The Sorcerer: Opera Vocal Score (Kalmus Edition)

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Likewise Grant Knox delivers an exceedingly fine Alexis, both in the singing and dialogue. Daly are fine singers and sound very pleasant, but I would like to have heard them in the opposite roles. Mackus's voice has the light and airy timbre of a baritone hero in the mold of Grosvenor, Strephon, or Giuseppe, and he would have been an excellent Daly on record.

Mismas tends to punch his musical phrases in a manner quite unlike what one would expect from a vicar, and I think this suits Marmaduke far better than Daly. Mismas also elects the lower option whenever given a choice between two notes, and even must drop an octave once in the Act One finale. Though Marmaduke also has its share of higher passages, Mismas's heavier timbre would make him a better fit in the role of the elderly baronet.

Sandra Ross's Lady Sangazure is spot-on. Her voice in this recording reminds me of Ann Drummond-Grant's. The Constance of Kari Sorenson and Mrs. Partlet of Jessie Wright Martin are fine in all respects, and both make the opening recitative bubble along without getting bogged down.

Kevin Blickfeldt as the Notary has significant trouble keeping time, but let that pass in the minor role of the aging attorney. A delightful surprise is the Hercules of young Jack Neill, who judging from his picture in the accompanying booklet can't be more than six years old!

Interestingly, 20 bars into the chorus "With heart and with voice" for the men, this recording gives us "with" tied over a dotted eighth and two thirty-second notes, with "and" taking the final two eighth notes of the measure. Upon checking I find that this is actually prescribed by the Kalmus vocal score, though I have never heard this measure sung in this fashion live or on record usually "with" ties over to an additional eighth note, leaving "and" only half a beat.

I must say I enjoy hearing this as marked in the Kalmus score; it seems to give much more power to the measure.

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A particular joy on this recording is the Act Two duet for Mr. Wells and Lady Sangazure. This duet has never been a favorite of mine, but here it really sparkles; so full of character, yet so well sung. The orchestra sounds a bit thin in places for a studio recording the accompanying booklet lists 24 players , but to my ear at least the playing is incredibly accurate and the orchestra is well recorded technically. The conducting of Steven Byess keeps the opera moving along nicely, but every so often the tempo drops for a measure or two in an odd place.

The opera was directed for the stage by Steven Daigle, and Daigle's direction results in excellent delivery of the dialogue. This recording however is not without its little negatives.

The Mikado (Sullivan, Arthur)

The orchestration under the "Oh my adored one! Likewise the chimes at the beginning of the opening chorus are gone, and we therefore lose a very pretty few measures of opening to the opera. As said before, the odd word is changed from the libretto, which is often expected from fallible performers on stage; none of the changes alter the meaning of the text, but when performers are in studio it is odd that these changes should exist on record. At appropriate times on the recording we hear chatter from the chorus as would be expected on stage, and though it is welcome, it is also a bit overdone.

This is ridiculous in each instance, with compact discs having the capacity for 80 minutes of material. The glaring problem alluded to earlier comes at the very end of the recording. Throughout my listening to Act Two I began to think to myself that this truly must now be classified as the definitive recording of the opera. How close OLO came to getting it completely right!

Operas -- Vocal scores with piano

For some reason the OLO directors had need to lengthen the opera's finale. Near the end of the "rollicking bun" chorus, the gong sounds again, and Mr. Wells peeks out from hell to give us a short reprise of the refrain from "My name is John Wellington Wells" before going away again with another gong, whereupon the chorus ends the recording with a reprise of "If you'll marry me.

But though I would very much like to endorse this recording as definitive because of its vibrancy, superb singing, excellent dialogue, and technically fine recorded sound, unfortunately I cannot give such an endorsement due to the altered ending. The crown must remain with the D'Oyly Carte recording. The cost is somewhat prohibitive, and I was able to find my copy "like new" from an Amazon Marketplace dealer at a significantly reduced price. The set is attractively packaged with several photographs from the stage production, and the accompanying booklet includes the libretto.

I find it odd however to find several misprints of the lyrics which appear as titles of tracks on the back of the booklet. The Score contains all the dialogue. I'm unsure of it's exact age but you can see it looks to be from the early or middle part of the last century.

It has been used but has plenty more life left in it. I have added plenty of large photographs so you can see for yourself exactly what the condition is like. Vocal score With Italian and Engish Words. Published by Boosey and Co, undated circa Red cloth covered hardback with embossed and gilt decoration and titles.

Endpapers have split to reveal binding but pages are still secure. Novello's Original Octavo Edition: An Oratorio in Vocal Score by J. With a separate accompaniment for the organ or pianoforte arranged by Vincent Novello..

Vocal score in German and Italian. Complete Vocal Score concert version.

In Very Good used condition. Book by George Newnes Ltd. Happy bidding and please check out my other items. Postage costs are for UK only.

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