J.M.K Poniatowski 1816-1873, Opera on BBC Radio 3

[Alan Howe]

Moved - from Arbuckle:

Truly unsung opera by Polish composer, on BBC 3 Through the night this week Wednesday at 0030
NEXT ON:

Wednesday, 00:30 on BBC Radio 3
SYNOPSIS
Susan Sharpe presents a concert performance of the opera Pierre de Medicis by the 19th century Polish composer Jozef Michal Poniatowski.
12:31 AM
Poniatowski, J. M. K. [1816-1873]
Pierre de Medicis
Aleksandra Buczek (soprano, Laura Salviati); Xu Chang (tenor, Pierre de Médicis); Florian Sempey (baritone, Julien de Médicis); Yasushi Hirano (bass, Fra Antonio); Juraj Holly (tenor, Paolo Monti); Jadwiga Postrozna (mezzo-soprano, Henrietta); Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Chorus, Cracow Festival Orchestra, Massimiliano Caldi (conductor)

[Alan Howe]

Moved - from eschiss1:

First performed in 1860 ; complete vocal score at IMSLP. BTW, would recommend new thread (not a sartorial comment.   )

Thanks, Eric!
Alan Howe

[eschiss1]

Thanks both, will try to catch at least some of it but hopefully all!

[Mark Thomas]

We had a series of little power cuts overnight which has meant that my recording failed. If anybody did manage to record this work I'd be very grateful for an upload. Thanks.

[eschiss1]

I hope it's one of the works that's archived for a week after broadcast...

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, it should be.

[Hovite]

Polish composer

He was certainly of Polish descent, being a great-nephew of Stanislaus II, but he was born in Rome, and died in London, and seems to have spent the intervening years in Florence, in the service of the Grand Duke, who created him Prince of Monte Rotondo in 1847. Did he ever even visit Poland? Did he really call himself Jozef, alla polacca?

[Mark Thomas]

I listened to this enjoyable work on BBC iPlayer the other day, but didn't record it. An enjoyable but rather over-long work, heavily indebted to Meyerbeer ( which isn't a problem in my book).

[Ser Amantio di Nicolao]

Polish composer

He was certainly of Polish descent, being a great-nephew of Stanislaus II, but he was born in Rome, and died in London, and seems to have spent the intervening years in Florence, in the service of the Grand Duke, who created him Prince of Monte Rotondo in 1847. Did he ever even visit Poland? Did he really call himself Jozef, alla polacca?

Wikipedia classes him as "Polish", for what it's worth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jozef_Michal_Poniatowski

[Aragion]

Is there any available recording of this opera or other Poniatowski opuses?

[eschiss1]

A CD recording of Pierre de Medicis is indeed available sortof- see -http://www.operapassion.com/cdrapodwsa23.html.

[eschiss1]

There is a recording of a Poniatowski opus I missed: his mass in F, now available on Acte Préalable (new release.)

[Mark Thomas]

I've been listening again to the 2011 Polish revival of Poniatowski's 1860 four-act grand opera Pierre de Médicis. A recording of the broadcast is available in separate acts on YouTube, and I've made mp3s from that which are now available from our Downloads Board here. The sound quaility isn't great, but it's good enough to get to know the work. I must say that I was more impressed than I was first time around by this piece, which owes as much to Donizetti and early Verdi as it does to Meyerbeer. It's essentially a French grand opera (although the ballet is unfortunately cut in this performance) using standard Italian operatic structures to good effect. The plot is clear and set appropriately by Poniatowski, a tunesmith whose vocal writing is as effective as it is memorable, and whose orchestration is as spectacular as Meyerbeer's. To be fair, the piece definitely has its longuers but it can also be thrilling - in Act III in particular - and it's easy to hear why it was such a success when it was new. There are a couple of worthwhile articles about it online: The Opera Scribe gives a lot of interesting background and is generally enthusiastic, whereas Phil's Opera World is more objective and, I think, realistic about its attractions and drawbacks.

A CD of substantial highlights from the Polish performance was issued, but no longer generally available, although the Polish retailer Allegro still have very reasonably-priced copies at ZŁ35.00 (about £9.00 when postage to the UK is added). My copy has yet to arrive, but I'm hopeful that the recording is of higher quality than the YouTube one.

All in all this work, while no masterpiece, will give a lot of pleasure to anyone who enjoys French grand opera in the tradition of Meyerbeer and Halévy. Needlesss to say, if someone has a better recording of the Polish or subsequent BBC broadcasts of Pierre de Médicis, then I'd be delighted to hear from them.

[Alan Howe]

I'm very grateful for this upload - and for the link to purchase the CD of highlights, which I've duly ordered.

As well as being a close cousin to Meyerbeerian grand opera, it only seems a short step to Verdi's larger-scale works, e.g. Don Carlos (which was also premiered in Paris, 7 years after Pierre de Médicis).

The whole thing's far too long, of course. A greater composer would have known how to combine spectacle with greater concision. Nevertheless, there's a huge amount to enjoy here - and it helps greatly that the performance is in general well sung.

[Alan Howe]

And, now that the CD of highlights has finally arrived from Poland, what becomes clear is that this is an Italian-style opera in all but name and language, with an idiom somewhere between mature Bellini/Donizetti and early-to-middle period Verdi, with Meyerbeer hardly a step away in terms of scale and grandeur. The highlights (79 minutes of them) are thoroughly enjoyable and well sung.