Search - Barbara Zagorzanka :: SZYMANOWSKI: King Roger / Prince Potemkin

Well worth investigating

Yuri | 12/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Szymanowski's opera paints a wonderful,contemplative sound world with its heavenly choral singing at the beginning and the often dark orchestral colours used to depict the conflict between King Roger(Norman ruler of Sicily and the "shepherd" Dyonysus),the music is highly charged and often erotic in flavour,Zagorzanka sings beautifully as Roxana,meltingly so in her seductive aria,in fact it is a splendid version with all the singers characterising well on this clear digital recording of a rarely heard opera but one worth investigating."

The better alternative

Michael Rigsby | Madison, CT USA | 05/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording of Szymanowski's opera, King Roger, is superior in every way to the recent EMI release with Simon Rattle conducting and Thomas Hampson in the title role. The Polish cast brings a more idiomatic sense of style and, for the most part, spendid vocal resources. Worthy of special note are tenor Wieslaw Ochman as the shepherd and soprano Barbara Zagorzanka as Roxana. If baritone Andrzej Hiolski does not have quite the plush vocalism of Hampson in the title role, his dramatic invovlement and felicity with the language more than compensate. Of the few recordings of this fascinating work, this one gets my vote as the best."