Customer Reviews

The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan

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Although I hate that expression (see above), I must admit it applies totally to this marvelous edition. Granted that if you listen to Gilbert & Sullivan, you will want to follow the words--which are not always provided with many recordings nowadays. Then given the words, you will also want to know the meanings of most of Gilbert's more esoteric words ("Daphnephoric"), or simple words that have lost or changed their meanings since Gilbert's day ("Be firm, my pecker"!), or references to people (Captain Shaw), places (Basingstoke), or even objects (Parliamentary trains). Then too, the complete G&S nut will want to see the original versions of some of the songs and certainly the texts to songs that were cut just after opening night or even during rehearsals. In fact, I still have a lot of fun just looking at the left-hand pages to brush up on my G&S trivia. So while this book sells at twice the price of other collections of the "Savoy" plays, it gives twice as much and should be as welcome as the flowers that bloom in the Spring.

Occupying that middle area between musicals and grand opera, the works of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan are showing their age to the point where this invaluable guide can become an invaluable, addictive pleasure.

While their stories and music are lighthearted and accessible, the Victorian events and personalities that infuse the lyrics do need some explanation, and Ian Bradley s guide is the place to look.

The book itself offers additional pleasure, since Oxford University Press decided to print the complete libretto of all 13 operas on the right-hand page, leaving the left-hand pages free for Bradley's footnotes. This saves an enormous amount of page-flipping.

Bradley' footnotes cover a wide range of knowledge. They clear up obscure references, offer alternative line readings, give advice from actors, comment on stage business, describe who the major characters were modeled on and even add songs that were dropped from the production.

Bradley also uses this opportunity to discuss Gilbert and Sullivan s solo works, and how they were sometimes cannibalized for use in their collaborations.

Each work is prefaced with a short introduction describing the conditions under which they were created. While Gilbert and Sullivan were known to be at loggerheads through most of their collaboration, it is amazing to realize that the popularity of their operas did not reflect their distate for the work. This is particularly true in Sullivan s case; he always thought of himself as a musician first, and resented having to bend his music to fit Gilbert s words.

"The Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan" is a must for any fan of the Savoy Operas, and recommended for those just starting to discover the delights of comic opera's pirates, policemen and peers.

The book nicely provides the (almost) complete librettos with detailed notes on, among other things, the various versions from preproduction onward to twentieth century changes, the origins, the inspirations, and the meaning of words Bradley thinks are obscure. He is much more likely to explain reasonably familiar words than to assume too much. The introductions nicely trace the history down to the most recent productions. Those who have seen the current movie Topsy-Turvy will find the notes helpful in seeing some of the actual events depicted in the movie. The one omission is Thespis, the first collaboration. The libretto, but not the score, survived. Two areas of omission are exhaustive treatment of either the major performers or recordings. However, this is an excellent source for lovers of G&S.

This omnibus edition of the complete Gilbert and Sullivan librettos is a handbook for the G&S enthusiast who wants to know everything about the operas and their librettos. Each opera contains the complete libretto, as well as an interesting and entertaining introduction, which reflects the nature of the annotations in the libretto. The annotations are also humorous, which adds to the reading pleasure. As for the librettos, they are well-produced, with only slight inaccuracies, yet are still readable. The book is well-organised, with the lyrics on one page and the annotations on another. Overall, to all G&S fans, this is excellent value for money. I would encourage all G&S enthusiasts to buy this book whenever they can.

This is the only book for a true Gilbert and Sullivan fan, especially since it literally is the only complete collection of their works available today for purchase. Luckily, it's a good one: it includes all of their Savoy operettas as well as their lesser-known later works such as Utopia Ltd. The real jewels of the collection, however, remain their best operas: HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, The Sorcerer. This book is especially helpful because it contains all of the lyrics to all of the songs, and most CD recordings of the operas do not come with the lyrics (for many of the songs, it is impossible to catch all of the words simply by hearing them). Ian Bradley's notes, printed off to the side, are also interesting and help shed light on obscure words and phrases. Enjoy!

This is just the best of several annotated G & S libretto collections that have been published over the years. It is actually a republication (with revisions) of two paperbacks by Bradley published some years earlier. They are listed as out of print, which they are, but that doesn't matter with this excellently produced single volume now available. Bradley doesn't have space to give us the last word on all aspects of the operas, but he is exhaustive on the texts, and no real G & S fan can afford not to have this on the shelf. The only other one to look for (it is out of print) is the volume by Martyn Green because his notes include a lot of valuable information about staging.

Though sung in English, it can be difficult to understand the words of G&S operas without libretti. I listen to the CDs while following along in this book, and it has greatly increased my pleasure in G&S, as well as my admiration for both Gilbert's witty and insightful lyrics and the way Sullivan carries the words along with his music.

This book is the ultimate source for information on all things Gilbert and Sullivan. Written for a contemporary audience, it has a plethora of background info on the productions of the Savoy operas, the singers who originated the roles, the translations to some of the meaning of the words in the lyrics (which were inside jokes back in the time of Gilbert and Sullivan:1870-1900 and a history of performances throughout the 20th century. There are profiles and biographies of William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as well as Richard D'Oyly Carte. William Gilbert was a playwright, poet and writer for the satirical magazine Fun. His comic style of writing came to its full powers when he wrote the lyrics and libretti for all the light operas he conceived. Arthur Sullivan was a serious English composer, who at the time was probably competing against the bigger names of Elgar, Ralph Vaughn Williams or Benjamin Britten. Arthur Sullivan wrote English equivalent for German Lieder as Victorian drawing room songs, as well as symphonies and concerti. The Irish Symphony and the Program Music- The Tempest are his most acclaimed. Gilbert and Sullivan were not always a perfect match. Their personalities were distinctly different. Gilbert was humorous, witty, playful and always catering to popular tastes. Arthur Sullivan was intellectual, artistic, serious and introverted. All his life he was unable to step out of the fame he got for the light operas he wrote with Gilbert. He wanted the fame of the serious music composer and not just the silly light operas he made so popular in what was at the time the ancestor of today's Armerican Broadway- the Savoy.

Richard D'Oyly Carte was the manager and impresario for Gilbert and Sullivan. He first collaborated with them in Trial By Jury in 1875. He would manage finances for the Savoy, a theatre built especially for Gilbert and Sullivan light operas. D'Oyly Carte's children and grandchildren, among them Bridget D'Oyly Carte, would continue to produce Gilbert and Sullivan operas after his death. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company continued successfully launching all the great titles- The H.M. S. Pinafore (first premiered 1878) Pirates Of Penzance (1879-1880) The Mikado (1885)
as well as other great but less popular Princess Ida, Iolanthe, Patience, The Gondoliers, The Yeoman Of The Guard, The Grand Duke and Utopia Limited. The D'Oyly Carte Opera has had a rich history of performers- baritone John Reed, soprano Valerie Masterson, tenor Phillip Potter and mezzo soprano Christene Palmer as well as bass Donald Adams. There is a sensational film made in 1967 of The Mikado starring these legendary singers. I hope this great book gets you into Gilbert and Sullivan. It's enough info for you to acquire a Ph.D. in light opera

The "BIBLE" for those of us who genuflect at the G & S altar.

My favorite companion tome....A Most Ingenious Paradox: The Art of Gilbert & Sullivan by Gayden Wren.

My little world doesn't get better than this.

I was dubious about this book. Could a book containing the librettos of all the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas have room for substantial annotations? The answr was that a very thick book can do it. The numbered lines of the libretto on the right page are keyed to plentiful annotations on the facing left. A very satisfactory "Annotated G & S" for G & S lovers.