Customer Reviews

Pirates of Penzance

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This recording of PIRATES wsa made when Sargent was underway with his EMI Glyndebourne series. By this time a few recordings had been made, and George Baker had replaced Geraint Evans as patter baritone. Somehow or other, this recording is one of the better entries in the series, because Sargent's tendency for funerially slow tempi is a little bit less evident here. As always, the cast of grand opera singers give superb musical values, and EMI provides one of their best early stereo recordings.

Baker's portrayal of Major-General Stanley shows him maintaining his touch with G&S. He recorded the role before, but even though this recording does not show him at his finest (he was approaching eighty years old) it still shows his artistic distinction with adequate diction. Richard Lewis, as always, sings with a refined tone as Frederic, but the lyrical edge is somewhat missing here and in Elsie Morrison's Mabel, even though they send shivers down the spine with their "Ah, leave me not to pine" duet. The rest of the cast is adequate, if slightly unacceptable, because James Milligan lacks the villainy that typefies the ideal character of the Pirate King, John Cameron makes the most of his portrayal of Samuel, as does Monica Sinclair as Ruth. But Owen Brannigan's oolid Sergeant of Police makes up for it, for he has had experience in distinguishing his portrayal from performing it regularly. He made much of an impression for D'Oyly Carte to invite him in joining them in their cherishble 1968 recording. The alert and well-disciplined choral singing is well up to standard, and the orchestral playing crisp.

While this PIRATES is reasonably good, the abundance of superb PIRATES recordings (including D'Oyly Carte's 1968 effort with complete dialogue, and the indispensible Mackerras recording on Telarc) prevent this recording from being anybody's first choice. It can only be recommended to those who admire Sergeant, or to those who are extremely curious.

The 1961 complete recording of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 operetta THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE does feature some capable soloists from the Glyndebourne Festival, and the sharp musical direction of Malcolm Sargent. This was made during the period when EMI was focusing on Sargent's activities within the Glyndebourne Festival, and subsequently many of the productions he helmed were recorded by the label.

The story concerns a young man named Frederick, whose apprenticeship with the Pirate King's gang officially ends on his 21st birthday. At that point, Frederick will be free to leave and re-commence an honest life, and he later falls in love with Mabel, one of the many daughters of the eccentric Major-General. But Frederick discovers his ties to the Pirate King were not completely severed, thanks to a strange technicality...

The cast of this altogether-adequate PIRATES includes John Cameron as Frederick, James Milligan as the Pirate King, and Elsie Morison as Mabel. All three offer solid performances; Morison has a lilting soprano voice, free from the metallic quality that sometimes affects the female voices on older recordings like this one. John Cameron's bass-baritone voice serves him well with Frederick's demanding vocals.

Filling out the comical supporting roles; Monica Sinclair as Ruth (the piratical maid of all work) and George Baker (the tongue-twisting old Major-General Stanley) provide performances full of mirth and merriment. Owen Brannigan plays the Police Sergeant, with Heather Harper and Marjorie Thomas leading the contingent of General Stanley's daughters.

This recording also features a tribute to Sullivan with the "Overture in C."; and the overtures from "The Sorcerer", "Princess Ida" and "Cox & Box", conducted by Sir Vivian Dunn with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

While there are a few quality recordings of PIRATES currently in the catalogue, this version is quite charming, even if at times it does border on becoming a museum piece.

[EMI Classics 0777 7 64409 2 7]

It is one of the eternal mysteries to me that D'Oyly Carte managed to gain a reputation for being stodgy and conservative; compared with Sargent's EMI recordings they are liveliness itself.

The cast is at best fair in this very dull recording. None of them seem to have the faintest idea of what they are singing about, but at least they make some nice sounds. Sargent though is much, much too slow and drags everything down to an oratorio like solemnity.

Its recordings like this that give G&S a bad name.