Stanislaw Moniuszko: Flis - the Raftsman - Frederick Chopin Institute: NIFCCD086 - CD

Flis may hardly rank beside [Moniuszko’s great operas Halk and Straszny Dwór] but, as this delightful first ever period-instrument recording shows, deserves far wider hearing…The choral writing... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2020, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 3rd Apr 2020
Catalogue No: NIFCCD086
Label: Frederick Chopin Institute

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April 2020

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Moniuszko: Flis

Ewa Tracz (soprano), Matheus Pompeu (tenor), Mariusz Godlewski (baritone), Aleksander Teliga (bass), Wojtek Gierlach (bass), Paweł Cichoński (tenor)
Chór Opery i Filharmonii Podlaskiej, Europa Galante
Fabio Biondi

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A world premiere recording on period instruments, this is a new recording of Stanislaw Moniuszko's Opera in One Act - Flis: The Raftsman. The Raftsman, one of Stanislaw Moniuszkos less familiar and less popular operas, is the second work in the genreafter Halkato enter the Fryderyk Chopin Institutes Moniuszko collection. Unjustly neglected, only sporadically seen on stages in Poland and practically non-existent abroad, there is not the slightest doubt that this work deserves our attentionand our affection. A cheerful, one-act opera set on the picturesque banks of the Vistula, on the edge of Warsaw, it represented the composers nod of appreciation to the city in which the prospect was opening up before himas he believed with all his heartof the fulfilment of all his artistic dreams. The reality proved less rosy, yet despite all the difficulties, worries and disappointments, the fourteen years he spent here (until his premature death) were certainly a time of creative fulfilment for Moniuszko, and Warsaw warmly reciprocated his feelings. The Raftsman is essentially a charming genre scene painted in music, displaying everything for which the composer is so beloved in Polandand increasingly esteemed around the world. Beautifully melodious, colourful, distinctive, at once both exceedingly rich and full of simplicity, it draws in the best way on the national tradition and culture of which Moniuszko was one of the most whole-hearted chroniclers.

Reviews

June 2020

Flis may hardly rank beside [Moniuszko’s great operas Halk and Straszny Dwór] but, as this delightful first ever period-instrument recording shows, deserves far wider hearing…The choral writing in particular is lovely…and the whole is wrought with a clarity and integrity matched by conductor Fabio Biondi’s assembled forces.

April 2020

It’s the first recording of Flis on period instruments, and Europa Galante play with soft-grained colours and theatrical punch…One of Poland’s top choruses, this Bialystok-based ensemble is integral to the recording’s success…Leading an appealing cast, Ewa Tracz sings with glinting warmth as Zosia and Matheus Pompeu offers ardent, open-throated vocalism as Franek…This modest work is worthy of everyone’s affection.

April 2020

The score fuses elements of bel canto and Polish folk-music to intriguing effect: an overture which owes something to Guillaume Tell in its opening bars gives way to a series of rollicking choruses, an attractive cod-Bellini showpiece for the heroine, and a glorious contrapuntal quartet for the four principals in the final scene.

Stanislaw Moniuszko: Flis - the Raftsman

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