KNAIJFEL: The Canterville Ghost (Brilliant Opera Collection) [CD de audio] Stanislav Sulejmanov, Tatyana Monogarova ,Moscow Thea

Alexander Aronovich Knaifel's music was considered too advanced for the Soviet Union of the 1960s and he was excluded from the Union of Soviet Composers in 1979 for having participated in Soviet music festivals in the west without official permission. Despite this, Knaifel produced a large number of works, both theatrical and orchestral. Some of his later compositions are known for their extravagance: the ballet Jeanne is written for 13 separate instrumental ensembles, while the 1985 Agnus Dei lasts two hours, with each of the four musicians playing a variety of instruments throughout. The Canterville Ghost is one of Knaifel's earliest hits and his best-known work. The libretto, by Tatiana Kramarova, is based on the Oscar Wilde story of the same name, which details the move of an American family to the English mansion of Canterville Chase, which is haunted by the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville. While some of the family ridicule the specter, daughter Virginia befriends him and eventually arranges for his peaceful departure from the house. Originally written to include 18 solo voices, the revised version includes only the roles of Virginia and the ghost. Knaifel's mixed style of composition, contrasting the racy, satirical rhythms of the first scene with the lyrical and expressive vocal parts, reflects the nature of Wilde's original work as a combination of a traditional ghost story and a modern social comedy. . The character of Virginia is sung by soprano Tatiana Mongarova, who created the role. The role of the ghost is sung by Stanislav Soulemanov, also the singer of the first production. After becoming soloist of the Bolshoi Theater in 1977, his concert tours took him throughout Russia, Europa and the United States, and he has since sung a variety of operatic roles such as Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro and Boris Timofeyevitch in Katerina Ismailova . Tracklist: 1. The ghost. Monologue I - Stanislaw Suleimanow 2. Virginia (scene without singer) - various performers 3. The ghost. Monologue II - Stanislaw Suleimanow 4. The ghost. Passacaglia for organ - Alexandre Levental 5. The ghost and Virginia - various performers