CD 1
Joaquin RODRIGO
(1901–1999)
1. Czekalam wiecznosc (I waited
for eternity - 2nd mvmt from
Concierto de Aranjuez) [6:05]
Mitch LEIGH (b.
1928)
2. Snic sen …from The Man
of La Mancha [2:49]
Vincenzo Di CHIARA
(1864 – 1937)
3. La Spagnola [3:04]
José Maria
CANO (b. 1959)
4. Bogini ksiezyca [5:37]
J GALL (?-?)
5. Dziewcze z buzia jak malina
[2:42]
A ORNELAS (?-?)
6. Nad deszczem [4:06]
trad.
7. Santa Lucia [2:16]
A ORNELAS
8. Diamentowy sen [5:14]
Francesco Paolo
TOSTI (1846–1916)
9. Tristezza [3:46]
Joseph CANTELOUBE
(1879–1957)
10. Bailero [6:17]
Riccardo DRIGO
(1847–1930)
11. I millioni d-Arlecchino [3:42]
Salvatore GAMBARDELLA
(19th/20th
Century)
12. O Marinariello [3:38]
Georges BIZET
(1838–1875)
13. Je crois entendre encore from
Les Pecheurs de perles [3:46]
A ORNELAS
14. Jestem chwilka [4:17]
Ernesto De CURTIS
(1860–1926)
15. Cabta pe’ me [2:34]
Jerzy LAWINA-SWIETOCHOWSKI
(1906–1946)
16. Morze szumiace from Panna
Wodna [3:33]
Bronislaw KAPER
(1902–1983)
17. Signorina [3:29]
A ORNELAS
18. Przy Tobie trwac [2:21]
CD 2
J HARALD (1916–1965)
1. Serenada [3:27]
L RÓZYCKI
(1884–1953)
2. Caton’s waltz from Casanova
[4:35]
A MARKO
3. Oczy mego snu [3:05]
A ORNELAS
4. Z toba bez Ciebie [5:32]
Robert STOLZ (1880–1975)
5. Brunetki, blondynki … (The
brunettes and the blondes) [2:22]
A MARKO
6. Deszczowy sen [4:55]
Cesare BIXIO (20th
Century)
7. Parlami d’amore [4:32]
A ORNELAS
8. Znikam jak zycie [5:02]
J GALL
9. Barkarola [2:00]
Giacomo PUCCINI
(1858–1924)
10. O mio babbino caro from Gianni
Schicchi [3:18]
trad.
11. Arrividerci Roma [4:35]
Giuseppe VERDI
(1813–1901)
12. Ave Maria from Otello
[5:27]
Karl ZELLER (1842–1898)
13. Wie mein Ahn’l zwanzig Jahr
from Der Vogelhändler [4:11]
Richard RODGERS
(1902–1979)
14. Some Enchanted Evening from
South Pacific [3:21]
Bronislaw KAPER
15. Ninon [3:52]
Nicholas BRODZKY
(1905–1958)
16. Be My Love [3:40]
Rudolf SIECZYNSKI
(1879–1952)
17. Wien, Wien, nur du allein
[2:15]
Joaquin RODRIGO
18. Czekalem wiecznosck [6:02]
Bonus track:
Jerzy DOBRZANSKI
(?-?)
