Gilbert & Sullivan: Gondoliers [Import]

Gilbert & Sullivan (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Polygram Int'l
• ASIN: B0000041VC
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,505 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Ov

2. Act I: List And Learn

3. Act I: Good Morrow, Pretty Maids

4. Act I: For The Merriest Fellows Are We

5. Act I: See, See At Last They Come To Make Their Choice

6. Act I: Buon Giorno, Signorine!

7. Act I: We're Called Gondolieri, But That's a Vagary

8. Act I: And Now To Choose Our Brides!

9. Act I: Are You Peeping?

10. Act I: Thank You Gallant Gondolieri

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Act I: Now Pray, What Is The Cause Of This Remarkable Hilarity

2. Act I: Replying, We Sing As One Individual

3. Act I: For Ev'ryone Who Feels Inclined

4. Act I: Come Let's Away-Our Island Crown Awaits Me

5. Act I: Now, Marco Dear, My Wishes Hear

6. Act I: Then Away They Go To An Island Fair

7. Act II: Of Happiness The Very Pith

8. Act II: Rising Early In The Morning

9. Act II: Take A Pair Of Sparkling Eyes

10. Act II: Here We Are, At The Risk Of Our Lives

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Perfect, but Definitely an Essential Performance, January 31, 2009

By 

Aronne (MN, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Gilbert & Sullivan: Gondoliers (Audio CD)

This performance of The Gondoliers is one of two with dialogue. The other, made in 1977 also by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, is not accorded with the same quality of sound or the same quality of cast. It is only available through the Sounds on CD website.

The normal felicities of this series are here in full. The music is done wonderfully. Thomas Round and Alan Styler are the perfect pair of Gondoliers; their duet is vivacious and well-sung. Both bring off their songs in Act 2 very well. John Reed and Gillian Knight make a perfect Duke and Duchess of Plaza Toro. This recording was made during the peak of the company's ability and theirs as well.

Still, special mention must be made of Kenneth Sandford. This is easily his best recorded performance, both in the music and the dialogue. His Don Alhambra is alive in a way few of the other performers are. All are excellent; he distinguishes himself.

One reservation I have is the slightly squeaky Casilda. She doesn't do too well on notes above F-Sharp, but the Casilda on the later, digital D'Oyly Carte recording doesn't do much better. That said, Jennifer Toye's solo singing of Casilda is better than some of her singing during ensembles, and her duets with Jeffery Skitch (a fine Luiz) come off well.

Not everyone will like Joyce Wright's Tessa. Her voice has a lot of vibrato in it, making her sounds a bit older than she was at the time (1960). I have grown used to her and don't mind her. Her "When a merry maiden marries" is beautiful. This isn't Mary Sansom's best performance, but it is still very good.

One annoyance was Decca's choice to divide the opera over the two discs after "Then one of us will be a queen" rather than allowing Act 1 to fit entirely on the first disc, as it would have easily. This can be remedied by working with a program such as FreeRip by making an extra copy.

Compared to the New D'Oyly Carte's Gondoliers, this one is definitely better. The singers all have more character and never shy away from the higher notes. In the newer Gondoliers, Fiametta does not go up to her B-flat and Tessa does not end on a high F in her song. Not so with the present recording.

The fact that this recording includes dialogue is another reason to give it extra recommendation. It is the definitive stereo Gondoliers, fine on all accounts.