Stanisław Moniuszko Halka opera to libretto by Włódzimierz Wolski. Directed 2019 by Natalia Babińska at the Opera Nova in Bydogszcz, Poland. Stars Jacek Greszta (Stolnik); Jolanta Wagner (Halka); Dorota Sobczak (Zofia); Tadeusz Szlenkier (Jontek); Łukasz Goliński (Janusz); Łukasz Jakubczak (Dziemba); Szymon Rona (Piper); Paweł Krasulak, Maciej Musiał, Łukasz Seremet, and Krysztof Zimny (Guests); and Angelika Wojciechowska (Ghost of Halka). Also features thsade Ballet of the Opera Nova and children from the Ballet Studio of the Opera Nova. Piotr Wajrak conducts Orchestra and Choir of the Opera Nova (Choir Master Henryk Wierzchoń). Set design by Diana Marszałek and Julia Skrzynecka; costume design by Paulina Czernek; choreography by Iwona Pasińka; multimedia projections by Ewa Krasucka; lighting design by Maciej Igielski. Sung in Polish. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA

Another tragic story about a village girl who believed what the young nobleman said

Dvořák Rusalka opera to libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil. Directed 2012 by Kristina Wuss at the Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Stars Magdalena Polkowska (Rusalka); Tadeusz Szlenkier (Prince); Jacek Greszta (Water Gnome); Darina Gapicz (Witch); Katarzyna Nowak-Stańczyk (Foreign Princess); Pavlo Tolstoy (Gamekeeper); Victoria Vatutina (Turnspit); and Krystyna Nowak, Marta Ustyniak, Ewa Banasiak, Mariola Winkler-Kołtyś, Lidia Golińska, and Dorota Sobczak (Wood-sprites). Maciej Figas conducts Orchestra and Choir of the Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz (Choir Master Henryk Wierzchoń). Set and costume design by Mariusz Napierała; choreography by Iwona Runowska; multimedia productions by Krystian Drywa; light design by Maciej Igielski. Sung in Polish; subtitles in Polish, English, and German. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA