Volante Opera - Blithe Spirit: an opera after the improbable farce by Noel Coward (2023) Hi-Res

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Artist:
Title: Blithe Spirit: an opera after the improbable farce by Noel Coward
Year Of Release: 2023
Label: ASC Records / Prima Facie
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (tracks) / FLAC 24 Bit (44,1 KHz / tracks)
Total Time: 127:34 min
Total Size: 544 MB / 1,1 GB
WebSite:

Tracklist:

CD1:

01. Scene One? Madam Arcati, Mrs Bardman and I
02. Used Elvira to be a Help to You
03. I'm Afraid I'm Rather Late…
04. It Was Wonderful Cycling Through the Woods this Evening
05. Sunsong Interlude
06. Scene Two - My Control Was Quite Scared the Other Day
07. This is the Moment I Always Hate
08. Sunsong (Gramophone)
09. Is There Anyone There?
10. Leave it Where it is
11. I Suddenly Felt a Draught
12. That was enjoyable
13. Perhaps it's as Well
14. Act Two, Scene One - A Good Morning
15. You've Absolutely Ruined That Border by the Sundial
16. I've Done Everything I Can to Help
17. Let Her Have a Nice Cry
18. Ruth… You See That Bowl of Flowers…
19. Interlude
20. Scene Two - Madame Arcati
21. I Appreciate Fully Your Pride…
22. The Time Has Come, Mrs Condomine
23. What On Earth Was Madame Arcati Doing Here?
24. Let Her Go. She'll Calm Down
25. Interlude - The Unmerry Widow Waltz

CD2:

01. Act Two, Scene Three - Nothing to Worry About…
02. You've Behaved Well For the Last Few Days…
03. She Came Here With One Purpose
04. Look Out!
05. Are You Ready to Go into Folkestone?
06. Hullo… Hullo…
07. Act Three, Scene One - I Threw Up the Sponge!
08. Do You Think She Really Could Get Me Back Again?
09. Madame Arcati, Would You Please Come In Now?
10. Ghostly Spectre, Ghoul or Fiend
11. Is There Anyone There? (Reprise)
12. Intermezzo
13. Scene Two - Well, We've Done All We Can
14. Wake Up, Madame Arcati
15. Damn the Thing, It's Cloudy Again
16. Did You Ring, Sir?
17. They've Gone
18. Ruth? Elvira?
19. Sunsong (Bonus Track)

It might seem that there is little new to say about the text of Sir Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, written as a light-hearted romp. But in point of fact Coward's text has been regarded almost from the very first as open season for directors and producers who wished to adapt and alter the plot for their own reasons.

The text as set is very nearly entirely Coward's own following his 1941 script for the play as first presented and published, merely subjected by Julian Boyce and the composer to abridgement rather than any alteration or additions.

This recording, like our earlier releases of music by Paul Corfield Godfrey, features soloists from Welsh National Opera, together with an orchestra drawn from live sampled performances which have been carefully balanced and adjusted in collaboration with the composer to obtain as close a result to the sound of an actual orchestra as possible, with results that Brian Wilson writing for MusicWeb International described as "completely convincing".

The work was largely written during the pandemic in 2020-21, and this recording represents its first performance.

Reviews of previous Volante Opera recordings of the music of Paul Corfield Godfrey have continued to garner ecstatic reviews from critics, including the following in Fanfare from Marc Medwin: "...heretofore, I have been entirely ignorant of Paul Corfield Godfrey's work. More's the pity..."