Gilbert & Sullivan: The Mikado
|
Our Price: $40.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.35 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Gilbert & Sullivan: The Mikado
Free Music Review: The Must-Have Recording of a G&S Classic!!
Hit: 5 Stars
I first bought this recording on vinyl about 16 years ago. I loved it then, and I certainly love it now.I was recently cast in a production of The Mikado, so I thought I'd better have a CD of it for reference. I can scarcely describe just how wonderful it was to hear the definitive D'Oyly Carte company once more. The cast are not only excellent singers, but remarkable actors/actresses as well. The humor of each and every character comes brilliantly through, and on more than one occasion, I found myself laughing out loud at these wonderful characters that I once knew very well indeed. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to becoming reacquainted with them!
For historical accuracy, and marvelous performances that you won't soon forget, the D'Oyly Carte recordings of The Mikado, or any other Gilbert and Sullivan production are an absolute MUST-HAVE!
Free Music Review: Infectious Music-making
Hit: 5 Stars
For anyone coming to this music for the first time this recording is a must. While one might quibble about this or that aspect, this version conveys the incredible invention of this classic in a fashion that leaves you singing for days afterward. Start hereFree Music Review: An acceptable yet slightly weak performance.
Hit: 4 Stars
This D'Oyly Carte stereo remake of The Mikado, though praised as a "complete success" by the Penguin Guide, is actually a weaker performance than expected. As a matter of fact, it tends to lose its freshness after repeated listenings, and it captured the Company in its duldrums before its reformation in the 1980s. John Ayldon's portrayal of the eponymous title character seems to lack the satanic glitter immortalised in Donald Adams' portrayal of the 1958 set, and the former's portrayal is not a truly three-dimensional portrayal. The two lovers fare better, despite Colin Wright's not-so-good Nanki-Poo, which cannot match Thomas Round's famous portrayal. The selling star, John Reed, is a good Ko-Ko, but his voice has lost the freshness it once was, and so has Kenneth Sandford's Pooh-Bah. Valerie Masterson's Yum-Yum is one of the better points of the recording, as her voice is like ear-candy, and Lyndsie Holland's Katisha is as commanding as, if not better than Anne Drummond-Grant. The orchestra and chorus do an excellent job in supporting the singers, despite some slightly poorly-chosen tempi, and the sound on this remastered version is slightly dryish. Overall, I'm not really prepared to recommend this awfully strongly, and I would suggest waiting for Decca (Polygram) to re-release its first stereo D'Oyly Carte Mikado on CD. Still, this is a slightly easy performance with which to live.Free Music Review: Great G&S
Hit: 4 Stars
This is my personal favourite of the G&S operettas, I have seen it performed multiple times and have loved the new adaptations as well and the original D'oyly Carte version. I have to say that there are so many different versions of the original score that I have had to scout around to find the one that I like the best and this is it.Free Music Review: Modified Rapture doesn't even Begin to Describe It
Hit: 3 Stars
I'm listening to the recording, making notes as I go. They are below for your delectation. Well...they might be helpful. Skip to the end for my overall impressions.
Colin Wright about loses the first G in the sailor section of "A wand'ring minstrel I." His excessive vibrato and unusual sibilance quickly tire the ear.
The tempo in "Our great Mikado, virtuous man" is too slow! It bothers me every time I hear it. Michael Rayner could have handled a faster tempo - come on.
Kenneth Sandford was so much better in the 1957 recording (not to mention he's paired up with Thomas Round and Alan Styler for his song in that recording!)
John Reed is his excellent self - though he probably would have sounded even better had this recording been made in 1966, as was the plan until the guest conductor (yup, Sir Malcolm Sargent) fell ill, making way for a recording of The Sorcerer instead (Gilbert & Sullivan: The Sorcerer & The Zoo).
The lady's voices make the recording crack when they hit their G's in "Comes a train of little ladies." This is totally unacceptable for a 1973 Decca recording! Get with the program, guys - your 1960s recordings sounded better (and certainly much more atmospheric). Valerie Masterson has arrived on stage. Things are getting better. Best "Three little maids from school" ever. Hands down. Masterson's G's in "So please you, sir, we much regret" are ravishing.
The slowest "I am so proud" I've heard. It excites only modified rapture. Ditto for "The threaten'd cloud has passed away." A slightly faster tempo would have been more exciting. Oh, no, Katisha just entered. Katisha's entrance should be terrible to the characters, not the audience. Lyndsie Holland screeches through her part in a way that is most exasperating. She sounds alright as the Baroness in The Grand Duke. Why not here? (Listen to "Thy heart unbi-ind" - you can almost hear the sound falling into her throat.) "The hour of gladness" here strikes me as being a bit plodding. Hm.
Why does Colin Write go up an octave on "How foil my foe"? None of the tenors on the seven other recordings I've heard do that. Ugh. Katisha just screamed her painful "I'll spoil" business. When I first heard this recording, I though it was a nice dramatic touch. But it doesn't bear repeated listening. The finale is on the slow side.
Okay, on to Act II. Ah, "The sun whose rays" is wonderful. The relaxed tempo gives VM to show off her splendid voice admirably.
The "Miya sama" scene is nice. John Alydon is a bit gruff as The Mikado, but certainly good enough. Everything from there is mediocre to very good. Holland does better in "Alone and yet alive" than in the Act 1 Finale. "On a tree by a river" comes off well. The short fanfare is included before the finale. Said Finale is reasonably satisfying, even though the orchestral sound is a bit on the shallow side.
Overall, this recording is a listen-able if flawed representation of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's abilities. John Reed and Valerie Masterson make it only somewhat worth your while, but certainly saves it from 1 or 2 star infamy. For one recording of the DOC in all its glory, turn to the 1959/60 recording of HMS Pinafore (Gilbert & Sullivan: HMS Pinafore/Gilbert & Sullivan: H.M.S. Pinafore) or the 1961 Patience (Gilbert & Sullivan: Patience). For a single recording of The Mikado, turn to the 1957 DOC recording with Isidore Godfrey conducting, now available in mono as two $1 MP3 downloads (if only they had been released in stereo!). The single CD Mackerras recording will also satisfy many, despite its minor imperfections (Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / WNO · Mackerras).