[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

Title:Welcome to the CD Notes Conference
Notice:Welcome to COOKIE
Moderator:COOKIE::ROLLOW
Created:Mon Feb 17 1986
Last Modified:Fri Mar 03 1989
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1517
Total number of notes:13349

69.0. "Gilbert & Sullivan on CD?" by CYGNUS::FRANCINI () Tue Jan 01 1985 21:55

Has anyone out there heard if any of the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas have
been released on CD yet?  My wife and I are both G&S fans and would very much
like to retire our old D'oyly Carte records and replace them with CD versions
(preferably the D'oyly Carte company).  Anybody know if any such CDs have been
released or when they might be released?
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
69.1Still no G&SPDVAX::P_DAVISreally SARAH::P_DAVISThu Apr 10 1986 18:081
    Still nothing, eh?  I'm waiting too.
69.2D'Oyly Carte "Pirates ..."PDVAX::P_DAVISreally SARAH::P_DAVISTue Apr 22 1986 12:137
    I saw a few copies of a 2 CD set of "The Pirates of Penzance" at
    the Harvard Coop yesterday.  It's an AAD recording on London Decca,
    by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
    
    Needless to say, there's now one less copy.
    
    So far, this is still the only G&S I've seen.
69.3PDVAX::P_DAVISreally SARAH::P_DAVISMon Apr 28 1986 18:305
    According to ads in Grammophone, a D'Oyly Carte recording of "The
    Mikado" has also been released on London/Decca.  I haven't seen it 
    in the U.S. yet.
    
    -pd
69.4Try LechmereMAGIC::HAGELA. R. Hagel ZKO2-2/R32 381-2536Fri Mar 13 1987 17:353
    You might want to try Lechmere in the Pheasent Lane Mall, they seem
    to have a few CD issues by D'Oyly Carte.
    
69.5Mikado and a couple others are availableBAVIKI::GOODMichael GoodMon Mar 16 1987 12:348
    The Mikado and a couple of others (Pirates? Gondoliers?) are available
    at most stores with a decent classical selection - The Coop and Newbury
    Comics both had them in Harvard Square, for instance.  These are the
    Royston Nash / D'Oyly Carte versions.  I've read that some earlier
    D'Oyly Carte versions have been released but have not seen them
    anywhere yet.
    
    Michael 
69.6humbugDSSDEV::CHALTASMon Mar 16 1987 17:2810
    I heard the new D'Oyly Carte / Nash disk of 'Mikado' on the radio
    this weekend. It's OK, but it contains music only, no dialogue.
    This makes it fit on one CD, but you can't follow the plot.
    Since (in my humble opinion), Sullivan's music is little more than
    icing on the cake of Gilbert's words, I wouldn't buy the disk.
    
    (I wouldn't buy "Die Zauberfl�te" without dialogue either)
    
    		Harumph!
    			George
69.7Yes I've got them on my list...MERLYN::BILLMERSMeyer Billmers, AI ApplicationsTue Mar 17 1987 13:031
But the true Savoyard would have *memorized* the plot anyway, nyet?
69.8who needs a 2nd trombone anyway?DSSDEV::CHALTASThu Mar 19 1987 08:4613
    True, and the True Savoyard would have also memorized the
    *music*, so he wouldn't buy the disk at all, nyet?
    
    
    The point is, that I find the words (including dialogue) to be
    by far the more interesting part of the work.  The music is
    quite secondary -- necessary, but not as important.  I suspect
    that Mr. Gilbert could have written some delightful plays on
    his own.  Mr. Sullivans music (for example his Irish Symphony),
    is a crashing bore.
    
    			George
    
69.9The second fiddle does!MERLYN::BILLMERSMeyer Billmers, AI ApplicationsThu Mar 19 1987 13:0410
Yea, but  the  way  I sing (hum, whistle, ...) if I subject myself to my own
memory of the music it is torturous.

I agree  that  the  best part of G&S is their delightfully dry-witted humor.
But the music makes that so much more listenable. You wouldn't really rather
just have CD records of Gilbert plays, now would you?

I find it a pity that they couldn't have released Mikado both ways; a single
disc  music-only  version  and  a  double  disk version, perhaps filled with
something short. Like they did with West Side Story.
69.10They were both forgettableSSGVAX::LUSTReality is for those that can't handle drugsMon Mar 23 1987 10:0519
    RE:  .6 & .8
    
    The sad truth is that neither of them could aspire to greatness
    alone.  W.S. Gilbert did indeed write several plays which are generally
    as well-received as Arthur Sullivan's symphonies.  Sullivan's greatest
    claim to fame other than the G&S operettas is "Onward Christian
    Soldiers", while Gilbert isn't known for anything else.
    
    It would appear that Gilbert's words are so memorable precisely
    because they were written as a foil to Sullivan's music -- together
    they are wonderful, by themselves they tend to fall flat.  I
    particularly enjoy the musical caricatures of other composers (Handel,
    Rossini, etc.) but not of and by themselves, words and music here
    I find to be logically inseperable.
    
    Dirk
    
    P.S.  I wouldn't buy an orchestral-only version of "Die Zauberfloete"
    either.
69.11SARAH::P_DAVISPeter Davis, X-NYerMon Mar 23 1987 11:5312
    There is a ballet, "The Pineapple Poll", which is essentially a
    compilation of Sullivan's music.  I believe it was done by Charles
    Mackeras, and there's a recording of available on CD.  I can check
    the label/order number if anyone's interested.
    
    I don't agree that Sullivan's music falls flat by itself.  I think
    most of it is, at the least, very evocative, and some of the melodies
    are quite beautiful.  My favorite is "The Sun Whose Rays ..." from
    "The Mikado," but there are others as well.
    
    If you listen to "The Pineapple Poll,"  you'll get a good taste
    of Sullivan's music out of it's usual context.
69.12More Sullivan without GilbertKATYA::FISHERBill FisherTue Apr 28 1987 12:5811
I just picked up a CD containing 9 of the G&S overtures and one Sullivan
Concerto (DiBallo).  It is on Nimbus 5066 and is performed by the Scottish 
Chamber Orchestra.

It is a beautifully sounding disk that I would highly recommend for 
anyone who is into Sullivan's music.  The engineering is very good
except for a extraneous noise in "Ruddigore" (I think it is the sound
of the pages being turned).  The only major overture missing is Mikado.
They also have a minor mistake on the program listing:  Pinafore is
swapped with Iolanthe.