Release Date: 24 November 2023
Label: Prima Facie
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 7141148050366
Composer/Series: Blithe Spirit
Description
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, 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..."
Cast:
Ruth Condomine: Rosie Hay
Edith: Emma Mary Llewellyn
Charles Condomine: Julian Boyce
Dr. Bradman: Simon Crosby Buttle
Mrs. Bradman: Stella Woodman
Madame Arcati: Helen Greenaway
Elvira: Helen Jarmany
'The opening with its beautiful and life-enhancing melody is a vitamin-injection of the first order, and has the same effect – at least on this listener – as some of Rossini's best overtures, or maybe a better simile, the sophisticated prelude to Verdi's Falstaff. The music is expertly orchestrated, and it flows effortlessly in a steady stream of notes that is minimalistic but ever-changing.' – Music Web International
Tracklisting
Xuefei Yang, Johannes Moser, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Or
Kenneth Hamilton
The Choir of Robinson College, Cambridge & Will Sims
Kenneth Hamilton
Michael Cretu
Laura Serra
Helen Cawthorne
David Daly, Duncan Honeybourne, Ondrej Vrabec, Daniel Wiesner, Graham Walker, David Trippett
Volante Opera Productions
