‘The great Polish bass’ is the record’s subtitle. I have no desire to belittle any singer‚ living or dead – and least of all Nowakowski‚ whom I heard many times at Covent Garden and came to know personally in later years‚ always with a sense of privilege‚ respect and affection (see Singertalk‚ 8/00). But he was not‚ as far as I can judge‚ a Plançon or a Kipnis‚ a Pinza‚ Christoff or Frick. ‘Great’ is a word to be reserved‚ and I’m pretty sure he himself would have agreed. And yet he was proud to have been‚ so to speak‚ in the running: proud‚ for example‚ when a presenter on American radio said that he had always thought Chaliapin’s to be the greatest performance on record of Boris Godunov’s monologue‚ but now having come into the studio and heard this (probably the version included here) he had revised his opinion. Certainly there will be many listeners who will revise their own views about the hierarchy of basses as a result of hearing Nowakowski now. First‚ he was a real bass (Chaliapin by comparison a bass­baritone). He was firm and even in production (a loosened version of his master‚ Didur‚ as we can hear from late recordings). He sang with feeling‚ as in the solos of Boris and Philip II; he could characterise vividly (his Khan Konchak in Prince Igor is a master of suggestive hospitality); and he could summon up an unaffected gaiety of expression as he does in Porgy’s song of plenty. Immediately impressive in this recital is the deep sonority of his voice in Handel and Mozart. The song and aria by Moniuszko are reminders of his Polish origins‚ and Annie Laurie (unlisted in the printed contents) recalls wartime in Scotland when‚ as Marian Zygmunt‚ he became well­known to a wider British public as bass soloist with the Polish Army Choir. Critical points could be made – the Tannhäuser aria lies too high for him to be comfortable in it – but anyone who comes upon this CD will be likely to say: ‘Here is a voice‚ here is an artist.’ The items have been assembled and transferred with great care; the biographical essay does the singer and the man worthy service. All concerned deserve congratulations.