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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Introduction | |||
| 2. Click, Clack | |||
| 3. Hobble, Hobble Now We've Caught Her | |||
| 4. Dear Mary Mother | |||
| 5. Who Stands Within? | |||
| 6. Since It Dwelt In That Rock | |||
| 7. The Bell Are Ringing O'er Mirlemont | |||
| 8. My Name Is Crazy Jacqueline | |||
| 9. Orchestral Interlude | |||
| 10. Know Ye All | |||
See all 11 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. With Cards And Dice | |||
| 2. Though She Should Dance | |||
| 3. I Love Thee! | |||
| 4. I'll Tell Them What Thou Wast | |||
| 5. I Would See A Maid | |||
| 6. Haste Thee! Haste Thee! | |||
| 7. There He Stands, That Lord Ye Knew | |||
| 8. An Hour Agon 'Twas The Moon That Shone | |||
| 9. Why Dost Thou Sigh And Moan? | |||
| 10. Mine, Mine At Last | |||
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See all 13 tracks on this disc
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Anyone expecting THE BEAUTY STONE to be a typical Savoy Opera will be in for a shock. First produced in 1898 at the Savoy Theatre, Richard D'Oyly Carte had to import two opera singers to play the roles of Lord Philip of Mirlemont and the Lady Saida at greatly increased salaries and this, combined with increased chorus greatly inflated the expenses. The storyline is very strong as one would expect from such a luminary as Arthur Wing Pinero (Trelawney of the Wells, The Magistrate, etc), but the dialogue was, to say the least, over-wordy, and despite advice during the gestation period Pinero refused to cut a single word. When the piece at last came to the stage, the playwrite realised (too late) that the advice had been sound. The libretto was revised, but this revision never reached the stage as THE BEAUTY STONE closed after just 50 performances. The lyrics were by the poet Joseph Comyns-Carr, and their complexity was to cause Sullivan a great deal of hard work but undoubtedly drew forth some of the composer's most beautiful music.
There were very few amateur performances after 1898, but in 1996 Generally G & S (a society based in Retford, Nottinghamshire) gave six performances. The spoken dialogue was replaced by rhyming couplets in the style of a miracle play (written by David Eden) but the music was left intact allowing it to speak for itself. This was a revelation, here was a grand romantic opera of great beauty, well worthy of the opinion of members of the original Savoy orchestra passed down over the years that of all Sullivan's compositions for the theatre, this was the one most worthy of revival.
The present (and only) recording by the Prince Consort, originally appeared on L.P. and has now been digitally re-mastered for CD.
The members of the company do their best with a difficult score, but the conducting is lack-luster and the pace is frequently too slow. The part of the Devil is a problematic one - here it is sung by a bass and to me it strikes as a bit too dark. At Retford the part was taken by a patter baritone (as indeed Walter Passmore, the original Devil, was), and that feels in some way too light. The only professional recording of music from BEAUTY STONE presents Richard Suart in the role and this feels more natural.
The great showpieces for Saida ('Tho she should dance' and 'Mine, mine at last') are well sung but again there is something lacking and even the duet 'My name is crazy Jacqueline' fails to sparkle as it can.
All this said, this is the only full recording of the opera available as should be in the collection of any lover of the music of Sullivan or, indeed, any lover of British opera.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
This is a brilliant work, a well-hidden jewel (or stone!) in Sullivan's crown, musically more profound than any of the Gilbert stage works and certainly superior to the recently recorded Ivanhoe. Any recording is therefore welcome. It has to be said, however, that the variable standard of performers does not do the work justice. Prince Consort is/was a group of semi-professional singers based in Edinburgh. Director Alan Borthwick cast himself as principal tenor Lord Philip and his wife (or mother or sister, some female relative anyway) in the part of Jacqueline. Entirely understandable as they were presumably organising the event but neither could be described as pleasant to listen to. Some others are similarly underwhelming, although the singers portraying Simon, the Devil, Saida and Laine all do their roles justice. The chorus are pretty good too.
As at January 2011 the Sullivan Society are hoping to get together a professional recording of this superb work. It is to be hoped they succeed. In the meantime, buy this recording.
As at January 2011 the Sullivan Society are hoping to get together a professional recording of this superb work. It is to be hoped they succeed. In the meantime, buy this recording.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
The Best Available Recording
28 Mar 2003
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.
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.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
spares the rod...
25 April 2003
Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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.
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