Soloists; Poznan Opera/ Warsaw Phil Choir & Orchestras - Moniusko: Songs, Arias And Overtures

Moniuszko�s music, along with Chopin�s immortal works, was included in the repertoires of all the orchestras revived after the war. Nearly every theatre that was resuscitated or organised anew began its first season with a premiere of Halka or The Haunted Manor. Moniuszko choirs sprang up like mushrooms across Poland.An anonymous journalist reported in June 1948 in �The Voice of Pabianice� that: �Moniuszko�s music delights, movesand enchants. Despite its beauty and charm, it is extremely sincere, fresh, simple, and full of feeling. Moniuszko is the singer of the nation�s very soul. He derives his inspiration from the songs and art of the people, which are his source and model. This is why Moniuszko�s music is close to our hearts and dear to us all, because it touches us so, penetrates deep, and dazzles us.�The �familiar� phrases of Moniuszko�s songs and arias are easier to memorise than virtuosic passages from Chopin�s Etudes, plus they gained notoriety largely owing to the choral societies, founded already in the 19th century. But of much greater importance to the popularisation of Moniuszko�s oeuvre was the music record industry.Thousands of private record collections perished in the war, most of all � the productions of the famous label Syrena-Elektro, but also of the Polish branches of His Master�s Voice, Columbia, and Parlophone. The present 3CD anthology consists of recordings from the years 1951�1961, the oldest of which were made by �Muza� United Music Industry Factory in Warsaw, while the later ones, after 1956, were already released under the label of�Polskie Nagrania� Public Company. These recordings are documents � fascinating in many respects � of an age of transition, when the old performanceschools were gradually disappearing, and a new aesthetic was already in the making, represented by the then young singers and conductors.