Mariusz Kwiecien: Slavic Heroes

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[His signature roles] suggest a certain dashing Italianate quality that's refelcted in his voice: lighter, less rich and chocolatey than some Slavic rivals, for example Dmitri Hvorostovsky. But... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2012, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 9th Jan 2012
Catalogue No: HMW906101
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Length: 55 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

9th January 2012
Opera

February 2012

Recording of the Month

Excerpt, Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin

Work length4:56

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Act 1, Scene 2, No. 18 "Vy mne pisali" [Onegin]

Track length4:56

$1.00

$1.25

Excerpt, Tchaikovsky: Iolanta

Work length2:31

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Opera n One Act, No. 5 "Kto mozhet sravnitsa s Matil’daj majej" [Robert]

Track length2:31

$1.00

$1.25

Rachmaninoff: Aleko, TN ii / 70

Work length6:25

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Opera in One Act, No. 10 "Ves’ tabar spit" [Aleko]

Track length6:25

$1.00

$1.25

Smetana: Čertova stěna (The Devil’s Wall), JB 1:122

Work length4:07

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Act 1, "Jen Jediana" [Vok]

Track length4:07

$1.00

$1.25

Moniuszko: Halka (Helen)

Work length2:56

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Act 2, No. 8b, "Pewna, jak wiatr wzdycha" [Janusz]

Track length2:56

$1.00

$1.25

Excerpt, Tchaikovsky: Mazeppa

Work length5:10

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Act 2, Scene 2, No. 13, "O Mariya, Mariya!" [Mazeppa]

Track length5:10

$1.00

$1.25

Dvořák: Šelma sedlák (The Cunning Peasant), B. 67 Op. 37

Work length4:26

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Act 1,Scene 10 "Kdo jest, jenž slovy vypoví" [Prince]

Track length4:26

$1.00

$1.25

Moniuszko: Straszny Dwor (The Haunted Manor)

Work length3:25

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Act 2, Scene 4 "Kto z mych dziewek serce której" [Miecznik]

Track length3:25

$1.00

$1.25

Excerpt, Rimsky Korsakov: Sadko (opera)

Work length4:50

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Opera in 7 Scenes, No. 4 "Gorod kamennyi, gorodam vsem mat?" [Venetian Guest]

Track length4:50

$1.00

$1.25

Excerpt, Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin

Work length2:48

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Act 3, Scene 1, No. 21a "Uzhel’ ta samaya Tatyana" [Onegin]

Track length2:48

$1.00

$1.25

Moniuszko: Verbum Nobile / The word of a nobleman

Work length1:59

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Opera in One Act, "Nakaż niech ożywcze słonko / Come, let envigorating sun.." [Michal]

Track length1:59

$1.00

$1.25

Excerpt, Borodin: Prince Igor

Work length7:40

$1.20

$1.50

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Act 2, No. 9 "Ni sna, ni otdyha izmuchennaj dushe" [Igor]

Track length7:40

$1.20

$1.50

Excerpt, Szymanowski: Król Roger

Work length3:56

$1.00

$1.25

Łukasz Borowicz, Mariusz Kwiecień
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Act 3, final scene "Slonce! Slonce!" [Roger]

Track length3:56

$1.00

$1.25

About
Reviews
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About

Recording of the Week, Mariusz Kwiecień

9th January 2012

The charismatic Polish baritone’s debut solo album offers a compellingly sung and splendidly varied gallery of ‘Slavic Heroes’, including Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Mazeppa, Szymanowski’s King Roger, Rachmaninov’s Aleko and Borodin’s Prince Igor, as well as two arias from operas by his compatriot Moniuszko.

Mariusz Kwiecien’s journey to the top of his profession has been remarkably rapid and assured for a young man from Kraków who arrived in New York at the age of 23. The Met’s current Don Giovanni, Polish baritone Mariusz, has won over audiences in many of the world’s greatest opera houses with his powerful interpretations. For his first solo recital he employs his mellifluous and burnished voice to great effect in Polish, Russian and Czech arias which are very close to his heart. A collection of operatic gems, familiar and rare, including the electric final scene from Szymanowski’s ‘King Roger’, which joins Giovanni as his favourite role.

