Gilbert & Sullivan - Master Collection (Opera World)

Gilbert & Sullivan - Master Collection (Opera World)
by Rodney Greenberg

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DVD details

Actor: Frankie Howerd, Gordon Sandison, Meryl Drower, Michael Bulman, Peter Marshall
Director: Rodney Greenberg
Cinematographer: Derek Chason
Cinematographer: Dave Heather
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Box set, Classical, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1140 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-22
Studio: AcornMedia

DVD Reviews of Gilbert & Sullivan - Master Collection (Opera World)

DVD Review: Avoid this collection!
Summary: 1 Stars

I strongly support the other reviewers who have been highly critical of this collection. The quality is very uneven, with many of the stars clearly unequal to the demands of Sullivan's magnificent music or Gilbert's often fiendishly difficult words (these may be "just" comic operas, but you do have to be able to sing them!). Also, the operas are often incomplete, which is frustrating if you know them well or are trying to introduce them to someone new. I grew up on G&S, and much of this set is a travesty - the best analogy I can think of is the Disney version of Winnie the Pooh compared to the Shepherd originals. My recommendation is to go through the reviews of all the G&S currently available, and select the best individual recording of each opera; do not waste money on this expensive set.

DVD Review: Anything but Faultless, but Nevertheless, Enjoyable
Summary: 3 Stars

For a number of the operas, the Brent Walker videos constituted my entire experience for that opera. (Now, of course, I own at least one recording of each.) Sorry about the lenth, but there's a lot to say about this series (much of it less than sanguine, I'm afraid).

The Sorcerer: Best of the series in all probability. Yes, it is riddled with various faults, mainly the cheesy "special" effects. This is (IMHO) Alexander Oliver's best performance in this series. The mustache draws attention away from his age. Donald Adams does wonderfully, and the rest of the cast is pretty consistant. Clive Revels makes a good Sorcerer, though he seems a bit unwilling to go up to his "F" in his opening song (he does it, but he doesn't like it).

HMS Pinafore: Not half as bad as I had expected (though still bad). Frankie Howard makes little effort to stick to the script, and it shows. Peter Marshall as the Captain is acceptable, though his dancing in "Nevermind the why and wherefore" is quite painful (he doesn't have that sort of figure). Ralph was one of the redeeming factors of the production. Yes, he doesn't hit the B-flat at the beginning of the Act 1 finale, but you have to admit, he sings pretty good *and* looks the part. (To be blunt: He's in shape, taller than the soprano, and isn't too old.)

Pirates of Penzance: Dreadful. Honestly, I'd rank this one lower than Pinafore. The only redeeming factor is Gillian Knight as Ruth. The staging and choreography is overdone, and Peter Allen as the Pirate King is so bad he manages to ruin the Paradox trio, let alone the act one finale. The viewer groans every time the pirates enter...for the wrong reason.

Patience: Along with The Sorcerer, one of the best of this series. Sandra Dugdale's Patience sings fabulously and has a pretty good grip on her role (my one complaint is her costume...don't know what they were thinking there). Hammond-Stroud's Bunthorne is not first-choice (and a bit too...portly. But of course, John Fryatt as Grosvener sort of cancels him out). Ella gets some good stuff to do, particularly her business with her cymbals. Anne Collin's Jane is excellent.

Iolanthe: Iolanthe is my favorite of the operas, which makes it impossible for me to fully recommend this version, despite it's assets. The best thing is Anne Collin's Fairy Queen. Fairyland (if that's what it's supposed to be at the beginning, rather than Arcady) looks like Candyland. Too much of the action takes place in the House of Lords, minimizing the impact of Iolanthe's song. (Willis gets a paper background - really.) Pamela Field should have been given Phyllis rather than Leila.

Princess Ida: Almost alright. Yeah, that "play within a play" thing really stinks, but looking beyond that, it's not too bad. Hilarion can actually pass for 22, and Ida (Nan Christie) can sing really well (she also does well as Aline and Gianetta). Frank Gorshin in no way distinguishes himself, and does little to add to one's opinion of Gama's two songs. Arac sounds a little under-powered.

The Mikado: Not the best, not the worst. Pooh-Bah, Katisha (love the goggles), and Ko-Ko are the best (in my humble opinion). I have little to say about William Conrad except he doesn't even try to sing like any other Mikado. The choreography that is present in all of these videos works better in the Mikado than in most. (It also comes across well in Patience, where aesthetic dancing is a boon.) One realizes how flat this Mikado is in some places when viewing the 1939 D'Oyly Carte video (which should have been longer), but it still holds up well enough to see more than once.

Ruddigore: Although I wasn't impressed with it the first time I saw it, it came up fresher than I had remembered. The special effects are again, glaringly...glaring, but very fine singing (and acting) from Dugdale as Rose Maybud, Ann Howard as Mad Margret, and Donald Adams as Sir Roderic help the set considerably. Richard (an amazing singer) does very well too, though his part is cut down quite ruthlessly. Vincent Price (whose claim to fame I was also ignorant of, until I inquired into the matter), is good enough as Despard. He can sing, just not as well as the rest of the cast. The set seems a bit lower-budget than it should have (hey, they had a million dollars for this production).

Yeomen of the Guard: The worst of the series. Pheobe has a wonderful voice, but the all too numerous cuts (which include the second verse of her song), manage to turn the grandest of G&S into a dismal affair. How can you cut "Strange adventure"??? Fairfax sings pretty well, but looks - never mind. Elsie's costume is...incomplete. Joel Grey as Jack Point doesn't even come close to satisfactory, particularly with all these other faults. (Sir Richard and Wilfred are both fine.)

