Gilbert & Sullivan: The Yeoman of the Guard & Trial by Jury
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Music CD Cover
Composer: Arthur SullivanConductor: Isidore Godfrey
Conductor: Malcolm Sargent
Orchestra: Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra Covent Garden
Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Performer: Ann Hood
Performer: Anthony Raffell
Performer: David Palmer
Performer: Donald Adams
Performer: Elizabeth Harwood
Performer: Gillian Knight
Performer: John Reed
Performer: Kenneth Sandford
Performer: Margaret Eales
Performer: Philip Potter
Performer: Thomas Lawlor
Performer: Thomas Round
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import, Original recording reissued
CD Release Date: 2003-05-13
Music Label: Decca Import
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Overture
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. When maiden loves, she sits and sighs
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. Tower warders, under orders
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. When our gallant Norman foes
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. Alas! I waver to and fro
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. Is life a boon?
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. Here's a man of jollity
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. I have a song to sing, O!
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. How say you, maiden
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. I've jibe and joke and quip and crank
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. 'Tis done! I am a bride
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. Were I thy bride
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 1. Oh, Sergeant Meryll, is it true
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 2. Night has spread her pall once more
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 2. Oh! a private buffoon is a lighthearted loon
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 2. Hereupon we're both agreed
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 2. Free from his fetters grim
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 2. Strange adventure
- The Yeomen of the Guard (The Merryman and his Maid), operetta: Act 2. Hark! what was that, sir?
- Trial by Jury, operetta: Hark the hour of ten is sounding - The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
- Trial by Jury, operetta: When first my old, old love I knew - The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
- Trial by Jury, operetta: When I, good friends, was called to the bar - The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
- Trial by Jury, operetta: Where is the plaintiff - The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
- Trial by Jury, operetta: May it please you, my Lud!
- Trial by Jury, operetta: Oh, gentlemen, listen, I pray
- Trial by Jury, operetta: A nice dilemna we have here
- Trial by Jury, operetta: I love him, I love him
Free Music Notes for Gilbert & Sullivan: The Yeoman of the Guard & Trial by Jury
Free Music Review: Two operas performed with no weak link in the casts - and certainly not Reed!
Hit: 5 Stars
The Yeomen of the Guard competes closely with Princess Ida as being the most operatic of Gilbert and Sullivan's works. Although the three most popular G&S operas are HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado, the three of the greatest quality musically would be Iolanthe, Yeomen of the Guard, and one other - perhaps Ruddigore. All of the operas are wonderful, each with its own different flavor. Yeomen is the saddest of them all, though it is not truly a tragic opera (this is more apparent in the dialogue). Anyway, on to the actual recording.
First of all, John Reed is NOT miscast as Jack Point. He is a perfect Point. I only wish this recording included dialogue, but Sargent was not wont to do such a thing, and never did throughout his long and distinguished career (to my knowledge). Reed's display of emotion does not overdo the drama nor underplay it. Really, Point is the role most fitted to Reed. Point or Ko-Ko (but that's another story). The other principles also do very well. Donald Adams is in good form as usual, though he does not have too much to do in this opera as Sergeant Meryll. Philip Potter is an outstanding Colonel Fairfax, a tenor of the highest order. Elizabeth Harwood as Elsie, Ann Hood as Phoebe Meryll, and Gillian Knight as Dame Carruthers all sing finely. Kenneth Sanford makes a perfect Wilfred Shadbolt, demonstrating the roughness of a jailor without singing like one. The recorded sound is kind to all their voices, as it is to the choral singing, which is also outstanding.
The worst thing about this recording is the lack of dialogue, but regardless a libretto can be downloaded from The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive and read between numbers (it helps, believe me). There is currently no alternative with dialogue, excepting Sir Neville Marriner's recording with heavily abridged dialogue and the 1982 Brent Walker/Opera World video, which excludes six numbers on account of time restraints. (As a side note, the present performance includes a song for Dame Carruthers and Sergeant Meryll, "Rapture, rapture," that is often omitted.)
I have not mentioned the filler as of yet. Trial by Jury is a delightful work well up to the standards of later operas in many ways. Often you may read that a recording includes "Trial by Jury, without dialogue." This is something of a misnomer, since Trial by Jury is the only of the G&S operas not to have any dialogue whatsoever. It is all words set to music.
The cast for this work is just as strong as for Yeomen of the Guard. Thomas Round makes himself the perfect Defendant. Though only he and Anthony Raffell would actually perform this work on tour when this recording was made, this performance includes many of the big names from the D'Oyly Carte opera company of those days. John Reed makes a fine learned judge; Kenneth Sandford (as the Counsel for the Plaintiff) and Donald Adams (as The Usher) fill their roles in a similarly convincing manner. The only female principle is the Plaintiff, and Ann Hood adapts as well to this role as she did to Phoebe Meryll (though her sobs after the Cousel's song is a bit contrived). Isidore Godfrey conducts this work, and does it very, very well. The music glows, making this one of the best Trial by Jury's available.
Overall, this recording fully deserves five stars. As in all the Decca recordings of this series, a synopsis for both works is included. If you like any of the other Gilbert and Sullivan Operas, you will most certainly like The Yeomen of the Guard and Trial by Jury.
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