Moniuszko is always bracketed with Smetana and Erkel, as the originator of a national style for Polish opera as they were for opera in Czech and Hungarian lands (the Glinka comparison, for Russia, has less validity). Halka, his most successful opera, makes a very occasional appearance in Western theatres: though it was written in the 1840s, it did not reach the Polish stage until 1854, and its British premiere came in 1961 (a University College, London, production which I remember with pleasure). Moniuszko's other operas are almost never to be found outside Poland. The overtures here selected do not include that to his other most successful opera, The haunted manor, which only has an Intrada, and, as can be seen above, choice differs only in CPO's inclusion of Jawnuta and Olympia's of two shorter pieces.
The manner is, of course, that of early romantic opera, with sensitive and constructive use of Weber's example in finding a way of drawing on national idioms. Moniuszko has a distinctive melodic gift, and fluency in handling the orchestra. He can also, without pastiche, make use of an eighteenthcentury courtliness to suggest the atmosphere of the action in, for instance The Countess (or ''Hrabina''), a fairly silly tale of a young man who treads on his hostess's dress at a ball and tears it, is forced out of Warsaw, and to the Countess's chagrin returns with a village girl (the Olympia booklet provides neat summaries of the plots). A comparable poise and verve is called for by the plot of Verbum nobile; in both cases, the Olympia performances are sharper and more graceful, and the 1952 recordings under Krenz and Fitelberg wear their age lightly.
In general, Robert Satanowski is plainer in manner, and though he delivers a good, strong performance of the Halka Overture, Rowicki's has a sharper dramatic impetus. Rowicki also gives a charmingly gentle, atmospheric performance of the overture to The raftsman (or ''Flis''), a piece that gets concert performances sometimes; Satanowski is less lively with the central fast section. The Paria Overture (to Moniuszko's only mature non-Polish work: it is set in India) receives a splendidly intense performance from Fitelberg. These are interesting and attractive pieces of music; they have a fresh, sympathetic lyricism, and awaken a good deal of curiosity about their parent operas.'