The Gondoliers: Yes, prone to incite boredom among those unfamiliar with the opera (and many familiar with it), but adequate in most areas. Keith Michell (whose best role was Robin Oakapple) doesn't exude Don Alhambra as Kenneth Sandford did in the 1961 D'Oyly Carte recording; part of this is the fact that his voice isn't that of a bass or a more...lyric baritone. Generally good casting for such a myriad of parts. The dialogue cuts are unfortunate but necessary to fit the thing into the two hour frame (minus a few minutes for the Douglas Fairbanks Jr. intros, spurious after or during the first viewing).

Therefore, going by Amazon's standards, this video set deserves three stars ("it's okay," though it almost deserves a fourth star, just for the better videos such as Patience and The Sorcerer). Try your library for a few of this series before investing in the whole thing. (Using interlibrary loan services, I was able to view all 10 in this set, plus Trial by Jury and Cox and Box, sadly omitted here.)

We wait expectantly for the next series of Gilbert & Sullivan Operas on Video.

DVD Review: Delight from the past
Summary: 5 Stars

The 25 years that have passed since these productions were first aired may not seem much, but in the eyes of the eternity, so don't the 125 years that separate us from the original G&S productions. The effect is pretty much the same - watching these productions, you get a gilmpse right into the past, get to see what was considered funny and well done at the time. And who cares? The people we see seem to be enjoying themselves mostly, both in front of and behind the camera, and that's the main thing. Tastes change anyway.

Sure, some of the productions are rather terrible (Pinafore), but then there are those which are absolutely delightful, with beautiful singers and lovely sets. The cheesy studio feeling is rather a bonus to my eyes, giving the productions a strangely authentic Victorian atmosphere. On some occasions I'm irritated that the "chorus" is too obviously compiled of dancers, who only mime to the pre-recorded music. Also, in some operas the pre-recorded soundtrack has too much echo, whereas the principals who are singing live, have a totally different, dry sound. Other operas don't have that problem.

One has to remember, that in some cases the productions suffer from the fact that they were produced mainly for the audiences in the US. This has influenced the choise of actors, as well as some liberties with the costumes and sets. There are things that would never be done in a real proper D'Oyly Carte production.

But I can't help myself enjoying this set totally. I even enjoy those productions I hate. Thanks Judith de Paul and everyone involved!

Trial by Jury and Cox and Box can be acquired separately, and are heartily recommended.

DVD Review: The Master Collection of Gilbert & Sullivan
Summary: 5 Stars

I have been looking for this for years. I'm glad I found it.

DVD Review: A flawed resource...
Summary: 2 Stars

This is a rather comprehensive collection of G & S operettas, and (perhaps unfortunately) one of the best resources currently available. The benefits of this collection are that most of the operettas are presented in the traditional style that was intended by the composer and the librettist: Gilbert's stage directions and scenary are generally followed, and costumes are in the authentic D'Oyly Carte tradition. And, these are the only DVD's available for some of these operettas. One can certainly get learn much about the G & S "flavor" by watching these DVD's.

There are some significant downsides, however: several operas, like Trial by Jury, Utopia Limited, and The Grand Duke are missing. The sound quality is also quite poor, and unless one already knows the lyrics or is following along with a vocal score or libretto, most of the sung text is so mushy that it is impossible to decipher. (The chorus numbers are especially bad.) Perhaps most annoying are the fact that many musical numbers are cut altogether, and in some of the productions (such as Yeomen of the Guard), dialogue is unnecessarily modernized, rewriting many of the more brilliant moments of Gilbert's libretti.

But, until a better source is released, this is perhaps the best we have to work with... Tentatively recommended.

Description of Gilbert & Sullivan - Master Collection (Opera World)

Featuring the london symphony orchestra and a host of international stars including vincent price joel gray peter marshall keith mitchell frankie howerd and peter allen. Filmed in england and created especially for tv they have delighted fans on pbs and the bbc. Studio: Acorn Media Release Date: 01/20/2004 Run time: 1140 minutes

The Master Collection includes 10 Gilbert and Sullivan operettas produced for British television. The Opera World series (1982) is the only comprehensive Gilbert and Sullivan series on video. It comprises 12 G&S works (if you cheat and count Cox and Box, written by Sullivan without Gilbert), including, for some titles, the only available version. (Cox and Box and the one-act farce Trial by Jury, their first collaboration, are not part of this set.) In terms of quality, the series is uneven. There are some treasures, but some productions have a disconsolate penny-pinching look, and a few need more rehearsal. The casts are a blend of Broadway singers, British and American comedians, and D'Oyly Carte veterans, with stars including Vincent Price (Ruddigore), Joel Grey (The Yeomen of the Guard), and singer-songwriter Peter Allen (The Pirates of Penzance). Frequent standout performers include Keith Michell, Clive Revill, Kate Flowers, and Anne Collins, who shines as a procession of unloved older women.

Of the series, the standouts are Ruddigore, a trifle of a ghost story set to gorgeous music, and The Sorcerer, a buoyant tale of a magic potion that causes a whole village to fall in love with the wrong people; Iolanthe (a House of Lords satire mixed with ethereal fantasy), The Gondoliers (with Sullivan's Italianate, most radiant score), and Princess Ida (a satire of higher education for women set in an Arthurian kingdom) are also well worth seeing. The others--The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, Patience, and The Yeomen of the Guard--are less satisfying. --David Olivenbaum

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