Arthur Sullivan: Ivanhoe

Bruce Graham (Performer), David Blackwood (Performer), George McHollan (Performer), Ivor Klayman (Performer), Arthur Sullivan (Composer), David Lyle (Conductor), Edinburgh Gilbert & Sullivan Society (Performer), Frances McCafferty (Performer), Prince Consort Orchestra (Orchestra), Irene Drummond (Performer), Rachel Cowan (Performer), Alan Borthwick (Performer), Walter Anderson (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Bruce Graham, David Blackwood, George McHollan, Ivor Klayman, Edinburgh Gilbert & Sullivan Society, et al.
• Orchestra: Prince Consort Orchestra
• Conductor: David Lyle
• Composer: Arthur Sullivan
• Audio CD (January 21, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Pearl
• ASIN: B000000WWK
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,231 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. Introduction. Each day this realm of England faints

2. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. Good Thane, most noble Thane

3. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. I see but one thing wanting to our fare

4. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. Drink, drink ye all... Then fill the cup, fill high

5. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 1. Scene 1. The Palmer! The holy Palmer!

6. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 1. Scene 2. O moon, art thou clad

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 2. Scene 1. Strange lodging this for England's King

2. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 2. Scene 1. There is a custom... I ask not wealth

3. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 2. Scene 1. Not bad, say I... The wind blows cold (Ho, jolly Jenkin!)

4. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 2. Scene 1. And now for combat!

5. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 2. Scene 2. Will not our captor dare to show his face?

6. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 2. Scene 2. Welcome, Sir Templar!... Woo thou thy snowflake

See all 10 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 3. Scene 1. Happy with winged feet

2. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 3. Scene 1. Tend thou the knight thou lovest

3. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 3. Scene 1. How cans't thou know?

4. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. Light foot upon the dancing green

5. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. Look, where thy moody father walks apart... Forgive thy son

6. Ivanhoe, opera: Act 3. Scene 2. How oft beneath the far-off Syrian skies

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully fine performance, October 10, 2004

By 

BDSinC "Music lover" (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arthur Sullivan: Ivanhoe (Audio CD)

This is one opera I have been searching for for a very long time. I read about it in a book about Sullivan. Of course, when they wrote of the opera, they showed the scene, in drawing, where Rebecca informs Ivanhoe of the battle with the Black Knight. The drawing (based on the actual performance when it premiered) grabbed my attention completely. I just wondered what this composer could do with real opera (I loved his operettas completely, and they showed quite often Sullivan was quite capable of deep emotional pathose, even if in the end he was spoofing it more than reflecting it).

Well, all the years of searching and waiting to know were not a waste. Firstly, I have never been able to locate a score of this work (as I have done with many ancient operas or forgotten ones), so I was just as in the dark as anyone else as to what to expect. I was incredibly surprised, not to mention, thrilled with the results. No, Sullivan is no Wagner, nor is he even Verdi, but he is wonderfully beautiful in his own right. Why this work has not entered into the opera houses, I have no clue, excepting maybe because it is English opera, which never does well. Speaking of "ENGLISH OPERA", here we have a recording where for the most part we CAN understand the words (a thing I never seem to find in professional recordings of English opera, or American opera; they may as well sing in gibberish, for that is exactly what it sounds like -- perhaps the composers have no clue what works in their own language?). The performers, as we know, are not professionals, but rather semi-professionals. There are some uneven performances, and sometimes the characters are not quite as developed as one would like, there are even times the orchestra sounds like it lost the beat (but this is EXTREMELY RARE), the sound quality of the recording is OK, but nothing stellar, however, it is not bad either. Yet, in spite of these drawbacks, we CAN and DO understand the words, and for once a rather strange sounding English libretto sounds natural and unforced with stupid poetry that really leaves you laughing. These wonderfully dedicated performers, no matter their individual difficulties, give us a wonderfully vivid performance where we can finally understand the opera (like all our Italian friends do when Italian opera is sung for them). That was such a treat for me, to finally actually understand the words of opera sung in my own language.

