The early 1950s D’Oyly Carte Decca recordings of the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas tend to be devalued these days, connoisseurs preferring the vintage versions from the 1920s and ’30s or the splendidly recorded stereo ones from the 1960s. But the performance quality gap is narrowed here as this Iolanthe holds its own, largely thanks to Martyn Green’s classic rendition of the Lord Chancellor. In Iolanthe, Gilbert’s acidic wit and Sullivan’s sprightly music are turned to sly political satire, and the story of “The Peer and the Peri” mocking the class system in general and the House of Lords in particular is still relevant as Britain reforms that once-hereditary institution. It’s a perennial favorite that transcends its time and place, with numerous numbers that immediately embed music and words deep into the brain’s memory cells.
Who can resist such highlights as “The entry of the peers”, a triumphal march in which the chorus commands “bow, bow, ye lower middle classes”; or the sentry’s delicious soliloquy about “every boy and every gal that’s born into the world alive/Is either a little Liberal/Or a else a little ConservatIVE!”; or the Lord Chancellor’s nightmare song?
But enjoyable as this performance is, it’s not an automatic “tan-ta-ra, rush out and buy,” although wise Savoyards will want it even if they have other versions, including the Malcolm Sargent-led EMI early stereo release that employed legitimate operatic voices. While Green’s Lord Chancellor is deliciously done and Isidore Godfrey’s spirited conducting is always stylish, most of the rest of the cast is routine, with overly stiff singing from the men and the usual D’Oyly Carte thin-voiced lyric sopranos chirping away. Best of the secondary group are the Iolanthe, contralto Ann Drummond-Grant, and bass Fisher Morgan, who as Private Willis delivers a neat “When all night long”.
Decca’s early-1950s mono engineering was state-of-the-art for its time, so the sound is clear, with the exception of occasional patches of distortion and congestion in loud high-soprano and choral sections. This Iolanthe also is available on a 3-disc set from Pearl, coupled with the D’Oyly Carte’s contemporaneous Patience. There’s little to choose between the Pearl and Naxos transfers, so the choice turns on price (three full-priced Pearls versus two budget-priced Naxos) and fillers, keeping in mind that a reissue of that Patience may yet turn up on Naxos.
The filler you get on Naxos is a bubbly Pineapple Poll, the ballet score based on music from several G+S operas that the young Charles Mackerras arranged for the Sadler’s Wells Company in 1951. Naxos includes the work’s premiere recording from that year, with Mackerras leading a snappy performance full of fizz and high spirits. The engineering in this work is remarkably fresh; only the monophonic sound tells you it’s more than a half-century old. Also, be advised that the D’Oyly Carte’s recordings didn’t include full dialogue until the 1960s, so if you insist on full dialogue and/or stereo, the 1960 Decca’s the one for you. [8/20/2003]
