Gilbert and Sullivan - Princess Ida - Act One (BBC, 1989)
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- čas přidán 4. 12. 2020
- Recorded off-air from BBC Radio 2 on 5th November 1989 at 14.00
King Hildebrand: Raimund Herincx
Hilarion: Philip Langridge
Cyril: Neil Jenkins
Florian: Michael Wakeham
King Gama: Derek Hammond-Stroud
AraC: Forbes Robinson
Guron: Leslie Fyson
Scynthius: Paul Hudson
Princess Ida: Valerie Masterson
Lady Blanche: Anne Collins
Lady Psyche: Della Jones
Melissa: Janet Coster
Sachrissa: Jennifer Adams
Chloe: Joyce Mandre
BBC Singers, conductor John Poole
BBC Concert Orchestra, conductor Sir Charles Mackerras
Series producer: Tim McDonald - Hudba
![The Navy Lark! Series 1.3 [E11 - 16 Incl. Chapters] 1959 [High Quality]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/I6HhuRvESqA/mqdefault.jpg)
"Expressive glances, shall be our lances", proving once again the perfect marriage of inspired lyrics with superb melodic charm. Musical gems abound in Act 1 plentiful, Sullivans orchestration particularly gossamer and inspired in sections. Perfection.
Valerie Masterson at last gives us her performance of Ida as she had performed many times with The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.. And I'm sure many of her fans including myself are blessed to have this recording
I saw Valerie Masterson perform Ida at the Empire theatre November 1970. You could hear a pin drop when she and Philip Potter were on stage together. Thank you.
These recordings are such treasures and what luxury casting.
I remember being so disappointed by them at the time. The sound compression used by the BBC on Radio 2 really spoilt it.
@@webrarian Yes, it would be good if they were released commercially on Testament in quality sound. It may be due to copyright issues as you indicate.
Mackerras is brilliant here--wonderful pacing, bringing out the score's riches con amore.
Fond memories of playing professionally with Sir Charles at the helm. What a giant.
I recall Dave Hurwitz, an American who presides over a CZcams music site, declaring that he thought
Sullivan to be the greatest British composer. Certainly, the latter's wonderful gift for melody and
his breadth of musical expertise can be seen as justifying Mr Hurwitz's opinion.
Sullivan is huge fun, a witty parodist
But what of other great English composers such as, for instance:
Campion, Eccles, Morley, Tallis, Gibbons, Dowland, etc …
Lawes, Locke, Blow, Byrd, Purcell, Blow, Haendel, etc …
Arne, etc ….
Elgar, Parry, Holst, Arnold, Delius, Vaughan Williams, Bridge, Ireland, Bax, Butterworth, etc …
Gurney, Bliss, Howells, Rubbra, Walton etc …
Tippet, Birtwhistle, Maxwell Davis, etc …
Knudsen, Weir, Benjamin, Adès, etc …
Beatles, pop music etc etc etc
Also to note that Anne Collins gives a great rendition of "Come Mighty Must" which is rarely recorded including Lady Blanche's preceding dialogue
This majestic score is given the majestic performance it deserves! Derek Hammon-Stroud is as much at home as Alberich as he is here as King Gama, singing beautifully, yet staying in character as the malicious creature, one of G&S's strangest parts.
0:00 - Overture
4:00 - "Search throughout the panorama" (Florian and Chorus)
9:02 - "Now hearken to my strict command" (Hildebrand and Chorus)
10:30 - "Today we meet" (Hilarion)
14:15 - "From the distant panorama" (Chorus)..."We are warriors three" (Arac, Guron, Scynthius, and Chorus)
18:22 - "If you give me your attention" (Gama)
24:58 - Finale Act I ......." P'raps if you Address the Lady" (Gama, Hildebrand, and Chorus)
26:24 - "Expressive glances" (Cyril, Hilarion, Florian, and Chorus)
29:39 - "For a month to dwell in a dungeon cell" (Gama, Hildebrand, Arac, Guron, Scynthius, and Chorus)
Gama actually pronounces dissect properly.
My love of G&S comes from my maternal grandfather, born in May 1895. He saw the second generation "greats" on stage - Lytton, Lewis, etc. And he was a stickler for "proper pronunciation". It has always seemed a terrible waste to me that the D'Oyly Carte preserved original performance practice (termed "fossilized") and were closed down just as "historically informed" performance practice was gaining momentum.
@@webrarian How wonderful, I hope you were able to capitalize. The family would not allow a comma out of place while the work was in copyright as I understand it and quite right too. Directors often try to change Gilbert's words and never to the individual opera's advantage, such as the execrable 'malcontent' substituting for 'prisoner pent' in the George Walker (I think) Mikado. Jessie Bond was dead set against it in her autobiography, how do you improve on perfection? Unless of course it is a relevant updating of Koko's little list etc. I went to quote for a job last year and discovered that the potential client was a great-niece of Jessie Bond but when I enthusiastically related her life story to him he obviously thought I was a bit odd and I didn't get the job.
@@richarddavis7778 I'm so sorry about the job. I went to an almost perfect concert of G&S by Tarantara Productions last week. "Almost" because all the singers - but one - stuck to the original text and sang it straight. And one singer decided he could improve by including the word "Harry" for a laugh, and playing the whole song for laughs. I could see the conductor was unhappy and I could hear Gilbert turning in his grave. Sadly, the audience (almost all in their seventies and over) loved it and he got the biggest round of applause.
@@richarddavis7778 Jessie's episode with Schottländer is so intriguing. Their baby's cause of death was given as syphilis and Jessie accused Schottländer of infecting her. Yet she lived a long life with no sign of symptoms.
@@webrarian one thing I learned at school was that the best way to be funny is to play it straight. Our drama teacher cast me as Demetrius in AMND and she gave me the belief I was serious. I was almost in tears when I came off stage and said “Jennie, they’re laughing at me.” Her reply was, “I knew if you believed in yourself it would be much funnier.” Nowadays producers seem to believe they have to ham it up and play for laughs. Read the text. They modernise the wrong things too. I saw the new Gondoliers on the TV, they unnecessarily updated the Duke’s script yet retained ‘gimp’ which I’m prepared to bet not many would understand. If any word needs updating it’s that, and ‘fit’ would be as good as any other. Rant over. Sorry.