This is the world's first recording of the "dramatic cantata" Widma ("Phantoms") by Stanisław Moniuszko, at least in the original form as conceived by the composer, because it seems that after his death in 1872, a number of his too-well-intentioned friends and colleagues played at being sorcerers' apprentices with the score, trying to set it in line with the fashions of the day – but it was their day, rather than Moniuszko's. The work, finished in 1856, doesn't hide the influence of Berlioz, Félicien David and Liszt, whether in the richness of the orchestration (taken from Berlioz, no doubt) or in the dramatic format which mixes musical passages with short narrations. The narration here is given in Polish, as the words are based on Ancestors by Adam Mickiewicz, the most famous of the Polish romantic poets: listeners unfamiliar with the language will take consolation from the fine-sounding narration, the spoken passages being very short. As for the music, it is full of surprises – good ones! – and it sheds new light on the Polish romantic repertoire, which is too easily boiled down to Chopin, whose genius was, after all, limited to the piano. We would love to see this masterpiece staged in France: but while we wait, this edition from the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra will allow us to discover it. © SM/Qobuz