Antoni

Few listeners know much, if anything, about Zygmunt Noskowski (1846–1909), even though Szymanowski featured among his distinguished students and Moniuszko among his renowned teachers. And yet, for most of the 19th century, Noskowski was the primary exponent of modern symphonic music in Poland. As a conductor and concert organiser, he himself championed the causes of forgotten Polish composers. Now it's the turn of Antoni Wit, who succeeded Noskowski at the helm of the Warsaw Philharmonic 94 years after his retirement, to raise the profile of his late-romantic colleague, having similarly promoted the music of Zygmunt Stojowski on a previous Capriccio recording (C5464).

Tomas Breton's La Dolores from 1895–in which all the male characters love the heroine, Dolores, who works in an inn–is an opera espagnola: a full-blown opera, not a zarzuela, and its plot, characters, mood, and music could belong to no other country but Spain. Breton's musical idiom is late romantic, and he's a fine composer. The opera's acts build with good intensity, and throughout he keeps the local flavor alive with dances and rhythms that are peculiarly Spanish.