I'm no expert on G&S, but I have not seen this record noted elsewhere, including the on-line Gilbert & Sullivan discography. (The Yeomen page has a very good article on the production.)
The record is a 7-inch EP issued by the NBC publicity department. My copy does not have a cover, and I doubt it came in one.
These songs are not excerpts from the televised production itself, which probably was transmitted live. These were pre-recorded with piano accompaniment in place of the Franz Allers-led orchestra that was featured on the Hallmark Hall of Fame program.
The sound is good, and reveals fine performances by Alfred Drake, Barbara Cook and Bill Hayes, and a soggy one from Celeste Holm.
NEW TRANSFER
6 comments:
Wow! Am I really the first comment for a 9 year old post? Well then. Thank you Buster! This is much appreciated!
Many many thanks Buster.
Cheers,
Douglas (UK)
Belated comment: I saw a kinescope of this production. It was severely cut. Cook was almost unbelievably gorgeous and had just the right voice. Alfred Drake was miscast as the hapless jester: His voice too solid and his appearance too handsome and noble. Henry Calvin (of Zorro fame) was fine as Shadbolt considering what little was left of his part), and Celeste Holm was completely lost, wrong style, wrong voice, wrong everything.
Charlot - Henry Calvin! Wonderful. Thanks for the comment, belated though it may be.
I've seen the video too (it has received an "official" release by now, though my copy came from dubious sources a while back). In theory I can see a "real" voice cast as Jack Point -- Thomas Allen did very well with it on the Philips recording. But in fact, Drake did indeed play the part like a Shakespearean tragic hero, and also made himself the narrator of the whole thing. Cook is indeed delightfully right in every way, and it's lovely to have another video document of her glowing early years (the Bloomer Girl telecast is another such). It's too bad about Celeste Holm; she was apparently determined to prove that (despite Ado Annie) she had had classical vocal training, but this performance won't make the case for her.
JAC - That Bloomer Girl sounds great. WIll have to seek it out.
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