Product Description: Featuring the london symphony orchestra and a host of international stars including vincent price joel gray peter marshall keith mitchell frankie howerd and peter allen. Filmed in england and created especially for tv they have delighted fans on pbs and the bbc. Studio: Acorn Media Release Date: 01/20/2004 Run time: 543 minutes
Amazon.com: The Favorites Collection includes five Gilbert and Sullivan operettas produced for British television: The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Gondoliers, and Patience. The Opera World series (1982) is the only comprehensive Gilbert and Sullivan series on video. It comprises 12 G&S works (if you cheat and count Cox and Box, written by Sullivan without Gilbert), including, for some titles, the only available version. In terms of quality, the series is uneven. There are some treasures, but some productions have a disconsolate penny-pinching look, and a few need more rehearsal. The casts are a blend of Broadway singers, British and American comedians, and D'Oyly Carte veterans, with stars including William Conrad (The Mikado) and singer-songwriter Peter Allen (The Pirates of Penzance). Frequent standout performers include Keith Michell, Clive Revill, Kate Flowers, and Anne Collins, who shines as a procession of unloved older women.
Of this set, the highlight is The Gondoliers, in which Sullivan's Italianate score--his most radiant--sets the tone, though there's a fair helping of Gilbert's trademark wit. H.M.S. Pinafore is erratic though of generally high musical quality, The Mikado has good performers but lacks spark, Patience (a favorite of many aficionados) has some casting flaws, and the pleasures of Pirates are sporadic at best. A better choice is the 10-disc Master Collection, which includes four of the series' standouts, Ruddigore, The Sorcerer, Iolanthe, and Princess Ida, as well as The Yeomen of the Guard. --David Olivenbaum
Digital Life Reviews
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Five Volumes of a Flawed Series that Remain Enjoyable
For a number of the operas, the Brent Walker videos constituted my entire experience for that opera. (Now, of course, I own at least one recording of each.) There's a lot to say about this series (much of it less than sanguine, I'm afraid).
HMS Pinafore: Not half as bad as I had expected (though still bad). Frankie Howard makes little effort to stick to the script, and it shows. Peter Marshall as the Captain is acceptable, though his dancing in "Nevermind the why and wherefore" is quite painful (he doesn't have that sort of figure). Ralph was one of the redeeming factors of the production. Yes, he doesn't hit the B-flat at the beginning of the Act 1 finale, but you have to admit, he sings pretty good *and* looks the part. (To be blunt: He's in shape, taller than the soprano, and isn't too old.)
Pirates of Penzance: Dreadful. Honestly, I'd rank this one lower than Pinafore. The ... Read More
Rating: - Is This All the G&S There Is?
I have been a huge Gilbert & Sullivan fan since early childhood, and I am sure there is a market out there for good video productions of their operettas. This TV series ain't even close. (I only bought one of the two boxed sets.) Someday, maybe some brave producer and/or director will mount these shows in a way that will bring out their wealth of potential. We all saw how the Kevin Kline/Linda Ronstadt movie of "Pirates of Penzance" launched that show permanently into the G&S top three. I give this series two stars only because I don't think there is any other version of all the operettas out there (I doubt that the old Martyn Green Doyle-Carte Company movie of "Mikado" is available), and at least I have something to look at while listening to the music and dialogue. But I wince at Keith Michell's and Vincent Price's feeble vocalizations -- to name only two of the producers' many lame attempts to use ... Read More
Rating: - Awful. Awful. Awful.
I love Gilbert and Sullivan, but the productions in this series are so bad I winced watching them. When Captain Corcoran first appeared on deck, I furrowed by brow and said out loud, "No, it can't be." But sure enough, a check of the credits revealed that the hardy captain of the H.M.S. Pinafore actually was game show icon Peter Marshall. That claim to fame and his constant horse-toothed grin were distracting enough, but his terrible performance made watching this version of Pinafore almost unbearable. Pete should have stuck to the likes of Yahtzee! and Hollywood Squares. Frankie Howerd speaks most of his lines as Sir Joseph. That may have worked fine for Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, but it was a deep disappointment to a diehard G&S fan waiting to hear some of his favorite songs actually sung. The cast includes a plain-looking Josephine and downright ugly (and aging) Ralph Rackstraw. I focus here on Pinafore ... Read More
Digital
Life Shop
items subject to availability. Some restrictions
may apply. DVD
Gilbert & Sullivan - Favorites Collection (Opera World) presented by digi2005.com Digi2005.com is
an Amazon.com
Associate
Digital Life Music News:
News Blog: Posts by Tom Krazit
CNET News - FileMaker Pro 9.0 organizes contacts, projects and other logistical information for small ... The latest JPMorgan report notes that "it took Apple over two years to launch its first low-end iPod (the iPod Mini)." The New York analysts think a 3G ...
more News
- Five Volumes of a Flawed Series that Remain Enjoyable
- Is This All the G&S There Is?