What makes this opera such a thrill, at least for me, is the natural fall of the words and the music, especially in the recitatives. Unlike most English opera where the musical line sounds completely foreign to the natural lilt of the words, Sullivan has an uncanny way of writing lines, melodies, and recitatives that flow naturally from the language itself. That was a really exciting experience to endure. For once, I didn't wish that someone would teach the composers to listen to the flow of English to gain an insight into melody. Maybe it was all those operettas that he wrote prior to this "serios opera" that taught him what he knew, or maybe, he just had a good ear for his own language and enough sense to know that trying to graft Italian or German musical idioms onto things just wasn't the correct choice.

Is it a great work? Well, no, it will never get into the record books as a perfect opera, nor will it shove Mozart or Wagner off the stage, but it is really quite good just the same. Even with all the flaws this recording has, I am so glad it is out there so I could at last hear what music fleshed out that old drawing I saw in a book all those years ago. Though Sullivan's music is not anywhere near as dramatic as one may imagine it should be, it fits well with the scene and the over all concept of the work.

I really recommend this recording, for it, at least for now, is the only one we have (and if they make a professional one, I really hope they screen the singers well, no big names if they can't sing English so we can understand it; Sullivan, as with Wagner, you MUST understand the words or the meaning is completely lost). The entire recording is really quite enjoyable, and it doesn't disappoint.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not ideal, but all there is, August 4, 2000

By 

King Gama "A highly disagreeable man" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arthur Sullivan: Ivanhoe (Audio CD)

If you are interested in Arthur Sullivan's Music without Gilbert, this is one of the works you should have in your collection. Unfortunately the quality of the performance is inconsistent. The orchestra is at times good, at others sloppy. The soloists are also of varying quality. This is, after all, a recording by a semi-professional group. That said, if you are willing to accept the flaws, this is currently the only version on disc. Perhaps someday the BBC will record a version, as they did with Sullivan's "Rose of Persia". In the current recording, the most pleasing selections are: The Act 3 Scene 2 ensemble "Look where thy moody father walks apart", Friar Tuck's rollicking "Ho, Jolly Jenkin", The Templar's passionate scene "Woo thou thy snowflake", and Rebecca's evocative aria "Lord of our chosen race". Not all it could be, but it's all we've got.

3.0 out of 5 stars Suggests there's a fine opera here, July 3, 2008

By 

S. Jones (Schenectady) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Arthur Sullivan: Ivanhoe (Audio CD)

I understood from other reviewers that this was an interesting relic recorded by an amateur group. I was interested in the relic, but the very high price kept me away, until I found a bargain from a third-party seller through Amazon. What I got surprised me on several counts. For one, the sound was bad, at least for the orchestra; it sounds as though it was recorded in a parish hall, with the mics near the soloists but the orchestra at the other end (or in the kitchen). I wasn't entirely surprised that there was no libretto (but for this price tag?), but the synopsis has no cues (indeed, it scants much of the story), and the cues on the disk are given, not by synopsis or singers or even the timing, but by the page in the printed score! On the other hand, the singers are generally decent, and at least one (Irene Drummond, the Rebecca) is a pleasure to listen to.

As to the value of the opera, it is a remarkable cross between Yeomen of the Guard and Tannhauser. However, it is more dense and operatic than the former, more varied musically and dramatically than the latter. And somehow it comes out sounding like Rossini. Clearly Sullivan was shooting for something conservative, and, from what I can tell from these disks, he hit his mark, creating a solid stage entertainment with quality music that should please any lover of opera before 1850. In fact, a less stodgy conductor might make this quite exciting. Still, I'm judging from a far-less-than-optimal performance -- and the packaging has left me often unsure about what is being presented (what is going on); so I can't be sure what the opera's potential really is.

In any case, people considering this recording should ONLY BY IT ON SALE. The list price is offensively ridiculous for an amateur recording (amateur in both cast and technology) -- with no libretto. Also, companies (like Opera Rara) who love to revive forgotten gems should really give Ivanhoe a chance; it has much more to offer than another item from the bottom of Rossini's or Donizetti's trunk.