artfully concealed from the censor
in both the words and the music.
As Adam Zawadzki, ever sparing in his words when discussing Moniuszko, wrote in a letter shortly after the premiere: 'The Countess enjoyed unprecedented success'.
This is one of the most interesting, subtle and colourful of Moniuszko's works, one that merits our special attention.
The Countess is the composer's only opera (written in Warsaw) about Warsaw, and the second one that he offered the city after moving there.
It is worth relishing this wonderful music, intelligent humour (in both the music and the words: the libretto, including the dialogues, is superb), and all the shades of emotion to which
Moniuszko intentionally turns. And, enjoying the experience, considering whether we might not perhaps be dealing with the most interesting, most colourful and most multi-faceted work by the father of Polish national opera.
Performed by a top class ensemble of soloists, Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante offer us this world premiere recording on period instruments, supported by Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Choir.
Tracklisting
Cyprien Katsaris
Vadym Kholodenko
Ewa Poblocka
Maria Joao Pires
Halina Czerny-Stefanska
Ewa Poblocka
Aleksandra Swigut
Chouchane Siranossian, Oh! Orchestra, Martyna Pastuszka
Thomas Sanderling, Orchester des Nationaltheaters Mannheim
Malcolm Sargent, Mary Lewis, Tudor Davies, Maggie Teyte, Clive Carey, Marie Howes, Harry Plunket Greene, James Johnstone
Maria Callas
Soloists; Eroica Berlin; Jakob Lehmann
Luigi De Donato; Collegium 1704; Vaclav Luks
Anna Moffo; Cesare Valletti; Fernando Corena; Erich Leinsdorf
Soloists; Orchestre classique de Montreal; Alain Trudel
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Natalia Rubis, Pawel Konik, Krzysztof Baczyk, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Choir