Opera - Griffelkin

LUKAS FOSS (b. 1922)

premiere recording

Griffelkin

102:35

Opera in three acts

Libretto by Alastair Reid

Act I (Prologue)

'When the moon grows round and the dark grows double'

2:06

Devils, Grandmother

'You haven't swept up very snugly'

4:39

Grandmother, Devils, Griffelkin

'Hurry up now! Light the fire!'

1:45

Grandmother, Devils

Dance -

3:55

'You have learned to bewitch'

Grandmother

'O Grandmother, you mean I can play in the world'

5:40

Griffelkin, Grandmother, Devils

Entr'acte

2:12

Act II

'Head over heels now here I come!'

4:35

Griffelkin

'Bottle, we're off!'

2:22

Griffelkin, Statue

'I'll try over there across the square'

0:24

Griffelkin

'Good morning. Good gracious, you look like the devil'

3:02

Letterbox, Griffelkin

'I've made a mistake'

1:24

Griffelkin, Boy, Children

'Why, why can't you leave us'

4:08

Lions, Griffelkin

'Did you turn them back into stone?'

2:21

Girl, Griffelkin, Mother

'Where have you been?'

2:30

Mother, Girl, Griffelkin

'Have I been dreaming?'

2:57

Mother, Shopkeeper, Policeman

'Now you can see, I'm a master of magic'

3:01

Griffelkin, Girl, Shopkeeper, Toys

'Come dance, come dance, round and round'

3:09

Griffelkin, Girl

'Toys! Fiddlers, drummers!'

2:44

Griffelkin, Girl, Toys

'Oh no! Oh no! Who would believe it!'

8:39

Hosewives, Griffelkin, Policeman, Letterbox, Lions, Statue, Toys

Act III

'Disaster, calamity, dreadful, insane'

3:21

Housewives, Policeman, Shopkeeper, Letterbox, Statue, Toys, Lions

'Almost empty, only a drop'

3:22

Griffelkin

'Mother, your lips are silent'

2:35

Boy, Girl, Griffelkin

'Here I am!'

3:04

Griffelkin, Girl

'Tell me please, tell me only: what is death?'

1:48

Griffelkin, Girl, Boy

'I'll bring her back with a sprinkle of magic'

4:46

Griffelkin, Mother, Boy, Girl

'Good! Good! Good! Good!'

9:14

Devils, Grandmother, Griffelkin, Oldest Devil

'O, dark winds will haunt me'

2:41

Griffelkin

'Why Griffelkin, good morning!'

5:43

Girl, Boy, Griffelkin, Policeman, Housewives, Shopkeeper, Mother

'What a strange, round world'

4:15

Children, Grownups

Also available as SACD CHSA 5009

Marion Dry contralto - Devil's Grandmother

Kendra Colton soprano - Griffelkin

Elizabeth Keusch soprano - Statue

Yeghishe Manucharyan tenor - Letterbox

Drew Poling baritone - First Lion

David M. Cushing bass - Second Lion

Emily Browder soprano - A Boy

Misa Ann Iwama mezzo-soprano - A Girl

Janna Baty soprano - Their Mother

' Engebreth baritone - Policeman

Lynn Torgove mezzo-soprano - Shopkeeper

Anne Harley soprano - First Housewife

Anne Carolyn Bird soprano - Second Housewife

Glorivy Arroyo mezzo-soprano - Third Housewife

David M. Cushing bass - Oldest Devil

Gil Rose