19. Laura I Filon [2:14]
Anna Bajor (soprano) (CD1 tr. 10); Zbigniew
Macias (baritone) (CD1 tr. 2, 16, CD2
tr. 14); Boguslaw Morka (tenor) (CD1
tr. 17, CD2 tr. 5, 7, 15); Wieslaw Ochman
(tenor) (CD1 tr. 5, 11, 13, 15, CD2
tr. 1, 9, 13, 16); Dariusz Stachura
(tenor) (CD1 tr. 3, 7, 17, CD2 tr. 5,
11, 15); Artur Rucinski (baritone) (CD1
tr. 9, 12, CD2 tr. 3, 18); Malgorzata
Walewska (mezzo) (CD1 tr. 1, 4, 6, 8,
14, 18, CD2 tr. 4, 6, 8); Adam Zdunikowski
(tenor) (CD1 tr. 17, CD2 tr. 5, 15);
Ewa Gawronska (CD2 tr. 2); Stanislaw
Jopek (vocal) (CD2 tr. 17); Marcin Nalecz-Niesiolowski
(baritone) (CD2 tr. 19); Jolanta Radek
(soprano) (CD2 tr. 10, 12);
Orkiestra Symfoniczna KHW S.A. KWK "Staszik"/Grzegorz
Mierzwinski (CD1 tr. 1, 3, 4, 6-9, 12,
14, 18, CD2 tr. 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 18);
Orkiestra Teatru Muzycznego w Lodzi/Andrzej
Knap/CD1 tr. 2, 16, CD2 tr. 14); Sinfonietta
Cracovia/Jerzy Maksymiuk (CD1 tr. 10);
Orkiestra Polskiego Radia/Stefan Rachon
(CD1 tr. 11, 15, CD2 tr. 16); Orkiestra
Teatru Wielkiego w Warszawie/Zdzislaw
Gorzynski (CD1 tr. 13); Orkiestra Symfoniczna
Filharmonii Zabrzanskiej/Slawomir Chrzanowski
(CD1 tr. 17, CD2 tr. 5, 7, 15); Orkiestra
Taneczna Rozglosni Slaskiej Polskiego
Radia/Jerzy Harald (CD2 tr. 1); Orkiestra
Polskiego Radia i Telewizji w Warszawie/Ryszard
Dudek (CD2 tr. 2), Zdzislaw Gorzynski
(CD2 tr. 13); Orkiestra Polskiego Radia/Mieczyslaw
Nowakowski (CD2 tr. 10, 12); Panstwowy
Zespol Piesni i Tanca "Mazowse"/Stanislaw
Wysocki (CD2 tr. 17); Jerzy Gaczek (piano)
(CD1 tr. 5, CD2 tr. 9); Waldemar Malicki
(piano) (CD2 tr. 19)
Walewska i przyjaciele
(Walewska and Friends) obviously
refers to the fact that the singer occurring
most frequently on this compilation
is mezzo-soprano Malgorzata Walewska.
She is one of today’s most popular and
renowned Polish singers and the only
one among these that I have heard in
the flesh. That was at the Finnish National
Opera a few years ago (2006) where she
was a dramatic and expressive Eboli
in Don Carlo, albeit rather wobbly
at times. That also characterises her
singing here to some extent but hers
is a fruity and rather flexible voice.
She opens the first CD with an arrangement
of the slow movement from Rodrigo’s
Concierto de Aranjuez, which
sounds more Hollywood than Spain, but
there is a guitar near the end of the
song; Ms Walewska has something of the
earthiness of a good flamenco singer.
She shows her dramatic vein in José
Maria Cano’s Bogini ksiezyca
(CD1 tr. 4) but for the rest of the
first disc she champions the composer
A Ornelas, about whom I have not been
able to find any information; he might
be an able film music writer. Track
8 shows Ms Walewska at her best with
deep, soft legato singing – and it is
an impressive voice. The best of Ornelas’s
songs is to my mind the one that concludes
CD1. There is more Ornelas on CD2 and
something by the also anonymous A Marco,
sung with feeling but also with throaty
tone and that annoying vibrato.
The other frequently
recurring singer on the discs is tenor
Wieslaw Ochman, the internationally
best known Polish opera singer from
the post-war years. His career has taken
him to all the important opera houses.
His contributions are much more varied
and show his prowess in many different
kinds of repertoire. We also hear him
at different stages of his career –
how wide apart is impossible to pin-point
but varying sound quality and changes
in his voice distribution hint at a
time span of, say, 20-25 years. I would
guess that the two songs with piano
(CD1 tr. 5 and CD2 tr. 9) are the most
recent, but apart from some strain this
is intelligent, noble singing, tasteful
and expressive in a restrained manner.
Harlequin’s Millions (CD1 tr.
