Arthur Sullivan & William Gilbert - Princess Ida or Castle Adamant (1982)

CD1
Princess Ida
1. Overture
2. Act 1 Search throught the panorama (Florian)
3. Now hearken to my strict command (Hildebrand)
4. Today we meet … (Hilarion)
5. From the distant panorama (Arac, Guton, Scynthius)
6. If you give me your attention (Gama)
7. Finale. P’raps if you address the lady most politely
8. Act 2 Towards the empyrean heights (Lady Psyche,Melissa, Sacharissa)
9. Mighty maiden with a mission (Chorus)
10. Minerva… Oh goddess wise (Princess)
11. Gently gently evidently (Cyril, Hilarion,Florian)		play
12. I am a maiden (Cyril, Hilarion,Florian)
13. The world is but a broken toy (Princess,Cyril,Hilarion,Florian)
14. A lady fair (Lady Psyche, Melissa, Cyril,Hilarion,Florian)
15. The woman of the wisest wit (Lady Psyche, Melissa, Cyril)
16. Now wouldn’t you like to rule the roost (Melissa, Lady Blanche)
17. Merrily ring the luncheon bell (Lady Blanche,Cyril)
18. Would you know the kind of maid (Cyril)h
19. Finale.Og joy! Our chief is sav’d
20. We may remark, tho’ nothing can dismay us

CD2
1.Act 3 Death to the invader (Melissa)
2. I built upon a rock (Princess)
3. Whenever I spoke sarcastic joke (Gama)
4. When anger spreads his wing (Chorus)
5. This helmet I suppose (Arac,Guron,Scynthius)
6.  This is our duty plain (Chorus)
7. Finale. With joy abiding

Pineapple Poll
8. Scene 1 Opening dance					play
9. Poll’s and Pas de deux
10. Belaye’s solo
11. Pas de troi
12. Finale
13. Scene 2 Poll’s solo, Jasper’s solo
14. Scene 3 Belaye’s solo & Sailor’s drill
15. Poll’s solo
16. Entry of Belaye with Blanche as bride
17. Reconciliation
18. Grande Finale


King Hildebrand - Kenneth Sandford
Princess Ida - Elizabeth Harwood
Hilarion - Philip Potter
Cyril - David Palmer
Florian - Jeffrey Skitch
King Gama - John Reed
Arac - Donald Adams
Guron - Anthony Raffell
Scynthius - George Cook
Lady Blanche - Christene Palmer
Lady Psyche - Ann Hood

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Chorus of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
Malcolm Sargent - conductor, 1965

'Princess Ida' (or Castle Adamant) is one of the lesser known Savoy operas by Gilbert and Sullivan but it is no less spectacular and inventive. This Decca recording features the famed Sir Malcolm Sargent directing the equally legendary D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and there is also a fine recording of Pineapple Poll thrown in for good measure.

The opera is split into three acts and after a sprightly overture we are thrown pell-mell into a load of memorable and wonderfully tuneful numbers that are so characteristic of Sullivan at his best. The Finale to Act 1 is particularly inspiring with the chorus singing lustily and with great character to conclude the piece in superb fashion. The rest of the opera is vintage G&S with numbers including several arias and duets that are too numerous to mention but which will definitely please all good old anglophiles! The 1965 recording is beautifully crisp and clear giving an added bonus to the recording which has been resurrected in its original cover.

I have recently reviewed some new Testament discs with Sir Charles Mackerras conducting his own Verdi arrangements and this famous recording of 'Pineapple Poll' is no less desirable for the collector. The pot pourri of tunes from the Savoy operas comes across as wonderfully refreshing and the 1972 recording is a wonder for clarity and breathtaking sound. It makes the set very generous as regards playing time and if you are collecting these operas, I would unhesitatingly recommend that this double bill should be one of the first items on your next shopping list. --- www.classical.net

Pineapple Poll is a ballet in one act and three scenes with a libretto and choreography by John Cranko commissioned by the Sadler's Wells theater, meant to coincide with the Festival of Britain. Cranko based the scenario on one of Gilbert's "Bab Ballads," entitled The Bumboat Woman's Story. Gilbert's "Bab Ballads" were short comic "plays" written for the British satirical magazine, Fun. "Bab," which is short for "Baby" (pronounced "Babby"), was Gilbert's pseudonym, originally appended to drawings and later to innumerable, brief ballads, appearing mainly in the 1860s and 1870s.

Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras gleaned excerpts of Sullivan's music from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. This was made possible by the expiration in 1950 of the copyright on Sullivan's works. First performed at the Sadler's Wells in March 1951, Pineapple Poll became an immediate sensation and the production was given regularly into the late 1950s by both the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells. In a similar manner, Mackerras has also arranged the ballet, The Lady and the Fool, from music by Sullivan.

The plot of Pineapple Poll revolves around Pineapple Poll and her colleagues, who are all madly in love with the captain of the good ship H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun. In order to board the ship, they disguise themselves in sailors' clothes, a fact that is not revealed to the audience until near the end of the ballet.

Mackerras came to know the works of Gilbert and Sullivan while he was an oboist at the Sydney Theatre. After playing a piano reduction of Offenbach's Gay Parisienne for a ballet performance, it occurred to him that an arrangement of Sullivan's music would also lend itself to a ballet setting. Mackerras describes his arrangement of Sullivan's music as "a patchwork quilt of tunes from most of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Every bar of Pineapple Poll, even the short bridge passages, is taken from some opera or other." Melodies from the various operettas intertwine in such a way that one follows the other in rapid succession. Employing a much larger ensemble than Sullivan did (three each of woodwind and trumpets, plus a large percussion section), Mackerras' orchestration is particularly lush, with many harp glissandi and warm horn passages. Most interesting is Mackerras' simultaneous scoring of the opening chorus of Patience and the second-act quintet from The Gondoliers.

The length of the complete ballet -- 45 minutes -- prompted Mackerras to make a concert suite arrangement, which has been recorded numerous times and is easy to find. Mackerras alone has recorded the entire ballet four times. ---John Palmer, Rovi

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