Slavic HeroesHarmonia Mundi ****

This is a debut solo-recital disc from Mariusz Kwiecien, who made a large impact in a recent broadcast of Don Giovanni staged at the New York Met. In that production, Kwiecien's stage presence was electric and, as this disc demonstrates, he has the voice to go with it. His is a dramatic dark baritone, more comfortable at the lower end of the range, possibly extending to bass-baritone, and he uses it musically and with dramatic effect. He clearly has an affinity with the material on this disc – taken from the Russian, Polish and Czech repertoire – and his interpretation of Onegin's two great arias is sensitive and idiomatic. There are some lovely lesser-known arias here, the soliloquy and cavatina from Aleko by Rachmaninov is particularly outstanding. The only caveat would be that he seems slightly under pressure in the upper end of his range. harmoniamundi.com