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Gilbert & Sullivan: The Gondoliers | 
 enlarge | Creators: Arthur Sullivan, Isidore Godfrey, New Symphony Orchestra Of London, Alan Styler, Ceinwen Jones, Daphne Gill, Dawn Bradshaw, George Cook, Gillian Knight, Jeanette Roach, Jeffrey Skitch, Jennifer Toye, John Reed, Joseph Riordan, Joyce Wright, Kenneth Sandford, Mary Sansom, Michael Wakeham, Thomas Round
Label: Decca Import
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $9.26
You Save: $8.72 (48%)
New (26) Used (9) from $9.26
Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 125021
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 028947363224
EAN: 0028947363224
ASIN: B00008LJEP
Release Date: March 3, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Overture | | • | Act 1. List and learn | | • | Act 1. Good morrow, pretty maids | | • | Act 1. For the merriest fellows are we | | • | Act 1. See, see at last they come to make their choice | | • | Act 1. Buon' giorno, signorine! | | • | Act 1. We're called gondolieri, but that's a vagary | | • | Act 1. And now to choose our brides! | | • | Act 1. Are you peeping? | | • | Act 1. Thank you gallant gondolieri | | • | Act 1. From the sunny Spanish shore | | • | Act 1. In enterprise of martial kind | | • | Act 1. O rapture, when alone together | | • | Act 1. There was a time, a time for ever gone | | • | Act 1. I stole the Prince | | • | Act 1. But, bless my heart, consider my position! | | • | Act 1. Try we life-long we can never | | • | Act 1. Bride-groom and bride! | | • | Act 1. When a merry maiden marries | | • | Act 1. Kind sir, you cannot have the heart, our lives to part | | • | Act 1. Do not give way to this uncalled-for grief | | • | Act 1. Then one of us will be a queen |
Disc 2
| • | Act 1. Now pray, what is the cause of this remarkable hilarity | | • | Act 1. Replying, we sing as one individual | | • | Act 1. For ev'ryone who feels inclined | | • | Act 1. Come let's away - our island crown awaits me | | • | Act 1. Now, Marco dear, my wishes hear | | • | Act 1. Then away they go to an island fair | | • | Act 2. Of happiness the very pith | | • | Act 2. Rising early in the morning | | • | Act 2. Take a pair of sparkling eyes | | • | Act 2. Here we are, at the risk of our lives | | • | Act 2. After sailing to this land | | • | Act 2. Dance a cachucha, fandango, bolero | | • | Act 2. There lived a king, as I've been told | | • | Act 2. In a contemplative fashion and a tranquil frame of mind | | • | Act 2. With ducal pomp and ducal pride | | • | Act 2. This polite attention | | • | Act 2. To help happy commoners | | • | Act 2. Small titles and orders for mayors and recorders | | • | Act 2. I am a courtier grave and serious | | • | Act 2. Here is a case unprecedented! | | • | Act 2. Now let the loyal lieges gather round | | • | Act 2. Speak woman speak, we're all attention! | | • | Act 2. The royal prince was by the king entrusted | | • | Act 2. Luiz! Casilda! | | • | Act 2. One more, gondolieri |
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| Customer Reviews:
Not Perfect, but Definitely an Essential Performance September 12, 2008
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.
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