Production Recording Of PAUL'S CASE Released

National Sawdust Tracks released the recording of the chamber opera Paul's Case, composed by Gregory Spears, libretto by Kathryn Walat and Gregory Spears and conducted by Robert Wood.

Paul's Case made its World Premiere in 2013 at UrbanArias and was later produced in New York at the PROTOTYPE festival and Pittsburgh Opera. The piece was one of The New Yorker 's list of Ten Notable Performances and Recordings of 2014. A two-act chamber opera, Paul's Case chronicles the dissolution of a high schooler who lives in turn-of-the-20th-century Pittsburgh. Paul spends his free time working as an usher at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Hall before deciding to run away to revel in the luxury of New York City's Waldorf Astoria hotel. Through the deft use of post-minimal and Baroque styles, the opera reminds us of our own struggle to cope with our given circumstances and desire to break free. The vocal lines, both pastoral and mechanistic, suggest the world of nature, luxury and art that Paul loves and the gilded-age machinery that will eventually destroy him.

Featured artists include the cast from the original UrbanArias production: tenor Jonathan Blalock as Paul; baritone Keith Phares as Father; soprano Melissa Wimbish as History Teacher/Opera Singer 1/Maid 1; soprano Erin Sanzero as Drawing Teacher/Opera Singer 2/Maid 2; mezzo soprano Amanda Crider as English Teacher/Maid 3; tenor Michael Slattery as Yale Boy; and baritone James Shaffran as Principal/Bellboy. Also featured is the American Modern Ensemble Orchestra.

The digital album cast recording is available for $16 at https://nationalsawdust.bandcamp.com/album/pauls-case.