11) shows a quite different singer:
romantic, glowing with brilliant top,
but still tasteful. The string tone
especially reveals that this might be
a recording from the 1960s. Even older
is Jerzy Harald’s Serenada (CD2
tr. 1) with even glassier strings and
a very lyrical Ochman, not yet fully
matured. He was born in 1937 and I scribbled
down on my pad "early 60s"
before I started searching information
on the composer, who is also the conductor
on this number, and found that he died
1965. Better sound and more mature singing
is to be heard in the Pearl fishers
romance (CD1 tr. 13), where he exhibits
impeccable legato and a beautiful half-voice.
De Curtis’s Canta pe’me (CD1
tr. 15) offers glorious singing of the
kind that paved the road for his international
career, while Adam’s aria from Der
Vogelhändler (CD2 tr. 13) is
sung with enthusiasm and a certain elegance
but this is probably also a recording
from his early years, even though the
sound seems quite OK. He also sings
the Mario Lanza hit Be My Love
(CD2 tr. 16) and does it well but the
arrangement is of the dance band type
and he doesn’t seem too inspired. By
and large he is still one of the best
reasons to buy this set.
As can be seen from
the heading there are a number of compositions
by Polish composers and two of these
are worth a thumbnail portrait: Ludomyr
Rozycki wrote what is probably the most
popular Polish opera, Casanova
(1921-22). He studied with among others
Humperdinck and was later a member of
the group "Young Poland" which
also included Szymanowski and Fitelberg.
His list of compositions is long and
includes chamber music, orchestral works
as well as several operas. The waltz
from Casanova (CD2 tr. 2) is
a fine song, more operetta than opera
perhaps. Ewa Gawronska sings it excellently
with her bright lyric soprano, so excellently
that it is a pity this is her only contribution
to the set. Bronislaw Kaper had an international
career, primarily in the US, where he
wrote music for nearly 150 Hollywood
movies. A Night at the Opera with
the Marx Brothers in 1935 was one of
his first and in 1954 he was awarded
an Oscar for Lili. He is represented
on these discs by two numbers, both
performed by the Polish "Three
Tenors" Boguslaw Morka, Dariusz
Stachura and Adam Sdunikowski, who may
not be in the same league as the original
three, but they are enthusiastic. Signorina
(CD1 tr. 17) is a spirited number, while
Ninon (CD2 tr. 15) is more anonymous.
The rest of the music
is mainly international standard fare.
There is some light music from Vienna:
Robert Stolz’s Brunetki, blondynki
(CD2 tr. 5) again with the Three Tenors,
spirited but not very subtle; and Wien,
Wien, nur du allein /CD2 tr. 17)
charmingly sung by the legendary Stanislaw
Jopek, member of the "Mazowsze"
Company for almost half a century and
known in every Polish home. There are
Italian songs in performances of varying
quality. The pick is no doubt Artur
Rucinski who sings Tosti and Gambardella
(CD1 tr. 9 and 12) with his high lyric
baritone, combining beautiful timbre
and unforced healthy delivery. Soprano
Anna Bajor gives us a good Bailero
by Canteloube (CD1 tr. 10) and on CD2
the internationally active soprano Jolanta
Radek sings two arias everybody knows:
O mio babbino caro from Gianni
Schicchi with fine nuance, long
phrases and good legato but too slow
– this is however a piece one remembers
– and an equally good Ave Maria
from Verdi’s Otello. CD2 finishes
as CD1 started: with the slow movement
from Rodrigo’s guitar concerto, this
time sung by Artur Rucinski, who once
again distinguishes himself. According
to the biographical notes he is still
at the beginning of his operatic career
and judging from his singing here great
things can be expected. The disc doesn’t
quite end there, since there is a bonus
track, Laura i Filon¸ sung by
Marcin Nalecz-Niesiolowski, who is one
of the foremost young Polish conductors
(b. 1972) but who also studies singing
and here displays a well-schooled sonorous
baritone in the old Polish folk-song.
Playing time is generous,
the booklets contain biographies in
Polish and English and I have done what
I could to complete the missing information
of birth and death years, first names
of composers and similar minutiae.
As always with a compilation
it’s a mixed bag. Some of the songs
left me indifferent, some of the performances
– mainly those I haven’t commented on
– were not up to the standard of the
best but there was really nothing awful
and there are several things that are
very good indeed.
Göran Forsling
for details
