1966 I'll Follow My Secret Heart - Noel Coward, Joan Sutherland

Coward and the Bonynge's became good friends in the last decades of Coward's life. This piece opens a recording they made together with Sutherland singing and Coward narrating.
From Conversation Piece
Recorded 1966
Words:
Melanie: No Matter what price is paid,
What stars may fade
Above,
I'll follow my secret heart
Till I find love.
When my I love somebody, please?
Paul: Not until you are safely married, and then only with the greatest discretion.
M: I see
P: What's the matter?
M: It doesn't feel like my birthday any more.
A cloud has passed across the sun,
The morning seems to longer gay.
With so much business to be done,
Even the sea looks grey.
C'est vrai. C'est vrai.
It seems that all the joy has faded from the day
As though the foolish world no longer wants to play.
You ask me to have a discreet heart
Until marriage is out of the way,
But what if I meet with a sweetheart so sweet
That my wayward heart cannot obey
A single word that you may say?
P: Then we shall have to go away.
M: No.
For there is nowhere we could go
Where we could hide from what we know
Is true.
Don't be afraid I'll betray you
And destroy all the plans you have made,
But even your schemes
Must leave room for my dreams.
So when all I owe to you is paid
I'll still have something of my own,
A little prize that's mine alone.
I'll follow my secret heart
My whole life through.
I'll keep all my dreams apart
Till one comes true.
No matter what price is paid,
What stars may fade
Above,
I'll follow my secret heart
Till I find love.

[@jillianhorsley5985]

This track was on Dame Joan's Command Performance album , i listened to it every day as a very small child....and dreamed of being able to sing like her one day.....sadly, i never came close....a magical, spellbinding voice...a once in a life time voice.

[@Huaimek861]

I still don't think anyone I've heard sings this wonderful song better the Yvonne Printemps . Joan Sutherland is very near , this is absolutely beautiful , makes me cry . Thank you so much for sharing .

[@debbiewoodburn6786]

Incomparable Joan Sutherland.

[@MrStpendouslvforjo]

That is the greatest voice in the WORLD!!!!

[@bellini7verdi]

me gusta tu gusto por joan Sutherland.........eso te hace especial...como ser humano.............

[@Shamsithaca]

I agree. Along with Julie Andrews, Mario Lanza, Kathryn Grayson, Maria Callas, Pavarotti, Corelli.

[@crazyorganist1609]

​@@Shamsithaca Julie Andrews can't touch Callas or Sutherland

[@Shamsithaca]

@@crazyorganist1609 hmm lets see who has an Oscar, a Grammy, Golden Globes, Emmy, BAFTAs, Kennedy Center Award, AFI (from this year)...hmm? yeah thought so. ;-)

[@mjonir62]

Beautiful, elegant singing.

[@65attila]

This is a beautiful performance and Joan recorded a complete LP Album of Noel Coward works.

[@Huaimek861]

CaptFitzbattleaxe I was given the Noel Coward Song Book for Christmas 1953 , by an opera singer friend of our family . Over the years I have enjoyed singing a number of songs and still do . Favourites are " Where are the songs we sung " and " You were there ".

[@MrStpendouslvforjo]

Now that's a VOICE!

[@davidallen508]

Joan Sutherland,Richard Bonynge and Noel Coward.Magnificent stuff. That final top note ; WOW !!

[@bellini7verdi]

UNA EXPRESION DE LA BELLEZA DE CUENTO PARA HACERLA BELLEZA DE LITERATURA GRANDIOSA...........

[@bellini7verdi]

ella canta por si misma.............y tiene todo el poder..............ole......sus genes......y sus ganas de estudio ............y de enfrentarse al mundo...............oleeeeeeeeeeeee

[@bellini7verdi]

por las cantidades de visitas....veo.....que no es conocida............si no es en la clase alta y clasica..............y su leyenda..............no es sabida.....................la voz que transformo el mundo del canto.....y que le dio connotaciones de grandeza........inconcebible a la opera .......es una lastima..................para todos vosotros.los que no conoceis esta mujer extraordinaria fuera de serie.............y esto solo lo escribo por si alguien lo lee en un futuro...............que sepais..............ha sido es y sera la gran voz jamas escuchada........................una mujer fuera de serie.................

[@markcarpenter9235]

Very Nice.

[@bellini7verdi]

esta voz es mas importante.............que cualquier puerta abierta...............en cualquier caverna del mundo para supuestos submundos......esta voz es la riqueza del ser humano..............mas grandiosa que cualquier ovni..................es simplemente......la fuerza.......de los genes humanos................la que hace de la superficie.....algo maravilloso...........lo mas de lo mas................frente a su voz natural....la tecnologia no tiene nada que hacer.............

[@davidallen508]

You can purchase the CD ; Joan Sutherland sings Noël Coward on Decca 450 014-2 , one of my favourite albums.

[@bellini7verdi]

SU VOZ LE DIO CON ESTAS GRABACIONES UNA SERIEDAD A HOLYWOOD MAS ALLA DE TODO.......LA GRAYSON.....ERA UN PAJARILLO PRECIOSO.....PERO SUTHERLAND.....ERA UN ENORME PAJARO ARROLLADOR.......DONDE LO PRECIOSO ES MAS.....ES LA BELLEZA DE OTRO PLANETA..........

[@CaptFitzbattleaxe]

Text added to description. :)

[@tg92277]

Is this transposed upwards at all? I know she had "This is a Changing World" and "Where Are the Songs We Sung" both brought up a bit when she recorded them

[@CaptFitzbattleaxe]

It's in G-flat, which I think is the original key. My Noel Coward songbook hasn't come in the mail yet. :D

[@Shamsithaca]

did u get it?

[@tg92277]

Does anyone know if she recorded any other Coward songs? I know she did "This is a Changing World","I'll See You Again" and "Where Are the Songs We Sung" but were there any others?

[@caninbar]

Can't understand a word she's singing, but her vocal beauty shines through!

[@billthatcher4121]

Quite the voice, but it's such a shame that you can not understand a word she is singing!!! My voice teacher always told me that when someone told me they could understand every word I sang, then, that was a real compliment!!!!!