Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe
by Dave Heather
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DVD details
Actor: Alexander Oliver, Anne Collins, Beverley Mills, Derek Hammond-Stroud, Kate FlowersDirector: Dave Heather
Brand: Acorn
Producer: George Walker
Producer: Judith de Paul
Writer: William S. Gilbert
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-22
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
DVD Reviews of Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe
DVD Review: A Fine Iolanthe
Summary: 4 Stars
The Opera World Gilbert and Sullivan DVD series is a definite mixed bag, but this is one of the strongest entries in it. While not on the level of PATIENCE, THE GONDOLIERS and THE SORCERER, the video is a solid interpretation strongly cast.
As usual, the chorus and Orchestra perform well and Alexander Faris moves things along nicely at the podium. Luckily, there are no cuts except for a slightly abbreviated overture. The production has its definite pluses (Strephon's attempted suicide, the not-so dainty fairies hanging their wings out to dry and smoking cigarettes) and it's minuses (cheesy, overused superimposed special effects, the staging of the Act two Finale.). As for the infamous news reel, I feel it's a funny, workable gag, but it resembles a Benny Hill gag a bit too much for my taste (though Alexander Oliver is a joy to watch in this segment. His facial expressions are hysterical.)
Out of the performers, high marks go to Anne Collins' Fairy Queen, at her usual standard of beyond exemplary every line reading and phrase spun to perfection, and Kate Flowers, a completely charming Phyllis. She is a beautiful woman with a wonderfully expressive face, and her dialogue is delivered with apt humor. Musically, she is beyond reproach; I fell in love with her on sight. Also extremely effective is Derek Hammond-Stroud as the Lord Chancellor. A mainstay in the patter parts, he is in much better voice than he was in PATIENCE, and the lower tessitura of the role suits his Bass-Baritone better. He is very apt and dry in the dialogue. It's incredible to think that he also was ENO's leading Alberich in Wagner's RING for years, because the pathos he gives to the Lord Chancellor's legalistic troubles ("Can a man give his own consent to marry his own ward, etc?") is so keenly felt along with the humor.
We have David Hillman's expressive vocalism and foppish delivery put to good use as Tollollor, but Thomas Hemsley is too light for Mountararat. The same problem sets with Alexander Oliver's Strephon. He is a tenor rather than the usual lyric baritone. Though tenor John Fryatt made an effective Grovesner in PATIENCE, and I've heard effective Strephons who are tenors, but Oliver does not have the required heft, and he doesn't have the vocal power for most of the role. In his favor, the two dues with Phyllis and "In babyhood, upon her lap I lay," the meat of the role, go over very well. He's very, very funny in his spoken passages and he's an appropriate screen presence. When Strephon is transformed into a dark-suited, monocle-wearing MP He does a brilliant spoof on british bureaucratic figures.
As the tilter Iolanthe, Beverly Mills has a very attractive Mezzo, but the unrewarding part of Iolanthe does not offer many vocal high points with the exception of the exquisite "He loves" and she is only passable in the dialogue. Richard van Allen, a great Basso, is luxury casting as Willis (a Bass part too often given to Baritones) and what a pleasure it is to see two major sopranos as Lelia and Celia: my old favorite Sandra Dugale (who also was Patience, Rose Maybud and Casilda in the series) and Pamela Field (who was a leading soprano with the D'Oyly Carte in the early seventies and who recorded the role of Phyllis with them.) are both delightful. Judi Trott (an uncredited member of the chorus) speaks her lines as Fleta well. All in all, a highly entertaining, worthy version with many attractions. 4/5
Description of Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe
GILBERT & SULLIVAN:IOLANTHE - DVD MovieEven by the unreal standards of Gilbert and Sullivan, Iolanthe is a fanciful piece of work, in which Fairyland meets the House of Lords. Needless to say, the lords--a superbly dimwitted bunch--don't triumph. The title character was once banished from the fairy kingdom, and now she returns as the marriage of her son, Strephon, is imperiled by Parliament. Mixing satire with ethereal fantasy (though the fairies are earthly enough to have a taste for men in authority), all set to a lush score, the piece holds together miraculously.
This version is not ideal, with lots of mugging and condescending to the material. There are failed stabs at cleverness, such as a witless pseudo-newsreel that marks Strephon's run for Parliament. Still, the charm of the piece comes through. Kate Flowers as Strephon's fiancée, Phyllis, is a delight; she sings radiantly and conveys the driest possible blend of modesty and narcissism. As the Queen of the Fairies, Anne Collins puts her weighty contralto to good comic use. She is commanding but endearing, especially when she sings amorously to the fire captain.
Part of the Opera World series of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas made for television, this one has the strengths and weaknesses of an uneven series. Visual and sound quality are muddier than they should be, and, for better or worse, the operettas are presented without the updating that's frequently done, just as Gilbert wrote them, obscure references and all. --David Olivenbaum
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