Reviews

February 2012

[His signature roles] suggest a certain dashing Italianate quality that's refelcted in his voice: lighter, less rich and chocolatey than some Slavic rivals, for example Dmitri Hvorostovsky. But he also sounds more luminous and less thickly textured, with excellent diction and bel canto agility...Backed by an obviously committed Polish conductor, Kwiecien offers a seriously appealing recital, recorded in first-rate sound.

March 2012

the programming fills a valuable niche...Invariably, Kwiecien gives vocally solid, passionate accounts of the music. His well focused (if not exceptionally glamorous) baritone gives a luxuriously clean sense of line...Kwiecien's Onegin is particularly nuanced.

January 2012

The basis for this recital is refreshing...Kwiecien really enters the spirit of [The Haunted Manor aria], his focused voice blazing forth in what was the composer's barely concealed encouragement of his countrymen after their unsuccessful uprising against the Russians in 1863...The final scene of King Roger, in which the orchestra holds sway for some while, finds the baritone releasing his sound to the fullest.

February 2012

Kwiecieñ fields wide variety of dynamic and tone-colour to convey dramatic mood...he is greatly aided by the exceptional playing of Borowicz's marvellous orchestra, and indeed by his conducting, which raises this disc high above run-of-the-mill recitals. Their hair-raising account of the finale of King Roger is alone worth the price....This is a lovely disc, thanks to both singer and conductor.

9th January 2012

If Kwiecień’s robust delivery of the various set-piece arias make an immediate impact...he is also no slouch when it comes to psychological subtlety, and in the long term it’s the more substantial monologues which stay in the mind after several hearings...The fine playing of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra plays no small part in showcasing both singer and repertoire.

22nd January 2012

His Onyegin...is close to ideal: lyrical, still youthful, attentive to nuances of notes and text. Roger’s ecstatic Hymn to Apollo could hardly be bettered today.

5th January 2012

The basic sound – a mix of grit and velvet – is immensely appealing, though there are moments of constriction in his upper registers, and an occasional pulse in his tone. On the plus side, he has a remarkable ability to colour his voice to suit each character, so that Borodin's Prince Igor, thinking of his wife on the eve of battle, sounds very different from Rachmaninov's Byronic Aleko, teetering on the edge of self-destruction.

The Independent on Sunday 22nd January 2012

Like Tchaikovsky's hero, Kwiecien's programme vacillates between hauteur and abandon, contrasting various arias with no apparent strain. The Czech repertoire ("Certova Stena" and "Selma Sedlak") is on a more intimate scale, but "Hymn to Apollo" from Szymanowski's King Roger is divine.

Classical Review January 2012

this thoughtfully planned recital holds several welcome discoveries, and Kwiecień’s assured performances are an enticement unto themselves...Apart from passing traces of constriction on top, Kwiecień delivers everything robustly and sensitively, and receives fine, idiomatic support

17th March 2012

There’s a husky darkness to the voice. It’s frequently beautiful, but highly expressive, especially when used with real restraint. The attraction of this well-produced aria disc is the repertoire...Play it at maximum volume and weep.

Entartete Musik 8th January 2012

Your head might explode in the final track of Slavic Heroes. Bombarded by treacly tones and the lush eroticism of Szymanowski's Król Roger, this is heady stuff indeed. But it's just one of many such treats on Mariusz Kwiecień's new recording...The sheer lyrical arrogance of his dismissal of Tatyana breaks your heart. And, as if playing the opera for real, his Act 3 aria is palpably neurotic... I cannot wait to hear Kwiecień performing these roles live.

Mariusz Kwiecien: Slavic Heroes

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Recording of the Week, Mariusz Kwiecień

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