5906395034826

Moniuszko: Verbum Nobile

Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Jan Martinik, Olga Pasiecznik, Stanislav Kufliuk, Mariusz Godlewski, Adam Palka, Podlasie Opera Philharmonic Choir

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Format: CD

Cat No: NIFCCD091

Release Date:  29 March 2024

Label:  NIFCCD

Packaging Type:  Jewel Case

No of Units:  1

Barcode:  5906395034826

Genres:  Classical  Opera  

  • Description

    At the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, the beginning of 1861 brought the premiere of "Verbum Nobile", a one-act comic opera by Stanislaw Moniuszko with a libretto by Jan Checinski. The work was received with great enthusiasm -- not only by the packed auditorium. Paradoxically, it was this operatic 'novella' that drew unanimous praise from the critics, even the most demanding among them. Other operatic works by Moniuszko, written on a grander scale, could not count on such universal critical acclaim.

    Among those to express their admiration for Verbum Nobile at that time was the notoriously stern critic Jozef Sikorski, editor of Ruch Muzyczny (the only professional music periodical in the Kingdom of Poland). Previously, this critic had expressed many reservations with regard to Halka (1858) and The Countess(1860), Moniuszko operas with librettos by Wlodzimierz Wolski. His review of Verbum nobile also echoes the accusations levelled at Wolski: "nothing so accomplished as this opera has been seen on our stage for a long time [...]. Admittedly, it contains many beautiful moments comprehensible to us Poles alone; but that is one more attribute --an attribute that embellishes both the text and the music from beginning to end -- and it is called national character."

    All the recordings of Verbum nobile made to date have been based on the orchestral score prepared by Grzegorz Fitelberg and published by PWM Edition in 1953. It is high time, perhaps, to turn to the authentic performance material of this opera and perform it in the way Moniuszko composed it and presented it under his baton to the audience of the Grand Theatre on 1 January 1861. The first step in that direction comes with this world premiere performance on period instruments.

    This recording is released as part of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute's "Concerts Frozen in Time" series (Muzyka zatrzymana w czasie) and was recorded during the 15th International Music Festival 'Chopin and his Europe' in the 'Teatr Wielki' Polish National Opera in Warsaw, 12-14 August 2021.



    "the attention to detail is wonderful: the instrumental sounds, the voices. It's beautifully crafted." – BBC Radio 3, Record Review (Andrew McGregor / Roger Parker)

  • Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. Stanislaw Monisuzko: Verbum nobile, Opera in one Act: Overture - Scene One and Two: I. Introduction
      • 2. All of you, try to remember
      • 3. Its white bloom in the spring
      • 4. Scene Three: Now as for us, Bartholomew
      • 5. So before eternal sleep benights
      • 6. But where is Stan?
      • 7. Scene Four: The father says: 'Now listen'
      • 8. Scene Five: Well, dear Bart, how did it go?
      • 9. You're mad, sir! Order: may the golden sun
      • 10. Dear heart!
      • 11. Scene Six: When I, with a tear, had nigh bidden farewell
      • 12. Scene Seven: And God, so indulgent of human affairs
      • 13. For when a young lad
      • 14. Scene Eight: Dear Stan is departing, never to return again
      • 15. How to rein this sorrow in
      • 16. Scenes Nine and Ten: Introduction - A lovely lass
      • 17. Forsooth, you'll have a bird
      • 18. This must be, oh God, my tears are hard to stem
      • 19. Scene Eleven: Listen, sir!
      • 20. Scenes Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen: Breakfast is ready