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Sullivan, A: HMS Pinafore

Elizabeth Watts (Josephine), Toby Spence (Ralph Rackstraw), John Mark Ainsley (Sir Joseph Porter KCB), Andrew Foster-Williams (Captain Corcoran), Hilary Summers (Buttercup), Neal Davies (Dick Deadeye), Gavan Ring (Bill Bobstay), Barnaby Rea (Bob Becket), Kitty Whately (Hebe), Tim Brooke-Taylor (narrator)

Scottish...

Richard Egarr brings springy energy to the score...Elizabeth Watts's Josephine has a mischievous touch. — BBC Music Magazine, August 2016 More…

Release Date: 20th May 2016
Catalogue No: CKD522
Label: Linn
Length: 84 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

20th May 2016
BBC Music Magazine

August 2016

Opera Choice
Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2016

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Sullivan, A: HMS Pinafore

Work length1:24:36

$27.50

$41.30

$56.35

Scottish Opera, Richard Egarr, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Hilary Summers, Andrew Foster-Williams, Elizabeth Watts, John Mark Ainsley, Neal Davies, Gavan Ring, Toby Spence, Kitty Whately, Barnaby Rea
Recorded: 23 August 2015
Recording Venue: Live Recording, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

I. 1. Overture

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II. 2. Act I, Chorus. We Sail the Ocean Blue

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III. 3. Act I, Recitative and Song. Hail, Men-o'-war's Men

Track length3:11

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IV. 4. Act I, Recitative. But, Tell Me

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V. 5. Act I, Scena. The Nightingale Sighed

Track length5:16

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VI. 6. Act I, Recitative and Song. My Gallant Crew, Good Morning

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VII. 7. Act I, Recitative. Sir, You Are Sad!

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VIII. 8. Act I, Song. Sorry Her Lot

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IX. 9. Act I, Chorus of Women. Over the Bright Blue Sea

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X. 10. Act I, Chorus of Sailors and Relatives. We Sail the Ocean Blue

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XI. 11. Act I, Recitative, Song and Chorus. I Am the Monarch of the Sea

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XII. 12. Act I, Song. When I was a lad

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XIII. 13. Act I, Exit for Ladies. For I Hold That on the Seas

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XIV. 14. Act I, Trio. A British Tar

Track length2:40

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XV. 15. Act I, Duet. Refrain, Audacious Tar

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XVI. 16. Act I, Finale. Can I Survive This Overbearing

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XVII. 17. Entr'acte

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XVIII. 18. Act II, Song. Fair Moon, to Thee I Sing

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XIX. 19. Act II, Duet. Things Are Seldom What They Seem

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XX. 20. Act II, Scena. The Hours Creep on Apace

Track length5:08

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XXI. 21. Act II, Trio. Never Mind the Why and Wherefore

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XXII. 22. Act II, Duet. Kind Captain

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XXIII. 23. Act II, Soli. Carefully on Tiptoe Stealing

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XXIV. 24. Act II, Scena. Pretty Daughter of Mine

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XXV. 25. Act II, Octet. Farewell, My Own

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XXVI. 26. Act II, Legend. A Many Years Ago

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XXVII. 27. Act II, Finale. Oh Joy, Oh Rapture Unforeseen

Track length3:25

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Recording of the Week, Richard Egarr conducts Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore

20th May 2016

Katherine enjoys a new recording of a well-loved light-opera classic, with Richard Egarr and Scottish Opera (and featuring Tim Brooke-Taylor!)

Interview, Richard Egarr on HMS Pinafore

19th May 2016

The conductor and harpsichordist talks to Katherine about his new, historically-informed recording of Gilbert & Sullivan on Linn.

Richard Egarr conducts the Scottish Opera in Gilbert and Sullivan’s much-loved nautical comic opera: HMS Pinafore. Performed and recorded live at the 2015 Edinburgh International Festival to a sold out audience, the story unfolds with additional narration from comic actor and broadcaster Tim Brooke-Taylor. Heading up a cast that reads like a ‘who’s who’ of the opera world are John Mark Ainsley, Elizabeth Watts and Toby Spence.

The well-crafted, yet light-hearted story unfolds on the HMS Pinafore as Josephine, the captain’s daughter, falls in love with a lowly sailor (Ralph Rackstraw) despite arrangements by her father to marry Sir Joseph Porter. Sir Joseph is a perfect caricature of Britain’s class system of the day – a pompous and splendidly incompetent man. Nevertheless, this likeable character decrees his liberal views and inadvertently encourages a couple in love to reject social conventions and elope. A tale of British silliness, filled with British humour, ends happily for all characters.

Egarr applies his extensive knowledge of period performance practice to recreate the sound and style typical of the late nineteenth century, a first for a Gilbert and Sullivan recording. HMS Pinafore is rich in comic burlesque, sending up theatrical and operatic conventions and parodying the Italian opera of the day. The tongue-in-cheek writing is apparent from the opening chorus and the music is equally rich in comic pastiche and styles; ‘For he is an Englishman’ is one of the greatest master-strokes.

Climb aboard the HMS Pinafore for a hugely fun seafaring romp!

Artists

Scottish Opera, Richard Egarr

Reviews

August 2016

Richard Egarr brings springy energy to the score...Elizabeth Watts's Josephine has a mischievous touch.

June 2016

It sounds like everyone involved was having a lot of fun. Richard Egarr, for example: who knew that he was such an affectionate Savoyard?...It was clearly one of those occasions where everyone plays off each other, and with a cast like this, the results are never less than engaging.

June 2016

The whole presentation is well-rehearsed and the orchestra is excellent. It was nice to see that Scottish Opera follow the D’Oyly Carte with the need for excellent diction… . In many a recording we find there are woodwind lines that fail to come across, but here there is absolute clarity from every section.

November 2016

The Scottish Opera chorus sings with energy and commitment, and the cast is a formidable assemblage of top UK talent. Diction is good, and the cast generally avoids the temptation to ham.

20th May 2016

There’s a tremendous sense of affection and conviction from all involved, and never a suggestion of anyone condescending to the material...Egarr brings out some wonderful orchestral detail which I’d never noticed before (particularly in the big ensembles), and phrases everything with such line and lyricism that any sense of that ‘rum-ti-tum’ autopilot which often repels Gilbert and Sullivan's detractors is kept consistently at bay.

5th June 2016

[Egarr proves] himself a natural for this repertoire; the whole thing bounces, sparkles and smiles, with Scottish Opera's orchestra playing with the insouciant grace that is such a crucial element of operetta style. The cast is splendid...Elizabeth Watts is a gorgeous Josephine, Andrew Foster-Williams makes a perfectly proper Captain Corcoran and Hilary Summers's warm contralto is nicely suited to Little Buttercup.

Gilbert's satire...still resonates, and was a gift for Sullivan's talent for parodying Italian opera. That and its native tunefulness keep the score fresh, as this Scottish Opera performance under Egarr, recorded live at last year's Edinburgh International Festival, happily reminds us.

Sullivan, A: HMS Pinafore

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Contents

Recording of the Week, Richard Egarr conducts Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore

Interview, Richard Egarr on HMS Pinafore

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