Gilbert & Sullivan: Princess Ida

Arthur Sullivan (Composer), J. Lynn Thompson (Conductor), Ohio Light Opera Orchestra (Orchestra), Bradley Wilson (Performer), Christopher Swanson (Performer), Daniel Neer (Performer), Elaine Fox (Performer), Hege Marie Korshavn (Performer), Jessie Wright Martin (Performer), John Bernard (Performer), John Miller (Performer), Julie Wright (Performer), Lauren Pastorek (Performer), Lucas Meachem (Performer), Melanie Melcher (Performer), Peter Castaldi (Performer), Sandra Piques Eddy (Performer), Ted Christopher (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Bradley Wilson, Christopher Swanson, Daniel Neer, Elaine Fox, Hege Marie Korshavn, et al.
• Orchestra: Ohio Light Opera Orchestra
• Conductor: J. Lynn Thompson
• Composer: Arthur Sullivan
• Audio CD (February 15, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Newport Classic
• ASIN: B00004D3BR
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,856 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Act One: Ov - Ohio Light Opr Orch/J. Lynn Thompson

2. Act One, Chor: Search Thoughtout - Gerald Aben/David Babinet/Nancy Maria Balach/Jan Cornelius/April Crane/Christine Marie Heath...

3. Act One, Dialogue: See You No Sign - Daniel Neer/Bradley Wilson/Christopher Swanson/Gerald Aben/David Babinet/Nancy Maria Balach...

4. Act One, Chor: How Hearken - Daniel Neer/Gerald Aben/David Babinet/Nancy Maria Balach/Jan Cornelius/April Crane/Christine Marie..

5. Act One, Recitative/Air: Today We Meet - John Bernard

6. Act One, Dialogue: Well, Father - John Bernard/Daniel Neer

7. Act One, Chor/Trio: From The Distant - Peter Castaldi/John-Arthur Miller/Lucas Meachum/Gerald Aben/David Babinet/Nancy Maria Balach...

8. Act One, Song: If You Give Me Your Attention - Ted Christopher/Gerald Aben/David Babinet/Nancy Maria Balach/Jan Cornelius/April Crane...

9. Act One, Dialogue: So This Is Castle Hildebrand - Ted Christopher/Daniel Neer/bradley Wilson/Christopher Swanson

10. Act One, Finale: P'raps If You Address The Lady - Ted Christoper/John Bernard/Christopher Swanson/Gerald Aben/David Babinet/Nancy Maria Balach...

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Act Two, Qt: The World - Julie Wright/John Bernard/Bradley Wilson/Christopher Swanson

2. Act Two, Dialogue: In Faith The Plunge - John Bernard/Melanie Melcher/Bradley Wilson/Christopher Swanson

3. Act Two, Song: A Lady Fair - John Bernard/Melanie Melcher/Bradley Wilson/Christopher Swanson

4. Act Two, Oh, Lady Psyche - Sandra Piques Eddy/Melanie Melcher/Bradley Wilson

5. Act Two, Qnt: The Women Of Wisest - Melanie Melcher/Christopher SwansonJohn Bernard/Gerald Aben/David Babinet/Nancy Maria Balach...

6. Act Two, Dialogue: Melissa! - Elaine Fox/Sandra Piques Eddy

7. Act Two, Duet: Now Wouldn't You Like - Sandra Piques Eddy/Elaine Fox

8. Act Two, Dialogue: Saved For A Time - Sandra Piques Eddy/Bradley Wilson

9. Act Two, Merrily Ring - Elaine Fox/Christopher Swanson/Gerald Aben/David Babinet/Nancy Maria Balach/Jan Cornelius

10. Act Two, Dialogue: You Say You Know - Julie Wright/John Bernard/Christopher Swanson/Bradley Wilson

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good despite some lapses, April 12, 2000

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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

There is a lot more to Gilbert & Sullivan than "I'm called Little Buttercup." Some of the most beautiful music penned by Sullivan or some of the wittiest dialogue invented by Gilbert lie in the lesser produced works, especially "The Sorcerer" and "Princess Ida," both of which might be given new life after being shown in part in "Topsy Turvy."

"Princess Ida" appeared four times on recordings--acoustic (1925), electric (1932), mono LP (1955), and stereo (1965)--all featuring the D'Oyly Carte Company and all of them very good, but none of them absolutely complete. Only the first contains "Come, mighty Must" but drops the last stanza of "Whom thou has chained" to make room for it. The second restores that stanza but in abbreviated form. And none of them contain the dialogue.

To cut to the chase, there is at last a professional recording that is absolutely complete, down to the last line of dialogue and with reasonably good voices to boot! <Princess Ida> is now available on the Newport Classic label (NPD 85675/2) and joins its Ohio Light Opera companions ("Eileen," "The Arcadians," "The Chocolate Soldier," and "Veronique") on my operetta-in-English shelf.

