Search - Sullivan, Prince Consort, Lyle :: Beauty Stone

Spares the rod...

Brett Farrell | Cape May, NJ USA | 04/25/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I agree with the over all review given prior, except with the amount of stars giving. Because this is the only recording available is not a good reason to give anything above a two. The poor quality of the recording and the generally poor quality of the preformance are often painfull to listen to.
I consider myself a great fan of Sir Arthur Sullivan's music and have yet to hear a piece that I didn't like as long as it is preformed well and the sound quality is decent and this album falls short on both counts.
Sadly many who listen to this cd will be listening to this opera for the first time and turned off from it for all the wrong reasons.
If you wish to buy this cd to simply own all of Sullivans works on disk than buy it but if you wish to own it for listening enjoyment than save your pennies."

The Best Available Recording

Strephon | Montana, USA | 03/28/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a semi-professional live recording of a forgotten opera by Sir Arthur Sullivan (Of Gilbert and Sullivan). The music itself is tragic and lovely, but this recording has a hard time handling the complex songs.



Disc 1 sees some sloppy orchestra work over many of the songs except the first and best two "Click Clack" and "Hobble, Hobble Now We've Caught Her", which are very eerie and set the mood rather well. When Sullivan takes a lighter turn later in the act with songs of a comic nature with "Since It Dwelt In That Rock" and "My Name is Crazy Jacqueline" the performers find the music very difficult and it shows. The Devil, played by Richard Burjo is good, but the orchestra sometimes hinders his performance. Jacqueline, played by Jane Borthwick on this live recording, has a hard time dancing and singing a speedy tune at the same time.



The Act One Finale varies in quality severely with certain performers. The contestants of the beauty pageant and the burgomaster perform better than many of the leads, and the orchestra struggles with many passages. Act Two sees the Prince Consort improve their quality, with only the ocassional sloppy playing.



Mary Timmons is a wonderful singer and plays Laine Limal. Her "An Hour Agone Twas the Moon That Shone" is beautiful. Margaret Leask and Ivor Klayman as Joan and Simon are also good, but when they sing in the ensembles, as they do in "Haste Thee" every singer seems to go off in seperate directions vocally with little concern for blending.



The star of the show is the talented Margaret Aronson as the tragic Saida. Her recetatives with the devil and her musical outbursts hold everything together. "Though She Should Dance" and "Ride On" are terrific, and sadly historically forgotten, arias. She is the best performer on the recording.



Alan Borthwick, as the lead Prince Philip, has a very powerful and unique voice, but he scoops to the high notes, which is often distracting. His involvement in dramatically portraying the charcter is always apparent and he makes up for in gusto where the lyrics leave us scratching our heads in puzzlement.



A true professional recording would be very pleasant, but until that day, this is the only recording to choose from, which is why I rate it at three stars, because if there was something to compare it to, it would invariably lose out.



The music is really good, the lyrics are a dubious mix of psuedo old english and heartbreaking poetry, and the performers and orchestra have a hard time keeping it all together."