{"id":39599,"date":"2024-02-29T19:34:28","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T18:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e64d7e2f-217b-49a9-9591-6f2ba58b6aaa"},"modified":"2024-03-01T01:39:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T00:39:56","slug":"paderewski-manru","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/paderewski-manru\/","title":{"rendered":"Paderewski: Manru"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Christopher Cook\n <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 29 February 2024 at 18:34 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Thomas Mohr, Romelia Lichtenstein et al; Ch\u00f6re der Oper Halle; Staatskapelle Halle\/Michael Wendeberg<\/p>

CPO 555 553-2\u00a0\u00a0 138:42 mins (2 discs)<\/em><\/p>

Composed to advance the cause of an independent Poland, Ignacy Paderewski\u2019s Manru<\/em> is deeply political. On the other hand, Alfred Nossig, whose libretto is based on a popular Polish novel, was a passionate advocate for the Jewish people to have their own state. And given that his hero Manru is a Roma, who has deserted his people to marry a Polish girl, Ulana, the Holocaust and the recent history of the Romani in Europe casts an ugly modern shadow across the opera.<\/p>

Greatest Polish composers<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>
Politics also appear to have undone Manru<\/em> after its first triumphant performances in Dresden in 1901. Originally sung in German, the opera was subsequently performed in Polish \u2013 and then the work slipped between two linguistic stools.<\/p>
However, the music falls between more stools than you\u2019ll find in a Warsaw bar. Wagner<\/a><\/strong> races through both score and the plot, with Manru deserting Ulana and his child after a heavy day \u00e0 la<\/em> Siegfried in his forge while Ulana begs a Tristan-like potion from the villain of the piece, Urok. Then there\u2019s a harvest festival with a short ballet that seems a refugee from Smetana<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s The Bartered Bride<\/em>, and music for violin and cimbalom that mimics the invented \u2018gypsy\u2019 music so relished in Central Europe\u2019s cafes.<\/p>
Halle Opera field a dependable cast, with Romelia Lichtenstein impressive as Ulana, a properly dramatic soprano<\/a><\/strong> with a velvety lower register. The tessitura<\/em> lies uncomfortably high for Manru and Thomas Mohr, like many a heldentenor, tires by the third act when he rejoins his people. As Urok, Levent Bakirci is a suitably Hagen-like villain. Michael Wendeberg in the pit works tirelessly to keep everything together, yet Manru stubbornly remains a cultural footnote. <\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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By Christopher Cook Published: Thursday, 29 February 2024 at 18:34 PM Thomas Mohr, Romelia Lichtenstein et al; Ch\u00f6re der Oper Halle; Staatskapelle Halle\/Michael Wendeberg CPO 555 553-2\u00a0\u00a0 138:42 mins (2 discs) Composed to advance the cause of an independent Poland, Ignacy Paderewski\u2019s Manru is deeply political. On the other hand, Alfred Nossig, whose libretto is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":39600,"template":"","categories":[1,81,19],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/paderewski-manru.jpg",900,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/paderewski-manru-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/paderewski-manru-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/paderewski-manru-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/paderewski-manru.jpg",800,800,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/paderewski-manru.jpg",900,900,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/03\/paderewski-manru.jpg",900,900,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Christopher Cook Published: Thursday, 29 February 2024 at 18:34 PM Thomas Mohr, Romelia Lichtenstein et al; Ch\u00f6re der Oper Halle; Staatskapelle Halle\/Michael Wendeberg CPO 555 553-2\u00a0\u00a0 138:42 mins (2 discs) Composed to advance the cause of an independent Poland, Ignacy Paderewski\u2019s Manru is deeply political. On the other hand, Alfred Nossig, whose libretto is…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/39599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}