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Lord Byron
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« on: 17:05:01, 06-03-2007 » |
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What do you reckon, worth it on a 1/2 price ticket ?
As I am in london tomorrow anyways................
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Lord Byron
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« Reply #1 on: 17:09:49, 06-03-2007 » |
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #2 on: 20:15:34, 06-03-2007 » |
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I love musicals and light operas. Are you going Lord Byron? It sounds like a lot of fun.
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #3 on: 22:14:44, 06-03-2007 » |
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Come to think of it, The Gondoliers is probably the Gilbert and Sullivan work that would appeal most to someone not aware of the English background. The music is very charming. But it probably lacks the bite that English speakers would recognise in their other works. Their best work is generally reckoned to be The Mikardo and the English National Opera played their production at La Fenice, Venice, and couple of years ago. Heavens knows what the Venetian audience made of it.
Please forgive me if I am telling you what you already know. I recognise that your musical sensitivity is far more than I can pretend to, but I am pretty good at English literary and cultural references pre 1900.
If Lord Byron goes to the ENO, I hope he gives us his reaction. Some other members of this board have been unimpressed.
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« Last Edit: 11:04:24, 07-03-2007 by Donbasilio »
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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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Tony Watson
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« Reply #4 on: 23:21:53, 06-03-2007 » |
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I haven't seen it but I've read the reviews and they are mixed. The dancing is nothing special, probably hampered by the stage design, but the four young protagonists acquit themselves very well.
Like Pirates, it's a good one for someone who is a newcomer but it's not Gilbert's best. For those who regard the whole thing as just too lower middle class, I would point out that Germaine Greer chose a section of the finale of act one as a particular favourite of hers in a Radio 3 programme.
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roslynmuse
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« Reply #5 on: 23:40:23, 06-03-2007 » |
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I think it is Ruddigore that is my favourite, some wonderful music and great atmosphere. I love the music of Princess Ida, but Gilbert tries too hard here and it has worn less well than almost any of them. Trial by Jury comes up fresh every time though!
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Tony Watson
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« Reply #6 on: 00:03:49, 07-03-2007 » |
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Roslynmuse,
If you like Ruddigore, you must try to get hold of the recording of the Sadler's Wells production from about 1992. It's no longer available but there are always ways and means. It restores the original production and strips away alterations made in the 1920s. The vocal score has restored the original finale to act two, which is an improvement.
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roslynmuse
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« Reply #7 on: 00:12:14, 07-03-2007 » |
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Thanks, Tony; I remember it coming out, and thinking about buying it, but didn't...and then it was deleted.
Always the way...
I have an old (pre Geoffrey Toye) vocal score; I am always on the lookout for a pre "Savoy edition" "Cox and Box" too!
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reiner_torheit
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« Reply #8 on: 02:40:27, 07-03-2007 » |
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Like Pirates, it's a good one for someone who is a newcomer but it's not Gilbert's best.
Putting you on the spot rather unfairly, Tony - which one would you consider his best?  |
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They say travel broadens the mind - but in many cases travel has made the mind not exactly broader, but thicker.
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Lord Byron
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« Reply #9 on: 09:42:06, 07-03-2007 » |
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Problem is,sometimes they change it if the reviews are bad.
I very much enjoyed the recent ENO La Traviata and my 'speak 5 languages, been everywhere' opera buff friend went to see it and said he thought it was fine, could not understand what the critics were on about etc. etc.
mmmmmmmmmmm, will seee, just depends on what i fancy,on the day, being a wednesday may get an amazing seat cheap from tkts booth so worth a consideration
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Tony Watson
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« Reply #10 on: 09:56:04, 07-03-2007 » |
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Reiner,
That is a difficult question but if someone put a gun to my head I'd have to go for Yeomen. The New D'Oyly Carte CD has the advantage of including A Laughing Boy, When Jealous Torments and the original Is Life a Boon?, albeit in an appendix. But I always try to champion Utopia Ltd and The Grand Duke.
Roslynmuse,
Do you mean pre-Savoy vocal score or recording. For the former, there's one in Shrewsbury library (probably not much help) that includes much that D'Oyly Carte used to cut, but it's still not complete. For the former, there's a DVD (Brent Walker) which is excellent and even includes a gambling scene. As a second best option there's the recent CD by Hickox on Chandos, which is very good but misses the opportunity of establishing itself as the authoritative recording by making some small cuts. They missed an open goal there.
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reiner_torheit
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« Reply #12 on: 10:22:56, 07-03-2007 » |
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Although I love the music in YEOMEN, I find the libretto less satisfactory... all those cod-Shakespearianisms ("What is this pother?" etc) wear on my nerves Of course, there was a vogue for all this kind of thing at the time, but it surprises me that Gilbert embraced this, instead of satirising it? And of course, you have G pulling in one direction (trying to write a comedy) and S pulling in the other (trying to prove himself with a Verdian tragedy), and the result, for me, is a bit of a mixed bag... not enough jokes to be funny, but the tragedy undermined by the jokes there are. You can see their writing partnership sliding into dysfunctionality in the piece. I'm with you on Utopia Ltd - a shame it's not more popular! Waiting for your in-person account of the Gondoliers, Lord B! |
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« Last Edit: 10:24:49, 07-03-2007 by reiner_torheit »
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They say travel broadens the mind - but in many cases travel has made the mind not exactly broader, but thicker.
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Tony Watson
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« Reply #13 on: 10:48:00, 07-03-2007 » |
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What's your favourite, RT?
I agree that the dialogue in Yeomen can drag and the story is not original but there are some fine lyrics. The cod Elizabethan could have been a lot worse with a lesser writer.
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reiner_torheit
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« Reply #14 on: 12:03:53, 07-03-2007 » |
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I think the dialogue is at its sharpest in IOLANTHE - unsurprisingly, since the ludicrousies of the Law were meat and drink to Gilbert. But overall I think PIRATES is the best of all - for a combination of "hit numbers", snappy double-talk, and surreal situations. The Act One Finale is the best they ever wrote... they achieve the Verdian satire perfectly without holding-up the action or distracting from the plot, and it's music of real worth in its own right too. A lesser composer would have left it at "Go, ye heroes", but the mezzo's follow-on with "Go and do your best endeavour" leading off into a remote key adds depth and subtlety. The master-stroke is when "Go, ye heroes" is laid over the top of "When a foeman bares his steel", and you realise you've been led by the nose into a parallel with the serious girls and the absurdly inept policemen, of course I suppose I also like PIRATES for more personal reasons, since it "travels well", and is perhaps the opera that's least reliant on any in-depth knowledge of British history or culture? PATIENCE is another favourite, but I can't imagine how you could ever do it outside Britain. Actually I'm quite surprised that it even still works in Britain... the plot about rival poets is more than a little recondite these days, and Swinburne is utterly forgotten even in Britain - let alone abroad |
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They say travel broadens the mind - but in many cases travel has made the mind not exactly broader, but thicker.
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