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Cedille

Menotti: The Medium / Rapchak, Castle, Bedi, Chicago Opera

$19.99 Only 3 left

Details

Composer
MENOTTI, GIAN CARLO
Artist
Castle, Michaels, Rapchak, Chicago Opera Theater
Format
CD
Label
Cedille
Released
Jan 01, 1997
Catalog #
CDR 034
UPC
735131903424

About

"A first-rate recording of a durable classic." (Opera News)

"Chicago Opera Theater brings the story fully and frighteningly to life for the first time on compact disc. Joyce Castle sings the title role . . . with chilling malevolence. Bedi brings to the role [of Monica] a pervasive and affecting sweetness." (Newark Star-Ledger)

"Exudes a riveting theatrical atmosphere." (Dallas Morning News)

Oft-performed but mysteriously absent on recordings, Menotti's eerie opera The Medium has materialized in its first recording in more than a quarter century. This two-act "musical drama" is about a fake psychic whose surprise encounter with the unknown leads to murder and mayhem. It is stage a dozen times annually in the US alone. Yet, recordings haven't been available for years, and (until now) it has never appeared on CD.

A "sensational success" for Menotti (Kobbé's Opera Book), the present version of The Medium had its premiere February 18, 1947 at New York's Heckscher Theater. New York Times music critic Olin Downes wrote, "we have here the quality of opera. It is dramatic music, emphatic in action as well as feeling, and in essence song, which is what opera must be. No other American composer has shown the inborn talent that Mr. Menotti, an Italian by descent, unquestionable possesses for the lyric theater." Critic (and composer) Virgil Thomson called it a "first-class musico-theatrical work . . . the most gripping operatic narrative [he] has witnessed in many a year . . .[It] wrings every heart string, and the music is thoroughly touching."

