Moniuszko: Cantatas

[mikehopf]

Outside of Poland, cantatas are probably the least known forms of this prolific composer's works which include a multitude of operas, operettas, religious works, chamber music,  songs et al.... unfortunately no symphonies or concertos to my knowledge.

So, we were blessed this week with two of them: Widma ( The Ghosts) on CD ( NFM label) and on youtube and a broadcast on Polish Radio 2 of his first cantata Milda.
Others of his cantatas are infrequently broadcast but well worth while if you can catch them: Nijola; Crimean Sonnets, Pan Twardowska

[jerfilm]

Do they have an archive or do you have to grab from the live broadcast.  I found the "tracklist" but it only plays about 30 seconds.

Jerry

[Christopher]

Thanks Mike.  You mention youtube - do you have the links?  My searches don't throw up anything obvious, apart from fragments.

[jerfilm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g-G619ln_0

Jerry

[Christopher]

Outside of Poland, cantatas are probably the least known forms of this prolific composer's works which include a multitude of operas, operettas, religious works, chamber music,  songs et al.... unfortunately no symphonies or concertos to my knowledge.

So, we were blessed this week with two of them: Widma ( The Ghosts) on CD ( NFM label) and on youtube and a broadcast on Polish Radio 2 of his first cantata Milda.
Others of his cantatas are infrequently broadcast but well worth while if you can catch them: Nijola; Crimean Sonnets, Pan Twardowska

Are any of these broadcasts from Polish Radio available?

[Christopher]

I found one of the Crimean Sonnets on youtube: "Bakhchisarai" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msaV3GbUj2Q - I don't know how many sonnets there are.  They are after poems of the same name by Adam Mickiewicz (Poland's great national poet): he wrote 18 of them in 1826, constituting an artistic telling of a journey through the Crimea.  Acc to wikipedia "The Crimean Sonnets is an expression of Mickiewicz's interest in the Orient, shared by many of the students of the University of Vilnius. Involuntarily residing in Russia, Mickiewicz left Odessa and went on a journey, which turned out to be a trek to another world, his first initiation into "the East". The Crimean Sonnets are romantic descriptions of oriental nature and culture of the East which show the despair of the poet—a pilgrim, an exile longing for the homeland, driven from his home by a violent enemy. "

(Bakhchisarai is the former capital of the Crimean Khanate and the location of the famous Khan's Palace and Fountain.)

I had a bit of a Moniuszko wander while on youtube.  I thought I would share these, they are most attractive:

Neala's aria from the opera Paria - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hotJpUlbn-I (4 mins)

Dziad i Baba cantata (arr. by Marcin Grabosz) -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8KEPnmo2m0 (5 mins)

[scottevan]

I did regret missing the broadcast of "Milda" on Radio Dwojka back in May, and continued to check their all-Polish concert series (Fantazja polska) for an archived broadcast. I finally found one -- but from 2014.  "Milda" starts at @1 hour 22 min.

https://www.polskieradio.pl/9/3854/Artykul/1304085,Fantazja-polska-22-listopada-godz-0200

It's very much worth the listen if you like Moniuszko. Lyrical throughout, much like the composer's operas. I did find that, after an arresting prelude and first aria, attention did tend to wander in the pastoral-sounding mid section, but redeemed by a strong choral finale.

The semi-staged performance of "Ghosts" mentioned here left me -- can't escape the pun -- more than a bit cold. More a typical (secular) cantata than the quite operatic "Milda."  The frequently bizarre attempts at staging didn't help. However, I'm one of those willing to check out anything by this composer. I'd also recommend "Ostra Brama" as another worthy choral piece of his.

[Martin Eastick]

I have just noticed this which may be of interest!//https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/kantaten/hnum/9652269