The 1933 HMV Sorcerer [abridged]
Conductor: Isidore Godfrey
Recorded in London, |
|
Sounds on CD VGS 247 [Cover by Matt Bland] |
The Sorcerer is considered one of the lesser G&S operas today, but it was one of the key early works that got the famous partnership off to a strong start. After the unexpected smash-hit success of Trial By Jury in 1875, Gilbert and Sullivan were commissioned to write a full-length comic opera, and The Sorcerer was the result. Had it failed, it is likely the partnership would have ended right there. It was also the first of the full-length operas to be revived (1884), and one of the first to have a second revival (1898).
In the twentieth century, however, the opera gradually declined in popularity. After 1900, it was out of the repertory until 1916. Then, it was performed in all but one season through 1924. After five more years' absence, it was performed intermittently from 1929 to 1934, then twice each in 1938 and 1939. It then completely disappeared from the D'Oyly Carte repertory and did not return again until 1971.
Neither of the two complete recordings (1953 and 1966) was made at a time when the opera was in the repertory. This set, albeit incomplete, was made during the 1933-34 season, when the opera was still active, and it included many of the same cast members as the D'Oyly Carte production of the time. It is thus the only recording that can claim a connection with performers who knew the opera from stage experience. Since this was the Company's first recording of the opera, it is regrettable that the entire work was not recorded. Likely, the raging depression coupled with the opera's relative lack of popularity made a complete set economically infeasible.
This recording marked the end of an era, in that The Sorcerer was the last new opera to be issued on electrical 78RPM records. (Only one other electrical set was made, and that was a remake of The Mikado.) It was also the beginning of an era, in that it was the first G&S recording to be conducted by Isidore Godfrey, who would lead nearly every D'Oyly Carte recording hereafter, through the end of the 1960s.
As shown below, this recording has enjoyed several re-issues, not only because of its historical importance, but also because it's short enough to be a filler item on a two-disc set.
Review from The Gramophone, 1934
Date | Label | Format | Number | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
1933 | HMV | 78rpm (10") | B8054/9 in Album 193 |
Manual side couplings |
June 1934 | RCA Victor | 78rpm (10") | 4258/63 in Album C-21 |
Manual side couplings |
4264/9 in Album AC-21 |
Slide auto side couplings | |||
1940? | HMV | 78rpm (10") | B7018/23 | Drop auto side couplings |
1940 | RCA Victor | 78rpm (10") | 5303/8 in Album DC-21 | |
1981 | Arabesque | LP | 8068-2L | with 1929 Pirates |
1981? | Arabesque | Cassette | 9068-2L | |
1982 | EMI/World Records | LP | SHB 75 | |
1986 | Arabesque | CD | Z8068-2 | |
1993 | Pearl | CD | GEMM CDS 9025 | with 1926 Mikado |
2001 | 78s 2 CD | CD | GS19 | Also includes 1928 HMV Yeomen |
2003 | Sounds on CD | CD | VGS 247 | Includes four HMV abridged sets: 1931 Pirates, 1931 Yeomen, 1931 Gondoliers, and 1933 Sorcerer |
2003 | 78s2CD | CD | GS22 | Includes four HMV abridged sets: 1931 Pirates, 1931 Yeomen, 1931 Gondoliers, and 1933 Sorcerer |
Side Nbr | Matrix Number |
Selection | Rec. Date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 0B5074-1 | Ring forth, ye bells | 13 Sep 33 |
2 | 0B5078-2 | The air is charged with amatory numbers | 13 Sep 33 |
3 | 0B5069-2 | My kindly friends, I thank you for this greeting | 12 Sep 33 |
4 | 0B5071-1 | Welcome joy, adieu to sadness | 12 Sep 33 |
5 | 0B5068-2 | All is prepared for sealing and for signing | 12 Sep 33 |
6 | 0B5073-1 | My name is John Wellington Wells | 12 Sep 33 |
7 | 0B5075-2 | Sprites of earth and air | 13 Sep 33 |
8 | 0B5070-2 | Be happy all—the feast is spread before ye | 12 Sep 33 |
9 | 0B5079-2 | Thou has the power | 13 Sep 33 |
10 | 0B5076-1 | I rejoice that it's decided | 13 Sep 33 |
11 | 0B5072-1 | Oh, I have wrought much evil with my spells | 12 Sep 33 |
12 | 0B5077-1 | Oh, joyous boon! Oh, mad delight! | 13 Sep 33 |
Side Nbr | Matrix Number |
Selection | Rec. Date |
---|---|---|---|
5 | 0B5068-2 | All is prepared for sealing and for signing | 12 Sep 33 |
3 | 0B5069-2 | My kindly friends, I thank you for this greeting | 12 Sep 33 |
8 | 0B5070-2 | Be happy all—the feast is spread before ye | 12 Sep 33 |
4 | 0B5071-1 | Welcome joy, adieu to sadness | 12 Sep 33 |
11 | 0B5072-1 | Oh, I have wrought much evil with my spells | 12 Sep 33 |
6 | 0B5073-1 | My name is John Wellington Wells | 12 Sep 33 |
1 | 0B5074-1 | Ring forth, ye bells | 13 Sep 33 |
7 | 0B5075-2 | Sprites of earth and air | 13 Sep 33 |
10 | 0B5076-1 | I rejoice that it's decided | 13 Sep 33 |
12 | 0B5077-1 | Oh, joyous boon! Oh, mad delight! | 13 Sep 33 |
2 | 0B5078-2 | The air is charged with amatory numbers | 13 Sep 33 |
9 | 0B5079-2 | Thou has the power | 13 Sep 33 |
Notes:
- The table above presents the sides in the order recorded. This is the most straightforward recording schedule for any HMV G&S set of the period. The entire recording was made on two consecutive days, with no make-up session required for retakes, and no published side requiring more than two takes. The only other HMV G&S sets of the period for which this was true were the 1927 Trial by Jury and the 1931 Yeomen.
- Side 6 was issued on EMI's A Tribute to George Baker.