Luigi Cherubini: Faniska

Luigi Cherubini’s Opéra comique Faniska, first performed in 1806, was a resounding success, and the work was received almost enthusiastically by both Haydn and Beethoven. In terms of type, it is one of the rescue operas so popular at the time, such as Cherubini’s Lodoïska (1791). Unlike its older “sister work”, Faniska was unfortunately forgotten, except for the occasional overture, although connoisseurs attest to the work’s even higher melodic qualities than the incomparably better-known Lodoïska. The successful recording on DUX with Natalia Rubis, Tomasz Rak and Robert Gierlach as well as the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra under Lukasz Borowicz gives opera lovers the opportunity to convince themselves of the qualities of this hitherto neglected work.