Polish Songs -Moniuszko, Chopin, M.Karlowicz, Szymanowski, etc (9/2005) / Pawel Skaluba(T), Waldemar Malicki(p)

Dux's Polish Songs features a delightful Polish tenor, Pawel Skaluba, in a program of some of the key Romantic art song literature associated with Poland accompanied tastefully and sensitively by pianist Waldemar Malicki. This sort of thing is not too well known in the West, and the Polish language itself is the problem -- even if one enjoys singing in languages other than one's native tongue, Polish is a heck of a hurdle for a singer. Pawel Skaluba is a native, naturally, but an additional bonus is that his singing voice retains some hint of the deep vowels that one associates with the Polish language as spoken. Skaluba's singing is quite expressive, and the listener must assume that he is doing a good job of expressing the texts, as the texts of these songs are given only in Polish -- a major problem. It is critical in art song for the listener to understand what is being sung about. Had Dux taken the time to set up a webpage for this album containing translations of these songs it would have added greatly to the potential of this disc. Unless you understand Polish, then Dux's Polish Songs is going to be a matter of listening and enjoying, but not understanding. Given that challenge, the material is certainly strong and the program varied. The five songs by Stanislaw Moniuszko are excellent and go a long way toward explaining why he is considered the greatest of Poland's song composers, apart from having written more than 700 such works. The slightly Russian-sounding descending line in "Grajek" is artful and truly effecting. Certainly, this program could not go forward without a selection of Chopin's songs, arguably the best-known Polish-language songs in the literature, although they are not necessarily "famous." One puzzles over the omission of Chopin's song "Zyczenie," known in English as "The Maiden's Wish," from this program. It is the only one of Chopin's songs -- indeed, probably the only Polish art song -- that registers with some familiarity with non-Polish-speaking audiences, who know it through Liszt's piano transcription. While the notes inform us that the selection of songs of Karlowicz and Szymanowski herald the coming of a darker, more modern style, one doesn't get that impression from the music. These songs still sound sufficiently Romantic, though they are more understated than the others; Szymanowski's "Daleko zostal clay swiat," Op. 2/1, strikes particularly deep. Moreover, the Padrewski songs are excellent; perhaps no Polish composer has suffered such a downturn in posthumous reputation as he, but the qualities of these fine songs indicate that this stroke of misfortune is surely unwarranted. Dux's recording is not perfect as sometimes Skaluba falls a little behind the piano, but in the main it is more than adequate. If you speak Polish, then Dux's Polish Songs will be a slam dunk, and if you like a good tenor who is not Italian or Spanish, then it will be enjoyable likewise, if incomprehensible.