The Michael Sammes Yeomen (1966)
Mary Thomas, soprano
The Michael Sammes Singers |
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Michael Sammes made numberous recordings in the 1960s of highlights from musicals and operettas. His G&S output includes highlights discs from six individula operas, plus a Best of Gilbert and Sullivan disc presenting the best of the series on one record. The singers are not credited with specific roles.
All the Michael Sammes recordings feature new instrumental arrangements, which seem especially offensive for an opera like Yeomen, where Sullivan's consummate skill as an orchestrator was at its zenith. The first selection listed on the record is the overture, but in fact, only a few bars of it are given before an awkward modulation into Phoebe's opening number; "When a wooer goes a wooing" strikes me as an odd way to end the album. The singing here is competent, but unmemorable.
Selections are as follows:
Side 1 | Side 2 |
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Date | Label | Format | Number | Comments |
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1966 | WING (Philips) | Stereo LP | WL-1114 | |
1967-8? | Fontana | Stereo LP | SFL-13034 | |
197-? | Philips International | Stereo LP | 6625 006 [U.K.] | Two-record set, "G&S Extravaganza, Vol. 2," including the Michael Sammes Gondoliers and Yeomen |
6641 242 [Australia] |