Thomas Mohr, Romelia Lichtenstein et al; Chöre der Oper Halle; Staatskapelle Halle/Michael Wendeberg
CPO 555 553-2 138:42 mins (2 discs)
Composed to advance the cause of an independent Poland, Ignacy Paderewski’s Manru is deeply political. On the other hand, Alfred Nossig, whose libretto is based on a popular Polish novel, was a passionate advocate for the Jewish people to have their own state. And given that his hero Manru is a Roma, who has deserted his people to marry a Polish girl, Ulana, the Holocaust and the recent history of the Romani in Europe casts an ugly modern shadow across the opera.
Politics also appear to have undone Manru after its first triumphant performances in Dresden in 1901. Originally sung in German, the opera was subsequently performed in Polish – and then the work slipped between two linguistic stools.
However, the music falls between more stools than you’ll find in a Warsaw bar. Wagner races through both score and the plot, with Manru deserting Ulana and his child after a heavy day à la Siegfried in his forge while Ulana begs a Tristan-like potion from the villain of the piece, Urok. Then there’s a harvest festival with a short ballet that seems a refugee from Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, and music for violin and cimbalom that mimics the invented ‘gypsy’ music so relished in Central Europe’s cafes.
Halle Opera field a dependable cast, with Romelia Lichtenstein impressive as Ulana, a properly dramatic soprano with a velvety lower register. The tessitura lies uncomfortably high for Manru and Thomas Mohr, like many a heldentenor, tires by the third act when he rejoins his people. As Urok, Levent Bakirci is a suitably Hagen-like villain. Michael Wendeberg in the pit works tirelessly to keep everything together, yet Manru stubbornly remains a cultural footnote.