Apparently, Chandos recorded Sullivan's grand opera Ivanhoe this June, which is great news for those of us who have been listening to, and despairing of, that dismal old Pearl recording. The conductor was David Lloyd-Jones. Full details in this thread (http://www.chandos.net/Forum05/display_message.asp?mid=2243) at the Chandos Forum.
Good news indeed. Can you give us an idea what the opera is like, Mark?
In all honesty, although I have struggled several times with the Pearl set, I have never made it beyond one CD at a time!
Filtered through the dreadful sound and mannered performance comes, I hope, the "serious" Sullivan of The Golden Legend or The Martyr of Antioch. Those are pretty fine works, superbly orchestrated and certainly melodious, but not in as profligate a way as the Savoy operas and without all the dotted rhythms and bounce. But if I'm honest I'm guessing that's the case as the performance on the Pearl recordings is so stodgy and laboured that I just can't believe that anything by Sullivan could be like that.
The work garnered only a successe d'estime in its time, but if Chandos are prepared to devote so much time and energy to recording it then I'm very hopeful that it will prove to be at least as good as his serious choral works, which I rate quite highly.
Perhaps the Rozsa music from the Ivanhoe film is an easier listen?
Maybe, but I've always found both serious and light Sullivan played well a rewarding listen. It's Sulliavn played badly that I have the problem with....
A fine new recording should make it possible for us to evaluate G.B.Shaw's blistering review of the original production. Shaw could be so diabolically amusing that sometimes one wonders if he's being a serious critic or a Victorian insult comic...
I agree, Shaw was a man of "strong opinions", one of which was that Wagner was a musical deity without compare. Brahms he loathed, together with anything smacking of the English tradition of oratorio and music dominated by the Mendelssohn's huge legacy in the country. On the other hand, he valued Goetz' Symphony. He is, though, a hugely entertaining read.
Chandos will be issuing the opera on 1st February...
http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//CHAN10578-3.htm (http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//CHAN10578-3.htm)
I sang in the chorus for the recording of some extracts from Ivanhoe when I was with the D'Oyly Carte. TER (That's Entertainment Records) made the recording; there were other excerpts from other unusual pieces too - Martyr of Antioch, Haddon Hall, etc. Anyhow, the music was rather good, I thought, in a fairly sold Germanic way, but with hints here and there of an almost indefinable Englishness. As you'd expect with Sullivan there were some jolly good tunes. Sadly, he is let down by the libretto which contains some horrors - not least of which is a "Drinking" Chorus containing the immortal line: "Troll the brown bowl to me." (I seem to recall that a number of takes were necessary for that section - can't think why!)
How do you "troll" a bowl? Is it anything like "goblining" a goblet? ;D
Yes, the libretto is a shocker, but this has to be a welcome release. Roll on February.
Yes, may February come trollin' along quickly! (With apologies to Julian and Sandy.)
Sorry, you've got to be 50+, British and like radio comedy to get that reference...
Mark , I don't know if you saw my update, but the recording date for Macfarren's Robin Hood has been rescheduled to this Spring. Wallace's Lurline is still on track. The English opera revival continues with minor setbacks...
David
Thanks, David.
Jim - "troll" is an archaic word meaning "circulate" when applied to vessels - as in the lines: "Then doth she troll to me the bowl / Even as a maltworm should, / And saith 'Sweet heart, I took my part / Of this jolly good ale and old.'" from a drinking song supposedly written by the appropriately named Bishop Still (but in fact of anonymous authorship, and quite an ancient song - almost certainly Elizabethan at least), and set to music by Warlock and Moeran jointly during an afternoon at a pub. It's a jolly good song and Warlock's and Moeran's setting is great fun and a joy to sing.
I must admit that I've been unfair to Sullivan's librettist, Julian Sturgis, because the Drinking Song about trolling the brown bowl is actually by Sir Walter Scott (who should have known better).
I know that I should welcome operas with English librettos because I should be better able to appreciate the skill of the composer in setting them to appropriate music. Either that, or I should be immersing myself in the world created by the piece - the whole Wagner "total art" thing. However, on the whole I prefer my librettos to be in French, German or Italian (not a Slavic language, I find them ugly when sung) and then I can major on the music and follow the words, if I need to, by reading the notes or looking at the surtitles.
The opera turns out to be splendid entertainment - vigorous, full of tunes and well produced in true Chandos house style. I don't think the singing is outstanding overall, but it is all pretty well done, and the conducting is wonderfully alive. Mind you, Toby Spence is excellent as Ivanhoe. I hope one or two other forum members might soon have some reactions to this long overdue recording.
Good vigorous stuff, as melodic as one would expect from Sullivan and with sparkling orchestration. I thought the singing pretty good, if a trifle self-consciously "heroic" at times, but that's not really a criticism. The archaic English of the libretto was less of a stumbling block than I feared it would be. It's taken at a vibrant, cracking pace too - there's a lot of story to fit onto two CDs. It seems to me, having heard it only once through, that this is yet more evidence that Sullivan was a pretty fine composer and much. much more than "& Sullivan".
I hope your set had three CDs, Mark. If not, complain...
Oops... Yes, three incident-filled CDs, each resplendent with a Crusader cross.
I think it's a great project, this recording. Hope it sells well...
Just saw the review in 'Gramophone' magazine. After an article near the front related to this event,praising 'Ivanhoe',and Sullivan's stature as a serious composer,I was a bit miffed to find that the actual review is very short. In fact the photo of the cd artwork on the same page appears more substantial than the article itself! Maybe they could have used some of the space they used for the cd box cover & provided readers with a more thorough & incisive review. I just wonder what David Hurwitz & Andrew Clements will have to say when they get their mits on it? (I haven't looked at Classicstoday yet).
The Gramophone's gone way downmarket. Some of its reviews are just plain pathetic these days. Much better by far is International Record Review - and MusicWeb is worth checking out regularly too.
Yes,very sad. The hours I used to spend poring over it . Nowadays I keep my copies in the loo (well, not literally!) and, ahem, pore over it there!
This thread is due for revival, since I see that this recording of Ivanhoe has apparently been nominated for a Grammy.
I might have to break down and buy this, since I can't get the drinking song (the only sample on the Chandos website) out of my head.
David