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Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe / D'Oyly Carte Opera Company


Release Date: 10/19/1993 
Label:  Sony   Catalog #: 58898   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Arthur Sullivan
Performer:  Richard Suart,  Philip Creasy,  Lawrence Richard,  John Rath,   ... 
Conductor:  John Pryce-Jones
Orchestra/Ensemble:  D'Oyly Carte Opera Chorus,  D'Oyly Carte Opera Orchestra
Number of Discs: 2 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 31 Mins. 

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Notes and Editorial Reviews

John Pryce-Jones brings lively tempos and a lightness of touch to this performance, while Richard Suart adds real character to his portrayal of the Lord Chancellor.

It's 17 years since the previous Iolanthe recording... Of recordings currently available (conducted by Isidore Godfrey on Decca) or due for early reissue (the Glyndebourne performances under Sargent on EMI), none is less than 30 years old. The most obvious attraction of these new releases, then, is a vastly superior quality of sound, offering a welcome clarity, spaciousness and lack of tape hiss. Orchestral detail is the most immediate beneficiary, and the overtures of the two comic operas also serve to demonstrate John Pryce-Jones's lively tempos and Read more lightness of touch—both notably lacking from Sir Malcolm Sargent... Among the singers in the new recordings, I particularly liked John Rath, who shapes Sergeant Willis's song most agreeably... I would also commend Jill Pert, a slightly lightweight but nevertheless imposing Queen of the Fairies... Moreover, Richard Suart not only provides the leading comedy roles with the same clear articulation as in the new Telarc Mikado, but is here allowed to add far more character to his portrayals. The Nightmare Song really leaves the listener wondering whether the singer will manage it... The Iolanthe discs include the first ever recording of Strephon's Act 2 "Fold your flapping wings", a number cut-with good reason, perhaps-shortly after the premiere...

-- Gramophone [5/1992]
reviewing the original release of this recording, TER 1188
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Works on This Recording

1. Iolanthe by Arthur Sullivan
Performer:  Richard Suart (Bass), Philip Creasy (Tenor), Lawrence Richard (Bass),
John Rath (Bass), Philip Blake Jones (Tenor), Jill Pert (Alto),
Regina Hanley (Alto), Yvonne Patrick (Voice), Madeleine Mitchell (Soprano),
Louise Owen (Mezzo Soprano), Elizabeth Woollett (Soprano)
Conductor:  John Pryce-Jones
Orchestra/Ensemble:  D'Oyly Carte Opera Chorus,  D'Oyly Carte Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1882; England 
 Date of Recording: 1991 
Venue:  EMI Abbey Road Studios, London 
Length: 90 Minutes 52 Secs. 
Language: English 

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