Moniuszko: Straszny Dwór

Day 197

Moniuszko: Straszny Dwór

Soloists

Chorus and Orchestra of Polish National Opéra

Jacek Kaspszyk

This was a major discovery. I was aware of the opera - indeed the CDs have been sitting on my shelves for a while - but I had never heard it, or indeed any of the composer’s other music. The opera’s title translates as the Haunted Manor and I had expected it to be a very serious piece with Wagnerian/Marschnerian overtones. In fact however it was a much lighter piece - essentially a comedy about two soldiers who brag about their bravery and spend a night in the haunted castle. There - in shades of Ruddigore - their girlfriends hide behind portraits and start singing - scaring the life out of them. 

The style is quite eclectic. The general ethos is of French Opèra Comique and I suspect that La Dame Blanche was somewhere in the background of the composer’s imagination. But there are also passages that could come from Donizetti and some which almost seem to be from Viennese operetta. But Moniuszko makes a really satisfying whole of these disparate elements. He had a real melodic gift and a sense of operatic timing. The various manifestations of ghostly music are not too serious and add to the general enjoyment. 

I really enjoyed getting to know this opera and look forward to hearing more of the composer’s music in due course.