Tracklist 40 tracks

  1. 1 Act I: Introduction 01:38
    Track
    1
    Title
    Act I: Introduction
    Duration
    01:38
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  2. 2 Act I: "Where, oh, where" (Monica) 01:56
    Track
    2
    Title
    Act I: "Where, oh, where" (Monica)
    Duration
    01:56
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  3. 3 Act I: "Be careful, Baba's coming!" (Monica) 01:13
    Track
    3
    Title
    Act I: "Be careful, Baba's coming!" (Monica)
    Duration
    01:13
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  4. 4 Act I: "Where have you been all night?" (Monica) 00:48
    Track
    4
    Title
    Act I: "Where have you been all night?" (Monica)
    Duration
    00:48
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  5. 5 Act I: "Get ready! Hurry!" (Baba) 00:38
    Track
    5
    Title
    Act I: "Get ready! Hurry!" (Baba)
    Duration
    00:38
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  6. 6 Act I: "Good evening, Madame Flora" (Mrs. Gobineau) 00:33
    Track
    6
    Title
    Act I: "Good evening, Madame Flora" (Mrs. Gobineau)
    Duration
    00:33
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  7. 7 Act I: "Is this the first time" (Mrs. Gobineau) 01:38
    Track
    7
    Title
    Act I: "Is this the first time" (Mrs. Gobineau)
    Duration
    01:38
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  8. 8 Act I: "It Happened long ago" (Mrs. Gobineau) 02:07
    Track
    8
    Title
    Act I: "It Happened long ago" (Mrs. Gobineau)
    Duration
    02:07
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  9. 9 Act I: "It's time to begin" (Baba) 00:55
    Track
    9
    Title
    Act I: "It's time to begin" (Baba)
    Duration
    00:55
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  10. 10 Act I: "You must be very silent" (Mr. Gobineau) 01:12
    Track
    10
    Title
    Act I: "You must be very silent" (Mr. Gobineau)
    Duration
    01:12
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  11. 11 Act I: "Mother, mother, are you there?" (Monica) 01:13
    Track
    11
    Title
    Act I: "Mother, mother, are you there?" (Monica)
    Duration
    01:13
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  12. 12 Act I: "Doodly, doodly, are you happy?" (Mrs. Nolan) 00:48
    Track
    12
    Title
    Act I: "Doodly, doodly, are you happy?" (Mrs. Nolan)
    Duration
    00:48
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  13. 13 Act I: "Mummy, Mummy dear" (Monica) 02:32
    Track
    13
    Title
    Act I: "Mummy, Mummy dear" (Monica)
    Duration
    02:32
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  14. 14 Act I: "Mother, mother, are you there?" (Monica) 00:48
    Track
    14
    Title
    Act I: "Mother, mother, are you there?" (Monica)
    Duration
    00:48
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  15. 15 Act I: "Send my son to me..." (Mr. Gobineau) 01:14
    Track
    15
    Title
    Act I: "Send my son to me..." (Mr. Gobineau)
    Duration
    01:14
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  16. 16 Act I: "What is it? Who is it?" (Baba) 01:16
    Track
    16
    Title
    Act I: "What is it? Who is it?" (Baba)
    Duration
    01:16
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  17. 17 Act I: "But why be afraid?" (Mr. Gobineau) 00:36
    Track
    17
    Title
    Act I: "But why be afraid?" (Mr. Gobineau)
    Duration
    00:36
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  18. 18 Act I: "Baba, what has happened?" (Monica) 01:22
    Track
    18
    Title
    Act I: "Baba, what has happened?" (Monica)
    Duration
    01:22
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  19. 19 Act I: "Where is Toby?" (Baba) 01:32
    Track
    19
    Title
    Act I: "Where is Toby?" (Baba)
    Duration
    01:32
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  20. 20 Act I: "The Sun has fallen" (Monica) 02:08
    Track
    20
    Title
    Act I: "The Sun has fallen" (Monica)
    Duration
    02:08
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  21. 21 Act I: "The spools unravel" (Monica) 01:56
    Track
    21
    Title
    Act I: "The spools unravel" (Monica)
    Duration
    01:56
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  22. 22 Act I: "Oh God! What is happening to me?" (Baba) 01:46
    Track
    22
    Title
    Act I: "Oh God! What is happening to me?" (Baba)
    Duration
    01:46
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  23. 23 Act II: Introduction 02:12
    Track
    23
    Title
    Act II: Introduction
    Duration
    02:12
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  24. 24 Act II: "Bravo!" (Monica) 01:25
    Track
    24
    Title
    Act II: "Bravo!" (Monica)
    Duration
    01:25
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  25. 25 Act II: "What is the matter Toby?" (Monica) 03:57
    Track
    25
    Title
    Act II: "What is the matter Toby?" (Monica)
    Duration
    03:57
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  26. 26 Act II: Baba's entrance 01:47
    Track
    26
    Title
    Act II: Baba's entrance
    Duration
    01:47
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  27. 27 Act II: "Toby, you know that I love you" (Baba) 01:40
    Track
    27
    Title
    Act II: "Toby, you know that I love you" (Baba)
    Duration
    01:40
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  28. 28 Act II: "But first you must tell me" (Baba) 01:47
    Track
    28
    Title
    Act II: "But first you must tell me" (Baba)
    Duration
    01:47
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  29. 29 Act II: "Perhaps it was not you after all" (Baba) 01:54
    Track
    29
    Title
    Act II: "Perhaps it was not you after all" (Baba)
    Duration
    01:54
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  30. 30 Act II: "Good evening, Madame Flora" (Mrs. Gobineau; Mrs. Nolan) 02:05
    Track
    30
    Title
    Act II: "Good evening, Madame Flora" (Mrs. Gobineau; Mrs. Nolan)
    Duration
    02:05
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  31. 31 Act II: "Not to know my daughter's own voice?" (Mrs. Nolan) 01:00
    Track
    31
    Title
    Act II: "Not to know my daughter's own voice?" (Mrs. Nolan)
    Duration
    01:00
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  32. 32 Act II: "Please let us have our seance, Madame Flora" (The Gobineaus; Mrs. Nolan) 00:57
    Track
    32
    Title
    Act II: "Please let us have our seance, Madame Flora" (The Gobineaus; Mrs. Nolan)
    Duration
    00:57
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  33. 33 Act II: "And you, you too get out" (Baba) 01:22
    Track
    33
    Title
    Act II: "And you, you too get out" (Baba)
    Duration
    01:22
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  34. 34 Act II: Toby's exit 00:56
    Track
    34
    Title
    Act II: Toby's exit
    Duration
    00:56
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  35. 35 Act II: "Mother, mother, are you there?" (Girl's Voice) 01:03
    Track
    35
    Title
    Act II: "Mother, mother, are you there?" (Girl's Voice)
    Duration
    01:03
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  36. 36 Act II: "Afraid, am I afraid?" (Baba) 02:35
    Track
    36
    Title
    Act II: "Afraid, am I afraid?" (Baba)
    Duration
    02:35
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  37. 37 Act II: "The dead never come back" (Baba) 01:54
    Track
    37
    Title
    Act II: "The dead never come back" (Baba)
    Duration
    01:54
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  38. 38 Act II: "O God, forgive my sins" (Baba) 02:40
    Track
    38
    Title
    Act II: "O God, forgive my sins" (Baba)
    Duration
    02:40
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  39. 39 Act II: "Who's there?" (Babay) 00:54
    Track
    39
    Title
    Act II: "Who's there?" (Babay)
    Duration
    00:54
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti
  40. 40 Act II: "I've killed the ghost!" (Baba) 01:40
    Track
    40
    Title
    Act II: "I've killed the ghost!" (Baba)
    Duration
    01:40
    Composer
    Gian Carlo Menotti