Off The Bookshelf Gilbert & Sullivan - Patience / Douglas, Olsen, Warlow, Australian Opera Search DVD

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1.Gilbert & Sullivan - Pirates of Penzance / Anthony Warlow, David Hobson, Australian Opera starring: Anthony Warlow directed by: Stuart Maunder August 26, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $29.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $26.99 You Save: $3.00 (10%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $17.64
I am resigned to the fact there will be nothing significantly new done to a treatment of "Pirates" since Joseph Papp. This production, with some promising innovations, took to itself many of Papp's "Shakespeare in the Park" contrivances with uneven results. On the whole, for those who have never seen "Pirates" before, you will be delighted. For those who groan at the mindless pastiches on the 1980's show, toss this one on the heap. Elements from Papp's production found here: the "intimate" staging, with lightbulbs adorning the periphery; abridged overture; the costumes in general; the "matter" patter trio translated from "Ruddigore;" and the "New York" finale. Unlike the Papp show, however, we are not subjected to synthesizers, even though there are some minor musical alterations. One real ... Read More

2.Gilbert & Sullivan - Patience starring: Anthony Warlow directed by: John Cox March 25, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $29.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $26.99 You Save: $3.00 (10%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $17.64
"Patience" was my introduction to the Savoy operas - nearly 50 years ago now! - and I think this is the best production that I have seen. The opera is a brilliant parody of the Aesthetic Movement, and deserves to be far better known. Gilbert obviously thoroughly enjoyed himself making fun of the ridiculous pretensions and jargon of the aesthetes (and for that reason newcomers might find it helpful to have the libretto to hand - otherwise, to quote Ruddigore, some of the patter may indeed be unintelligible). Perhaps because he was having such a good time, he made Lady Jane a far more likable character than his usual formidable contralto, and Heather Begg plays the role to perfection. The rest of the cast are equally strong, and the Australian Opera orchestra is in great form. Because the ... Read More

3.Poulenc - Dialogues of the Carmelites / Bonynge, Sutherland, Buchanan, Begg, Opera Australia starring: Heather Begg, Isobel Buchanan, Geoffrey Chard, Paul Ferris, John Germain directed by: Henry Prokop June 11, 2002
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $29.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $26.99 You Save: $3.00 (10%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $10.79
Musical conception by R. Bonynge is excellent, considering M. Rosenthal (a good friend of Poulenc) and M. Plasson have probably done the definitive versions from the orchestral standpoint. All singers were excellent in their roles; Blanche de la Force was sung in a full-bodied manner by a full-bodied woman, a contrast to the way it has been cast in the past, and it worked because the singer (Imogene Buchanan) got to the heart of the part. The delightful surprise was the great lyrico-coloratura Joan Sutherland in the rather understated part of Madame Lidoine, a true heroine by any measure. Despite some moments when enunciation (sung in English) was a problem, she nevertheless presented a loving portrait of this marvellous courageous woman. I did notice the translation was different from the one the Met ... Read More

4.Gilbert & Sullivan - Patience / Douglas, Olsen, Warlow, Australian Opera starring: Christine Douglas, Dennis Olsen, Anthony Warlow, Heather Begg, John Germain directed by: Cameron Kirkpatrick September 11, 2001
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $75.95
SOURCE: Live performance recorded at the Sydney Opera House in 1995. The production is based on the 1967 production of the English National Opera (as was the Brent Walker production of 1980, also available on DVD, with which it shares costume designs and many bits of stage business.) SOUND: Adequate stereo commensurate with the difficulties of capturing a live performance in an enormous box of a theater. CAST: Patience, the village milkmaid - Christine Douglas (soprano); Reginald Bunthorne, a fleshly poet - Dennis Olsen (baritone); Archibald Grosvenor, poet and apostle of simplicity - Anthony Warlow (baritone); Colonel Calverley, of the 35th Dragoon Guards - John Germain (bass-baritone); Major Murgatroyd - Neil Kirkby (baritone); Lieutenant, the Duke of Dunstable - Graeme Ewer (tenor); ... Read More

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