THE THEATRICAL TRADITIONS of Gilbert and Sullivan operas are often supposed to have remained unchanged since Gilbert and Sullivan supervised their own productions in the nineteenth century. In fact, a recent performance of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company would have differed in many ways from one given at the turn of the century.
In the summer of 1898, when the US Gramophone Company began commercial recording in London, almost all the major stars of the Savoy Theatre, including Henry Lytton, Rutland Barrington, Walter Passmore, Richard Temple, Isabel Jay, Ruth Vincent, and Charles Workman were working in the theatre in or near London. They, and many other Savoyards, had their voices put on to wax during the next decade. Their recordings preserve the songs of Gilbert and Sullivan as the great partners themselves intended them to be sung.
THE SAVOYARDS ON RECORD is the story of the stage artists who worked with Gilbert and Sullivan, in order of their first appearance with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (or the Comedy Opera Company). It charts the course their careers followed after they left the Savoy Theatre, and describes the records they made. Long overdue, the book also contains information on those who appeared for Gilbert in The Mountebanks and His Excellency, sang for Sullivan in Ivanhoe, and took part in the Leeds Music Festivals. The little-known Savoy career of Lillian Russell is described here for the first time. The final part of the book details the earliest attempts to record the complete operas.
Containing twenty fascinating illustrations, THE SAVOYARDS ON RECORD will be of immediate appeal to all lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan music and lore, Victorian operetta, and musical theatre in general. It is a must for collectors of old records.
Date of Publication: 1985 Paperback ISBN: 0 906527 25 2 Hardback ISBN: 0 906527 25 0 Pages: 96 Book Dimensions: 150 x 207 (mm)
Author: 
