It’s possible that the most dramatic passages in Liszt’s last major ‘work in progress’ were the ones he never got round to composing; where Poland’s Patron Saint Stanislaus rebukes cruel King Bolesaw who, in spite of the risen dead bearing witness to his crimes, murders Stanislaus in a fit of passion. You can imagine what the composer of Totentanz, the Mephisto Waltzes and the dark murmurings of the late piano works would have made of that. What we do have – two sizeable completed scenes (1 and 4) incorporating an aria orchestrated from a piano score – is often impressive. The largest section is the introduction, stylistically mid-way between Faust’s ‘Gretchen’ and Liszt’s last symphonic poem, From the Cradle to the Grave, composed at around the time Liszt returned to St Stanislaus after an eight-year break.

As with Christus, Liszt often digresses from his vocal forces in favour of purely orchestral writing. Here is a revision of his Fantasia on two Polish National Songs of some 20 years earlier, the first half slow and chromatic, the second half a rousing scherzo based on the Polish national anthem. Dvorák or Smetana in national vein come more readily to mind than Liszt, though they wouldn’t have sounded as they did without Liszt’s influence. Scene 4 continues with a sinister organ solo and a Titurel-like ‘De profundis’ from Boleslaw with monotone bass chorus. The closing ‘Salve Polonia’ chorus calls, at least initially, on the haunting modulations that mark Liszt’s late style.

The quieter, meditative sections seem more successful, especially from the First Scene, whereas I suspect the orchestral interludes will strike some as rather thin – albeit the second more than the first. The performance under James Conlon is a good one. The forces of the Cincinnati May Festival give their all, with sterling work from, in particular, baritone Donnie Ray Albert. A significant release then though not one I would necessarily call on to illustrate late Liszt at his most consistent.