A Gilbert and Sullivan Spectacular (1965)

John Reed (Sir Joseph, Major-General, Ko-Ko) Phillip Potter (Nanki-Poo) Alan Styler (Captain Corcoran) Kenneth Sandford (Pooh-Bah) Donald Adams (Mikado, Sergeant of Police, Sir Roderic) Anthony Raffell (Samuel) Valerie Masterson (Mabel, Yum-Yum) Ann Hood (Edith) Peggy Ann Jones (Peep-Bo) Pauline Wales (Hebe, Pitti-Sing) Christene Palmer (Buttercup, Dame Hannah) D'Oyly Carte Opera Company Chorus Master: James Walker Conductor: Sir Malcolm Sargent Recorded at Decca Studios, West Hampstead 3–4 December 1965

London SPC-21010

This recording of concerted highlights features a number of D'Oyly Carte stars in roles they either never recorded elsewhere, or never played at all, with the Company. Just why it was made is unclear, though one story is that it was a celebration of Sir Malcolm Sargent's anniversary with the Company.

This recording was one of two G&S albums that featured Decca's "Phase 4" sound—a kind of enhanced stereo. (A fuller explanation of Phase 4 is provided separately.) Whereas Decca's other Phase 4 G&S effort, the 1971 Pinafore, went wild with sound effects that most listeners detested, this highlights disc represented the technology at its best. Get this one, if you can find it; or, buy the re-issue on Sounds on CD.

Side 1

Pinafore: Overture
Pinafore: "We sail the ocean blue" (Men's Chorus)
Pirates: "Hold, monsters" (Masterson, Raffell, Reed)
Pirates: "I am the very model of a modern Major-General" (Reed)
Mikado: "Three little maids" (Masterson, Jones, Wales)
Pirates: "With cat-like tread" (Raffell and Chorus)
Mikado: "On a tree by a river" (Reed)
Mikado: "The flowers that bloom in the spring" (Potter, Reed, Masterson, Wales, Sandford) Pinafore: "My gallant crew, good morning" (Styler and Chorus)

Side 2

Pinafore: "I am the monarch of the sea" (Styler, Reed, Wales and Chorus)
Pinafore: "When I was a lad" (Reed and Chorus)
Mikado: "A wandering minstrel" (Potter and Chorus)
Mikado: "A more humane Mikado" (Adams and Chorus)
Pirates: "When the foeman bares his steel" (Adams, Masterson, Hood and Chorus)
Ruddigore: "There grew a little flower" (Palmer, Adams)
Pinafore: Finale (Reed, Styler, Palmer and Chorus)

Notes:

The Decca CD re-issue of the 1971 Pinafore (no longer in print) included the non-Pinafore selections from this album.

The Contour release of 1981 is titled "Highlights from Gilbert and Sullivan," although the content is the same.