The Noel Coward Songbook.

Ian Bostridge; Jeffrey Tate, piano. EMI 7243 5 57374-2.

Most young people won't recognize the man at all, but for older folks the name "Noel Coward" conjures up images of urbane, sophisticated song and patter, the vocal equivalent of a dancing Fred Astaire. This disc presents 19 of the composer/entertainer's songs from his heyday in the 1920s and 30s.

Coward began by writing musical plays, but as the booklet note points out, his style of music was already out of date by the early forties, at which time he turned to filmmaking with things like In Which We Serve and Brief Encounter. By the fifties and sixties, he had returned to the stage, this time performing his own early works in cabaret shows.

Ian Bostridge lovingly performs Coward's most famous songs, things like "Parisian Pierrot" from London Calling, "Poor Little Rich Girl" from On With the Dance, "World Weary" and "A Room With a View" from This Year of Grace, "I'll See You Again." from Bitter Sweet, "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" and "The Party's Over Now" from Words and Music, and "Someday I'll Find You" from Private Lives. The songs are done up in a more sedate manner than I recall Coward himself doing them, but they are, nevertheless, effectively engaging. The singer is accompanied by no less a musician than Jeffrey Tate, making for a most assured evening of entertainment.

The one thing that may annoy some listeners, however, is the staging of the event. Bostridge appears to be sharing the piano bench with Tate, singing to us with his back to the instrument, because the piano sound is spread out from one speaker to the other. My speakers are about ten feet apart, making for a very wide piano, indeed! That quibble aside, it's a fine and enjoyable affair.