First the quibbles. I spotted three tiny flubs in the lyrics (you listen and see if you can find more), which are doubtless a function of this being a live performance (without any obtrusive applause until the very end). In the first act, Hildebrand (Daniel Neer) tends to read his dialogue in that lilting voice that implies "this is supposed to be terribly funny." But he does remind me a bit of Leo Sheffield, who plays the part on the acoustic recording, and that is a good thing. John Bernard's Hilarion is a bit strident at times--indeed in his stanza of the Act III finale, he seems on the verge of being in trouble--and one misses the creamy tenor of Derek Oldham on the first two recordings. Still in all, he is serviceable and not at all bad.

Lady Blanche (Elaine Fox) has a nice mezzo, but when she speaks she sounds as young as her daughter Melissa (Sandra Piques Eddy). And finally the chorus sounds a little too thin to me after having grown used to D'Oyly Carte sets. But none of these factors detract very much from the general excellence of the production.

It is good to hear a King Gama (Ted Christopher) without the grating "old man" voice that John Reed so overdoes on the first stereo version. And while Peter Castaldi's Arac is not quite in the class of the earlier interpreters of that role--Darrell Fancourt and Donald Adams--he is just fine on his own terms. Of course any production of this play rests heavily on the title role. Here Julie Wright does nothing very wrong vocally (although no one will ever replace Winifred Lawson on the acoustic recording)--and I do wish that the other characters emulated her slightly upper-class British nasalized "O"; but I have to get used to American accents in G&S and stop being such an Anglophile.

Finally a good word about the orchestra and Resident Professional Company of The College of Wooster under the baton of J. Lynn Thompson. I did not expect the sonic impact of the Decca stereo recording, but what I heard was good enough. Perhaps I have never heard "Expressive glances" taken at quite so slow a tempo, but it is beautiful enough to linger over a bit longer than usual.

The dialogue is given separate cut-numbers and can be programmed out. However, for some reason much of the dialogue begins as the last notes of the music before are fading away (to discourage applause during the performance?); so such programming might make for a slight musical messiness.

All things considered, I am going to give this a 4-star rating and urge you to get a copy to enjoy once and many times after. It will not replace either of the earlier two recordings in style and polish, but it is fine on its own terms--and it does have the dialogue.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Long overdue Princess Ida reigns, but has slow points, June 26, 2000

By 

UncleCliffy (Hyattsville, MD United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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

At long last - a new recording of Princess Ida, about 30 years overdue, but better late than never. The dialogue, which is painfully slow and labored, overshadows everything that I like about the singing on this recording. Why is dialogue included at all? Quite easily, all the music could have fit on one CD, but instead the opera is dragged out and the producers ask me to pay an inordinate price for two CDs rather than one (as with The Arcadians). Still this is the best recording from Ohio Light Opera, the foot scuffling from the cast and applause from the audience kept to the barest minimum, though one could live without a scream or two from the women's chorus. There are some awful tempos: the "triolet" trio crawls, as does the opening number of act two and the duet for Melissa and Lady Blanche. The latter's solo "Come, might Must" is included but is also sung slow; however, at this pace, it plainly shines as a parody of all those "olde school" songs we associate with academia - it fairly invokes ivied walls and stuffy lecture halls, appropriate to this opera set at a woman's university. Of the recordings of Princess Ida, this one has the best performance of "I built upon a rock." Ted Christopher's King Gama demonstrates none of the crotchetyness usually associated with the character, and is the low vocal point in what is otherwise a pretty good solo cast. The orchestra is first-rate.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Expensive & Amateur "Princess Ida", December 29, 2004

By 

David Cellitti (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

When I was a lad it was the custom of high schools and junior high schools to record their annual musicals and produce privately pressed records for the principals and their families. The results were always amateur beyond belief, but nobody expected professional results. After all, these recordings were made primarily as keepsakes for everyone involved with the show.

Well, this recording of "Princess Ida" by Ohio Light Opera is kind of like those old homemade school recordings. Granted the orchestral playing is professional, and many of the voices passable - but more often than not the principals seldom rise to the occasion; the King Gama here being as miscast as when Sir Malcolm Sargent thought it would be a good idea to put Sir Geraint Evans into the patter roles for his first three EMI G&S recordings.

All of this might be forgivable if a die-hard Savoyard would be willing to take this recording of "Ida" as a curio, but at a premium price such as this the investment is hardly worth it - even as a lark. Buyers are advised to check out any of the D'Oyly Carte recordings available or the charming DVD production if they really want to hear the score.