D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY - The Essential Collection - Gilbert & Sullivan: Highlights & Overtures (2 CDs)

The glorious Gilbert & Sullivan partnership covered a twenty five year period from 1871 to 1896 during which they collaborated on fourteen comic operas. The most famous of these operas are undoubtedly 'The Mikado', 'HMS Pinafore', 'The Pirates Of Penzance' and 'The Gondoliers'. This compilation comprises a 'sampler' taken from our superb specially priced 10 CD set of nine G&S operas released by AVID (AMBX138) and a couple of excerpts from 'The Sorcerer' (AMSC799). The accompanying booklets to these releases provide fuller recording and plot details as well as information on the D’Oyle Carte members. The only work on our CD not associated with the G&S partnership is an early piece by Sullivan entitled Overture ‘Di Ballo’ composed a year before the first G&S collaboration. It is a charming and varied piece of light music containing dance rhythms of the polonaise, waltz and galop. The secret of the lasting appeal of the G&S comic operas lies in the abundance of cracking tunes provided by Sullivan and the equally important and unforgettable lyrical input provided by Gilbert. Their professional relationship was often stormy and it was no surprise when following a dispute over a financial issue the partnership floundered. They had just completed 'The Gondoliers' and would go on to produce two more works 'Utopia Unlimited' and 'The Grand Duke' but unhappily the golden years were over.

CD1
1. HMS Pinafore: I’m Called Little Buttercup - Ella Halman
2. HMS Pinafore: When I Was A Lad I Served A Term - Martyn Green & Chorus
3. HMS Pinafore: Never Mind The Why And Wherefore - Leslie Rands, Muriel Harding & Martyn Green
4. Ruddigore: When The Night Wind Howls - Darrell Fancourt & Chorus
5. Ruddigore: My Eyes Are Fully Open - Martyn Green, Richard Watson & Ann Drummond-Grant
6. Patience: A Magnet Hung In A Hardware Shop - Alan Styler & Chorus
7. Patience: So Go To Him And Say To Him - Ella Halman & Martyn Green
8. The Mikado: Behold The Lord High Executioner! - The Chorus & Martyn Green
9. The Mikado: As Some Day It May Happen (I’ve Got A Little List) - Martyn Green & Chorus
10. The Mikado: Three Little Maids From School - Margaret Mitchell, Joyce Wright & Joan Gillingham
11. The Mikado: Here’s A How-De-Do! - Margaret Mitchell, Leonard Osborn & Martyn Green
12. The Mikado: The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring - Leonard Osborn, Martyn Green & Chorus
13. The Mikado: On A Tree By A River A Little Tom-Tit (Willow, Tit-Willow) - Martyn Green
14. Trial By Jury: When I, Good Friends, Was Called To The Bar (The Judge’s Song) - Richard Watson & Chorus
15. The Pirates Of Penzance: Oh, Better Far To Live And Die (I Am A Pirate King) - Darrell Watson & Chorus
16. The Pirates Of Penzance: I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General - Martyn Green & Chorus
17. The Pirates Of Penzance: When A Felon’s Not Engaged In His Employment (A Policeman’s Lot Is Not A Happy One) - Richard Watson & Chorus
18. Iolanthe: When I Went To The Bar As A Very Young Man - Martyn Green
19. Iolanthe: When You’re Lying Awake With A Dismal Headache (The Nightmare Song) - Martyn Green
20. The Gondoliers: For The Merriest Fellows Are We - Geoffrey Sanders & Chorus
21. The Gondoliers: In Enterprise Of Martial Kind (The Duke Of Plaza-Toro) - Martyn Green & Chorus
22. The Gondoliers: Take A Pair Of Sparkling Eyes - Leonard Osborn
23. The Gondoliers: Dance A Cachucha, Fandango, Bolero - The Chorus
24. The Gondoliers: I Am A Courtier Grave And Serious - Martyn Green, Leonard Osborn, Alan Styler, Ella Halman & Margaret Mitchell
25. The Yeomen Of The Guard: I Have A Song To Sing, O! - Muriel Harding, Martyn Green & Chorus
26. The Yeomen Of The Guard: Were I Thy Bride - Ann Drummond-Grant
27. The Sorcerer: My Name Is John Wellington Wells - Peter Pratt with The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company With The New Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey

CD2
1. HMS Pinafore: Overture - Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey
2. Ruddigore: Overture - Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey
3. Patience: Overture - Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey
4. The Mikado: Overture - Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey
5. The Pirates Of Penzance: Overture - Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey
6. Iolanthe: Overture - Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey
7. The Gondoliers: Overture - Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey
8. The Yeomen Of The Guard: Overture - Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey
9. The Sorcerer: Overture - The New Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Isidore Godfrey
10. Overture 'Di Ballo' - City Of Birmingham Orchestra Conducted By George Weldon