Customer Reviews

Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

A MUST for all Gilbert and Sullivan lovers. These three productions recorded live at the Stratford Festival in Canada are all brilliantly staged and performed. Presented here are three full-lenth operettas: "The Mikado" (perhaps G&S's greatest work), "The Pirates Of Penzance" (a pure delight), and "Iolanthe" (After you see this production you'll wonder why the operetta is not more well known.). All three are wonderfully cast, marvelously choreographed, and simply hilarious. Much of the humor has been updated and although most is geared towards the Canadian audience, Americans will find it just as delightful. Even non-opera fans may find themselves pleasantly surprised and laughing aloud at this light-hearted and spirited take on the classic operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan.

I was very disappointed when, after waiting many weeks for this set to be issed, I found that the audio is NOT in stereo as indicated - but is in MONO! At the time these three recordings were made ie; 1983/4/5 stereo was the accepted norm for opera and musical items. To issue this in plain mono is unacceptable! The picture quality is also rather dull and lacks sparkle. I recently watched a BBC TV documentary here in South Africa about Gilbert and Sullivan, and the picture quality was superb in spite of the sound being in mono. I'm keeping these disks simply because I don't have anything else by G&S on DVD - NOT because they are a valuable addition to my collection. I really do wonder when the recording industry is going to produce high quality Opera and Classical music on DVD in Dolby 5.1 or even in Dolby Pro-Logic for that matter. Yes, I DO know there are some productions like this - but there are SO few at the moment and I can't see any reasonable excuse for this except to get some extra mileage from out of date productions.

I have just received this DVD set and watched the Mikado (and sections of Pirates and Iolanthe).

Purists will be a bit shocked by the flexible treatment of the score (lots of repeats, and extra sections added to the orchestra to assist scene transformations)

The overwhelming impression in the Mikado (and the other bit I have watched) is a wonderfully humerous and inventive approach to the production. The Director is a dancer and it shows from the opening of the overture. The players play for all they are worth milking every bit of humour from the libretto (and as is the tradition adding and changing bits to make the humour relevant to a 2oth Century audience - albeit a Canadian audience ... I still got the jokes in the UK!)

If you like the D'Oyly Carte productions give it a miss but if you enjoy the over the top humour of G&S I woud heartily recommend this set.

On a technical note, the sound is good (even though mono). It is not encoded region 1 (it plays quite happily on my region 2 player). The only niggle I have is that some of the singing was obviously overdubbed during the production of the DVD and, whilst the singing quality is not affected, the synchronisation of sound and picture is not always perfect.

This 3 DVD set is an excellent addition to the library of those who enjoy films of live stage performances. Presented by the Stratford Festival in Canada, these productions do feature updated lyrics by music director Berthold Carriere. Some find these offensive, personally I think they are true to the spirit of Gilbert and Sullivan. They cleverly skewer current (at the time) social and political mores of both Canada and America, which is the intention of Gilbert's lyrics anyway. "The Mikado" is by far the strongest of the three- charmingly acted and well-sung. Pooh-bah steals the show, but musicians will enjoy the quality singing from Nanki-Poo, Yum-Yum and Katisha- sung surprisingly sensitively. "Pirates" features Broadway vet Brent Carver as the Pirate King and Jeff Hyslop as Fredric, both of whom are good. Personally, I find the Mable wanting in the vocal department, having been spoiled by Valerie Masterson of D'oyly Carte. "Iolanthe" is the least compelling, and the "show within a show" stagehands distract from the work. All of the productions are very strong physically- beautiful sets and costumes. This is the best "Mikado" out there, go with the DVD of the Broadway revival of "Pirates" from Central Park for sheer exuberance.

The Stratford Festival productions are perfect for your collection, as long as you are not a "purist" of G&S. Pooh in Mikado was very well done, even though some fans of G&S have said it was over done. :-) My suggestion is to buy this set as a supplement to an existing collection of G&S videos. I suggest you buy a set that is more strict on their interpretation of G&S before buying this set. But, it really is a good set.

This is not a review of the DVDs, which I have not seen. I have, however, heard broadcasts of these performances, and a word of warning is in order. Many of the reviewers here have commented on the rewritten dialogue in these productions - but there has been little said about the rewritten music. These are emphatically NOT Sullivan's own graceful and apt orchestrations, but rescorings by Stratford Festival music director Berthold Carriere. To my ear, they infinitely cheapen and coarsen the score. This isn't just a matter of reorchestration but of additions, unecessary hoking-up, and elevator-music touches like upward modulations between verses. Such things may be fine on Broadway - most B'way composers didn't orchestrate their own shows anyway - and they may not bother some listeners, but for lovers of Sullivan's music they may be painful to hear. They certainly make these productions unlistenable for me.

Having participated in community and semi-professional theatre groups the past 25 years, I must say that this rendition of Mikado pulls all the stops out and is truly a "feel good" production. I have seen some of the BBC renditions of Gilbert & Sullivan and feel they fall short as their particular humor can only be appreciated on the stage. The actors in Mikado are vibrant, funny and talented. I would recommend this DVD as the perfect introduction to the Gilbert & Sullivan genre.

I wouldn't want a single thing changed in any of these wonderful Stratford Festival operettas(other than subtitles and stereo sound). These amazing productions all have an incredible sparkle, zest and vibrant energy. All of the performers are superb. These DVD's are the crown jewels of my DVD collection. I never grow tired of watching them. Before long, I will have reduced my purchase cost to under fifty cents per hour of truly magical pleasure.

Yes! Yes! Yes! I had seen the production of Mikado on PBS in the mid 80's and had not seen it since. The minute I saw it for sale on the Internet, I grabbed it. My memory was correct. It is wonderful. The Mikado alone is worth the price. If you are tired of the usual, usual D'Oly Carte, this is for you. Fun, Fun, Fun.

The artistic quality of the performances is quite good. I bought the set of DVDs in order to have the libretto presented as subtitles, which they are not. I could have just as well stuck with my VHS version and saved $50. the technical qulaity is significantly better on the DVE version, however.