Gilbert & Sullivan

I have only seen one (the Mikado)I went expecting mere fluff and was pleasantly surprised. It was ingeniously funny and there were some delightful moments such as:

The Sun, whose rays are all ablaze

Difficult not to enjoy as the cast are nearly always loving it and it shows.

Serious music - what is that?

Well it is not serious in the tedious sense of that word - some groups are very serious with protest songs and self indulgence, but miss the point that music is supposed to be entertaining.

IMHO Gilbert & Sullivan produced some of the finest music and songs ever written and are among the all time great song-writing duos.

Not only that Sir William Schwenck Gilbert wrote the finest limerick I've ever heard despite him deploring the form

There was an old man of St. Bees,
Who was stung in the arm by a wasp;
When they asked, "Does it hurt?"
He replied, "No, it doesn't,
But I thought all the while 't was a Hornet."

I have this set of DVDs, which I think are very good value, but G&S is best heard live as it is theatrical and unlike much of the music I enjoy, benefits from a live performance.



There are multiple reviews of this set in the Amazon (please click here)

I love Gilbert and Sullivan and always try to see live performances when they're on locally. A good way of leading people gently by the hand to more "serious" opera. Don't forget that Verdi and Puccini could be considered the Lloyd Weber's of their time.

As regards audio recordings, I would highly recommend the Decca D'Oyly Carte recordings - many of which come complete with dialogue, which makes them a much more enjoyable listen IMO.

Start with HMS Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Bubblegum music? Yes, but superb tunes and great lyrics.

DVDs? The box set of ALL the G&S operettas by D'Oyly Carte as recommended above is great value. I would also recommend the 20's version of The Mikado with Eric Idle and Lesley Garrett - only available as R1 DVD AFAIK.

If you really just like the tunes, then Pineapply Poll (Mackerras/Sullivan) uses tunes from many G&S operettas - great fun trying to spot which bit comes from where.

quote:

A good way of leading people gently by the hand to more "serious" opera.

Not round here it ain't, I'll listen to G&S but it has not made the noise that is so called real opera anymore palatable. I'll stick to the overtures.

quote:

quote:
A good way of leading people gently by the hand to more "serious" opera.


Not round here it ain't, I'll listen to G&S but it has not made the noise that is so called real opera anymore palatable. I'll stick to the overtures.

To each his own. I remember feeling that way before I graduated to Linn/Naim equipment and suddenly realised that genres I had dismissed actually had a lot going for them. Still don't get rap and techno, though.

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Still don't get rap and techno, though.

Me neither.

I love his song, "Claire".

Laugh ? I almost did!

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Don't forget that Verdi and Puccini could be considered the Lloyd Weber's of their time.

Do you think they were that good? I much prefer G&S, but that's probably just me.

I find Grand Opera OK, but but there does seem to be much humour injected in to it so it is never going be something that is high on my list of musical choices. I think music can be too serious and is so being loses out on some of its magic, but I realise that is not everybody's shared view.

quote:

Originally posted by Teddy Novaks:
I love his song, "Claire".

I preferred Nothing Rhymed - Alone Again, Naturally is too sad to listen to too often.

quote:

Originally posted by Teddy Novaks:
I love his song, "Claire".

I think you have misread something, Mike.

My mate Mike L loves Gilbert O'Sullivan

So does Teddy Novaks, apparently...

So does T***y N****s

What is going on?

What is going indeed.

Tom are you going to investigate Gilbert & Sullivan? If so any you pefer a CD set rather than DVS then this is a worthy contender



This a 10 CD set of he D'Oyly Carte 1949-51 Isadore Godfrey Mono Recordings - sounds great and can be picked up in the Amazon for under £16.

quote:

Originally posted by TomK:
What is going indeed.

When I posted the "I think you have misread something, Mike." I received a message that there was some word or phrase that required reference to a moderator before it could be posted.

I also recommend the recordings with the incomparable John Reed (who died in 2010) who was from 1959-1979 the d'Oyly Carte Opera's leading singer of the 'patter song' roles, and is considered by many as the greatest ever exponent of these roles.

In December 1968 I was taken by my parents to see the d'Oyly Carte 'Mikado' as a treat for my 5th birthday. Whether it was really the most appropriate treat for a 5-year old may be a moot point, but it is a distinct memory. And the cast included John Reed as Koko.

(Later on, when we moved to Ipswich, there was always without fail a trip to the Ipswich G&S Society's productions at the Gaumont, and very good they were too. Not your average am dram, oh no.)

There don't seem to be many John Reed clips around. I would have preferred to offer the Nightmare Song from Iolanthe but haven't been able to find it. So here's the Major General's patter song from Pirates.

quote:

Originally posted by TomK:
What is going indeed.

Just some one trying to be clever, I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Tom are you going to investigate Gilbert & Sullivan? If so any you pefer a CD set rather than DVS then this is a worthy contender



This a 10 CD set of he D'Oyly Carte 1949-51 Isadore Godfrey Mono Recordings - sounds great and can be picked up in the Amazon for under £16.

I've just ordered this at £15.99. Not sure what to expect given the age of the recordings but at this price it's got to be worth it to have the chance to hear so much of their work.

Don't know what the recording quality will be like, but you'll be getting some of the great performers of the 'golden age' of the D'Oyly Carte: e.g. Darrell Fancourt (whose Mikado was and is legendary), Martyn Green, Margaret Mitchell, and possibly Thomas Round.

Do let us know!

James - it is mono and reasonably good sound quality with some nice re-mastering - the performance are, as you say, great.

ATB Rotf

I think Gilbert's books and lyrics were very good indeed. Genuinely witty, inventive, technically accomplished, satirical etc. Despite his being regarded as a great composer at the time, of all Sullivan's music only these operettas (which he seems to have felt were a little beneath his dignity) have stood the test of time. I don't think this is any coincidence as I think 70% of it is down to Gilbert's contribution, though some of the tunes are pretty and he did know how to underpin the lyrics without getting in the way - an accomplished hack/pastiche merchant IMHO and a competent partner for Gilbert.

I'd get dvd's - or at least make sure the cd's include the dialogue. A lot of it's very funny and you need it to make sense of the songs.

Thomas rounds sings his signature 'Take a pair of sparkling eyes' from Gondoliers:


From a similar period, Valerie Masterson sings, 'The sun, whose rays' from Mikado - video (no embedded code)

And John Reed sings 'Tit willow' from Mikado - video (again, no embedded code available)

Thanks Tom for reminding me of music I have loved but not listened to for years.