Cheap Gilbert & Sullivan - Master Collection (Opera World) (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Gilbert & Sullivan - Master Collection (Opera World)

A Great Disappointment
I purchased the Favorites Collection from the same series, which contains most of the DVDs included in the Master Collection. Let me start by saying 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 because it is usually my favorite and was so horribly wrecked here. But the other productions in the series are no better. The choreography is consistently overwrought to the point of being downright silly. The singing, while at times good, is generally uneven. Spoken lines often are poorly delivered. The series was taped in 1982. It shows its age, and not only from the silly looking, big 70s-80s hair on all the men. The camera work is awkward, the sets invariably cheesy. In one scene in Pirates of Penzance, the camera rises from behind a potted plant in an effect reminiscent of early public access cable television. I could go on, and really I'd like to find something positive to say, but I do so love G&S, whose work here is turned into something so bad it's difficult to watch. I was going to sell my boxed set and the extra DVDs I purchased, but I would not inflict them on someone else. Save your money and invest in some of the excellent audio versions that are out there.

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Revisiting after twenty years
The medium of film allows the director the freedom to move in and out of fairyland, inside the Tower of London, from a Japanese Market Place into a Japanese Garden, around the village of Rederring and along the waterways of Venice. <
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>This set of films is a remarkable achievement in many ways. The Brent Walker Organisation announced these recordings back in the early 80's and for a time it was intended to film the stage presentations of the old D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. However, with yet another refusal by the British Arts Council to inject funds into that organisation, (they never did provide any funds although many labour under the misconception that they did), the company had to disband and George Walker had to re-think. <
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>10 operas are presented in this magnificent boxed set (12 in the recent UK release), the 10 Gilbert and Sullivan works from THE SORCERER (1877) to GONDOLIERS (1889) sadly UTOPIA and GRAND DUKE were missed out and of course THESPIS still eludes re-discovery. At the heart of these films is Alexander Faris (himself a guest conductor at D'Oyly Carte from time to time) and he undoubtedly draws some magnificent performances from the London Symphony Orchestra and the Ambrosian Opera Chorus. These performances are all the more enjoyable now as the digital re-mastering (at lease in the UK release) has not only enhanced the magnificent picture quality, but has provided the soundtracks in three different stereo formats. <
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>The one real sadness of the series is the production of YEOMEN. Not only do the producers advance the action to the time of Charles I (making the costumes for the Yeomen themselves rather less spectacular and somewhat dowdy), but there are numerous cuts; Phoebe loses the 1st verse of her opening number, the act one trio and Fairfax's ballad are both missing, Fairfax's act two ballad, "Strange Adventure", "When a wooer goes a-wooing" and "Rapture, rapture" are absent. The excuse for this was that the piece needed to run no longer than two hours for the purposes of television broadcast, and yet when it was first broadcast in the UK on the BBC, much of the missing material was present. Strange too that, although not the longest of the works, none of the other operas in the series suffer cuts of a similar magnitude. <
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>Some of the productions that seemed so unacceptable in 1982, now are quite charming, once you get past some of the so-called "star" performers. Frankie Howerd is dreadful as Sir Joseph (PINAFORE) but quite charming as the Learned Judge (TRIAL)(one of the works not present in the US release). He is not helped by Peter Marshall who is particularly weak as Captain Corcoran. The production of PRINCESS IDA seems now quite delightful as a play within a play and even Frank Gorshin as King Gama is really quite acceptable, whilst the quality of the musical production, now fully revealed, is stunning. Keith Michell, more associated with the musical comedy repertoire, makes a very good job of Major-General Stanley, Robin Oakapple and Don Alhambra. Joel Gray's American accent grates somewhat on the UK ear in the role of Jack Point but it cannot be denied that he does give an excellent performance. <
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>The gems of this series have to be COX AND BOX (not present in the US set but presented in its full-length 1866/7 version), THE SORCERER and PATIENCE (the latter taken almost entirely from the English National Opera production. Ex-D'Oyly Carte performer Donald Adams makes an invaluable contribution to SORCERER, PATIENCE and RUDDIGORE. It is a pity that his MIKADO was not preserved, but William Conrad (Cannon) gives a surprisingly good performance in the role. <
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>Sadly, no attempt has been made to credit singers who were missed in the credits on the sleeves of the original tapes. For example, I still don't know who plays the Notary in SORCERER or Tolloller in IOLANTHE, they may be named in the end credits, but I never seem to get to watch them. <
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>Each DVD (in the UK release) comes with a copy of the 'production' libretto, missing out the dialogue but giving all the lyrics. One is able to skip the dreadful (and frequently inaccurate and patronising) introductions by Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, there are bonus features about the making of some of the films, picture galleries, and the ability on each DVD to play the musical numbers as if they were a CD (UK, don't know about US release), allowing you to hear the music in the new glorious stereo without the dialogue or the picture. <
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>All in all, twenty years on, this series comes into its own. Anyone who owns the original VHS/NTSC tapes, I would urge you to ditch them and buy this set as a replacement . After all, it is currently the only way to own 10 Gilbert and Sullivan Operas on film. <
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>The UK release is available from www.amazon.co.uk in Region 2 format, so is playable on multiregion DVD players. The cost (depends on the exchange rate) and the catalouge number in the UK is DVD 8228651-11. <
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An inconsistent series (the stars are for The Mikado only!)
Refer to the previous reviews that actually review instead of talking about their feelings, and my opinions are similar. I disagree, however, with the estimation of the main reviewer. The Opera World version of The Mikado is one of the picks of that series. Not only do we have excellent casting in most of the named parts (except for William Conrad who manages to only barely hold on to the tune!). Every time I watch, I catch another little nuance in facial expressions (watch Peep Bo). And the glorious voices of Nanki-Poo and Yum Yum! If I could find any thing else with Mr. Stewart's voice I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.