Polish Radio Orchestra’s tribute to Moniuszko

The programme of the concert included a selection of arias and duets from Moniuszko’s operas Halka, The Haunted Manor and The Countess sung by prominent Polish singers, instrumental fragments of Halka and Moniuszko’s ballet music written to the opera The Merry Wives of Windsor by the German composer and Moniuszko’s contemporary Otto Nicolai.

The Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra also performed a work written 110 years ago by the Polish composer Zygmunt Noskowski entitled The Pearls of Moniuszko, a cycle of 15 songs for large orchestra inspired by Moniuszko’s most popular songs.

Music Director of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Łukasz Borowicz has told Polish Radio that it is part and parcel of his orchestra’s mission to bring to the attention of music lovers works by Polish composers that have fallen into oblivion. Noskowski’s The Pearls of Moniuszko belongs to this category.

The Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra is one of Polish Radio’s three resident ensembles, the other two being the National Polish Symphony Orchestra based in Katowice and the ‘Amadeus’ Chamber Orchestra based in Poznań. (mk/pg)