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Noskowski & Liszt

Started by Jonathan, Saturday 19 July 2025, 16:42

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Jonathan

Hi All,
I've recently bought a rather splendid disc of Liszt's "Salve Polonia" (the orchestral interlude from the unfinished oratorio St. Stanslaus) and Noskowski's "Fantasy Pictures on Chopin's Prelude in A major".  The music is wonderful and the playing throughout is superb.  It's on the Fryderyk Chopin Institute label, catalogue number NIFCCD 066.  I just wondered if anyone else has this disc?

Alan Howe


terry martyn

Ordering directly from the Institute would have cost 70 zlotys (including 20 for shipping) - and the convoluted procedure rejected the transaction. So,many thanks,Alan,for the Presto alternative!

Alan Howe


eschiss1

Salve, not Slave, for what it's worth. To quote a horse from a TV show, "a subtle but... important distinction."

Jonathan

Quote from: eschiss1 on Sunday 20 July 2025, 01:16Salve, not Slave, for what it's worth. To quote a horse from a TV show, "a subtle but... important distinction."

Thanks for that, that was down to my phone thinking it was right when it wasn't!!

Sorry, I should also have said that I got my copy from Presto where it's on sale.

Alan Howe

Quote from: eschiss1 on Sunday 20 July 2025, 01:16Salve, not Slave

Yes, I'd spotted this and made the change a microsecond before reading your post! Thanks, Eric.

terry martyn

I forgot to thank you,Jonathan, for pointing it out in the first place.  Although I check the "Next 90 days" section at Presto at least once a month,this CD didn't appear there.

And I reacquainted myself with the music shop at the Fryderyk Chopin Institute with all its extant offerings, which is no bad thing.

Mark Thomas

Neither work is a recording premiere, though. The Liszt preludes are amongst the surviving sections of the unfinished St. Stanislaus oratorio recorded on a Telarc CD under the baton of James Conlon. The delicious Noskowski confection is on this Sterling recording under the title From the Life of a Nation.

terry martyn

I didn't know that,Mark.   Have to say that,unlike his first two symphonies, I find his Third is a trifle too advanced for my ears.

Alan Howe

Well, Noskowski's 3rd is definitely his symphonic masterpiece. Whatever might be said about Nos. 1 and 2, No.3 is his most personal symphonic utterance. By the way, I am particularly fond of No.1 myself.

terry martyn

I switched off the processional golf,put on the Noskowski Third, closed my eyes, and tried to like it. But,after the first 27 minutes,I shook my head.   Chacun a son gout.

Alan Howe

I can understand that. It's evidence of a composer moving into a later, more individual idiom. This is 1903, of course, and changes were in the air...

eschiss1

The 3rd was broadcast on BBC Through the Night/Euroclassic Notturno in a Polish Radio recording well before the others were available, and I found it enjoyable here on multiple listenings, but.

terry martyn

My copy arrived last night, and I have given it a first play-through.

The Noskowski is a joyous confection indeed, taken several minutes faster than on the Sterling CD. "Last Night of the Proms" music, and a tribute to Polish nationalism,without the usual melancholy.