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Antheil
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« on: 19:31:52, 07-11-2008 » |
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OK, there are some experts it seems here about G&S, Stanley and Don Basilio for example.
I know nothing. I know "I have a little list" and "Three little maids from School are we" which we do dressed up on theme nights on a regular basis. O! Did I say that?
Seriously, Perhaps a G&S Thread would be good so I, and others, could appreciate light operetta (is that the right term for them?)
I would like to learn about G&S because it seems fun and jolly.
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #2 on: 20:54:11, 07-11-2008 » |
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After seeing Mort on Wednesday I wandered into a bookshop in Highgate and bought the Penguin Classics copy of the Savoy Operas, edited by Ed Glinert and with an introduction by Mike Leigh. Interesting.
But some of the great G&S lovers of this board are no longer around.
Ah, leave me not to sigh, alone and desolate.
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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IgnorantRockFan
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« Reply #3 on: 22:12:15, 07-11-2008 » |
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I inherited a love of Gilbert and Sullivan from my father (and grandfather) but I'm not really very knowledgeable about them... I can sing along with bits and pieces of most of their operas (operettas?), but I've only ever seen two or three performed. I have 'Patience' on CD... I'm not sure why I have that one and not any of the perhaps better known ones... I just like it  |
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Allegro, ma non tanto
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #4 on: 13:56:31, 09-11-2008 » |
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Patience is proabably my favourite.
They do have an unfortunate effect of getting people completely obsessed, which others find very off-putting.
Bit like Wagner, really.
That is not totally a joke. Gilbert and Wagner were both tyrannical stage directors, with very strong views on the effect of the work of the whole being the thing rather than star turns. (Interesting Wagner left the musical direction of his premieres to others.)
Beyond both being one acters with no spoken dialogue, Trial by Jury and Das Rheingold have little else in common. O they both show money having more power than love. Neither have any romantic leads.
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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Antheil
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« Reply #5 on: 14:27:49, 09-11-2008 » |
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Can I ask, why is Patience your favourite? Would it be a good place to start?
I just think, with Winter closing in, something light and sing-a-long would be good.
Perhaps the Mods could transfer replies to this thread to the original thread?
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #6 on: 14:57:52, 09-11-2008 » |
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I cannot tell what this love may be, that cometh to all but not to me...
I bought Patience at the end of my O levels, so I think I have a soft spot for something I discovered for myself, if you see what I mean.
For a discussion as to whether the principal character is meant to be gay, see the previous thread. (Reiner thought no, I thought probably and Tony Watson asked the question.)
NOTE TO MODS
Please keep this thread free from the previous one, but can it be moved from 2oth Century to Opera House?
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #7 on: 15:00:40, 09-11-2008 » |
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Please keep this thread free from the previous one, but can it be moved from 2oth Century to Opera House?
'Tis done. |
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #8 on: 15:03:53, 09-11-2008 » |
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Within minutes. I am very impressed.
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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Antheil
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« Reply #9 on: 15:19:39, 09-11-2008 » |
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Gosh! The speed at what the Mods work is impressive (memo to self: They actually DO exist and read stuff!)
So, next question. Does it have to be D'Oyly Carte?
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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Antheil
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« Reply #10 on: 18:05:16, 11-11-2008 » |
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I have been and gone and done it. I have ordered a copy of Patience. Having read the libretto online I couldn't resist it.
I saw, in the charity shop, a copy of Sullivan's Rose of Persia and I dithered and when I went back it was gone.
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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Stanley Stewart
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« Reply #11 on: 16:23:41, 12-11-2008 » |
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A recent e-mail from Chichester Festival Theatre tells me that the Carl Rosa Opera Co will be appearing, next week, in 'The Mikado' with Nichola McAuliffe (always worth seeing) and Sylvester McCoy in the cast. In fact, two memories for the price of one. The immediate post-WW2 years when Carl Rosa co and D'Oyly Carte were always on-the -road. Carl Rosa settings were invariably tatty but I got my grounding in my youth in Verdi & Puccini, from many fine performances, usually of the stand-and-deliver variety. D'Oyly Carte also fielded Martyn Green, Ella Halman and Darrell Fancourt, first rate patter performers battling with outmoded, geriatric productions. I attended the last performance of D'Oyly Carte, at Sadler's Wells, in the mid-70's, with much nostalgia, but, of course, the bright day was done and long since over for them.
Anty, I don't know whether they are still available but Telarc produced the G & S repertoire on CD, in the 1990s, with the Welsh National Opera, conducted by Charles Mackerras. I can't say better than that! Good quality recordings and they even managed to squeeze 'The Mikado' on a single disc, brisk and tingling. In the late nineties, Telarc distributed five CDs, in a box set, for the price of 3: HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, Trial by Jury and Yeomen. Soloists included Richard Suart, Rebecca Evans, Felicity Palmer (a delicious Little Buttercup), Donald Adams (late of D'O C), Richard van Allen, John Mark Ainsley, Gillian Knight - Mackerras, WNO and chorus; all bring a fizz to the proceedings.
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Antheil
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« Reply #12 on: 18:58:36, 14-11-2008 » |
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Patience was lying on the doormat when I came home!
I am (and I surprise myself) enjoying the cd.
Just the sort of frothy entertainment needed after the most awful boring week at work. The words are magic and so, so funny.
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Reality, sa molesworth 2, is so sordid it makes me shudder
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #13 on: 20:41:14, 14-11-2008 » |
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Since I knew G&S from childhood, it is good to be reminded of the effect they can have if you are fresh to them.
Frothy, zingy even, but with a dark side.
I read the dialogue again today in the new Penguin complete Gilbert and Sullivan. Patience doesn't just send up arty types (and given from what we know of him Gilbert was a philistine and probably a homophobe, they are presented positively,) but the whole idea of romantic love.
When Patience sings in Act 2 (a number I used to think a bit wet)
Everything for him, Nothing at all for her
she is expressing the view of romantic love so witheringly criticised by Germaine Greer in The Female Eunuch.
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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martle
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« Reply #14 on: 22:00:36, 14-11-2008 » |
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When Patience sings in Act 2 (a number I used to think a bit wet)
Everything for him, Nothing at all for her
she is expressing the view of romantic love so witheringly criticised by Germaine Greer in The Female Eunuch.
Blimey, Don! I gotta get me ahold of a copy of this baby. My last close encounter with any G&S was about 22 years ago , repetiteuring The Mikado in New Jersey. I thought that was enough to kill it dead in the water for me; but these days I'm so willing to learn... |
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Green. Always green.
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