GILBERT & SULLIVAN

HMS PINAFORE

Or

THE LASS THAT LOVED A SAILOR

Libretto  W.S.GILBERT
Music  ARTHUR SULLIVAN

YVONNE BARCLAY   ALFRED BOE
FRANCIS McCAFFERTY   TOM McVEIGH
GORDON SANDISON   JAMES CLEVERTON
STEPHEN DAVIS   GAYNOR KEEBLE

CHORUS and ORCHESTRA of the

D'OYLY CARTE OPERA

Conducted by
JOHN OWEN EDWARDS

The Rt.Hon.Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. GORDON SANDISON
Captain Corcoran TOM McVEIGH
Ralph Rackstraw ALFRED BOE
Dick Deadeye SIMON WILDING
Bill Bobstay (Boatswain) STEPHEN DAVIS
Bob Becket (Carpenter) JAMES CLEVERTON
Josephine YVONNE BARCLAY
Cousin Hebe GAYNOR KEEBLE
Mrs.Cripps (Buttercup) FRANCES McCAFFERTY

Chorus and Orchestra of the D'Oyly Carte Opera
Orchestra Manager   Ian Brignall
Orchestra Leader   Clive Lander

Conducted by
JOHN OWEN EDWARDS

Chorus
Gary Alexander, Dominic Barrand, Pamela Baxter, Debbie Bridge, Michael Burke, Trevor Conner, Simon Curtis, Steven Fawell, Cordelia Fish, Rachel Fisher, Emma Gardner, Jim Heath, Alison Rae Jones, Hannah Kirk, Michelle Lokey-Smid, Andrew Macnair, Ailsa Mooney, Jason Pimblett, John Polhamus, Eloise Roberts and Caroline Woolgrove

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The production of “H.M.S. Pinafore” upon which this recording is based first saw the light of day in the D’Oyly Carte’s 1994-5 season.  It was revived in the summer of 1999 at The Royal Festival Hall and again in February 2000 at London’s Savoy Theatre.

The nudging of the period setting more towards 1910 (as well as transforming this “H.M.S. Pinafore” into an earlier steamship) allowed much fun with the female chorus of Sir Joseph Porter’s “sisters and his cousins and his aunts” who became an eccentric gaggle of maiden-aunts, spinsters and protective birds of prey - and also included a pair of identical twins.

Listeners familiar with the opera will notice a few departures from the norm on this recording.  The recitative before the Act 2 Finale is included, although the material is generally spoken in performance.  Also the coda of the Act 2 Finale does not use the fanfare heard at the end of the overture and Act 1, but rather the extended version of what maybe be called Sir Joseph’s motif, the four chords that herald his entrance and form the basis of “I am the monarch of the sea”.  We are very fortunate, too, in being able to include the discarded duet, newly-discovered, for Josephine and the Captain (“Reflect, My Child”).

We also reinstated the dialogue scenes for the character of Hebe.  Mrs Howard Paul was to play the part in the original production - but it was soon apparent that, although she excelled as a performer, she could not cope with the musical requirements of the score.  Therefore the inexperienced Miss Jessie Bond was hired to bear the vocal brunt of Hebe’s role.  But when Mrs Paul discovered this, she was so offended that she stormed out of the theatre, never to return and, as a result, most of Hebe’s original dialogue was cut.

The fact that this production appears at The Savoy Theatre in February 2000 is particularly happy, as we are celebrating not only Sullivan’s centenary year, but also the first London production of a Gilbert & Sullivan opera in the 21st century.

© February 2000 Martin Duncan, John Owen Edwards

1. Overture
   New Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra
2. We Sail the Ocean Blue
   Mens Chorus
3. Hail, Men-O-War's Men, I'm Called Little Buttercup, But Tell Me Who's the Youth
   Linda Ormiston & Paul Parfitt
4. The Nightingale / a Maiden Fair to See
   Christopher Gillett, Linda Ormiston and Men's Chorus
5. My Gallant Crew / I Am the Captain of the Pinafore / Sir You Are Sad
   Gordon Sandison, Linda Ormiston & Men's Chorus
6. Sorry Her Lot
   Elizabeth Ritchie
7. Over the Bright Blue Sea / Sir Joseph's Barge Is Seen
   Chorus
8. Now Give Three Cheers / I Am the Monarch of the Sea
   Gordon Sandison, Janine Roebuck, Ladies' Chorus & Nickolas Grace
9. When I Was a Lad / for I Hold That On the Seas
   Chorus, Janine Roebuck & Nickolas Grace
10. A British Tar
    Christopher Gillett, Men's Chorus, Paul Parfitt & Paul Thomson
11. Refrain, Audacious Tar
    Christopher Gillett & Elizabeth Ritchie
12. Finale Act One
    Christopher Gillett, Company, Elizabeth Ritchie, Gordon Sandison, Janine Roebuck, Linda Ormiston, Nickolas Grace & Thomas Law

1. Entr'acte
   
2. Fair Moon, to Thee I Sing
   Gordon Sandison
3. Things Are Seldom What They Seem
   Gordon Sandison & Linda Ormiston
4. The Hours Creep On Apace
   Elizabeth Ritchie
5. Never Mind the Why and Wherefore
   Elizabeth Ritchie, Gordon Sandison & Nickolas Grace
6. Kind Captain, I've Important Information
   Gordon Sandison & Thomas Lawlor
7. Carefully On Tiptoe Stealing / Hold, Pretty Daughter of Mine / He Is an Englishman / Uttering a Reprobation / My Pain and My
   Christopher Gillett, Company, Elizabeth Ritchie, Gordon Sandison, Janine Roebuck, Nickolas Grace & Thomas Lawlor
8. Farewell My Own!
   Christopher Gillett, Company, Elizabeth Ritchie & Nickolas Grace
9. My Pain and My Distress / a Many Years Ago
   Company, Linda Ormiston & Nickolas Grace
10. Here Take Her Sir / Oh Joy, Oh Rapture Unforeseen (Finale Act Two - the Golden Jubilee Version)
    Christopher Gillett, Company, Elizabeth Ritchie, Gordon Sandison, Linda Ormiston & Nickolas Grace
11. Finale Act Two (Original Version)
    Company
12. Finale Act Two (The D'Oyly Carte Version)
    Company