Recordings of Pineapple Poll

Pineapple Poll Ballet (1951) Sadler's Wells Orchestra Charles Mackerras, conductor This was Charles Mackerras's first recording of Pineapple Poll. I have not heard this recording.

Regis RRC2049

Correspondent Malcolm Walker reports that this recording was made 27-29 April 1951 in EMI No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road, London, on matrix numbers: 2EA 15822-33. The recording was made for and issued only by RCA in the USA.

Correspondent Malcolm Walker reports that this recording was made 28 August 1951 in EMI No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road, London, on matrix numbers CXE 13563-68. The recording was made by Parlophone but issued only by Decca in the USA.

Pineapple Poll Ballet (1958) Pro Arte Orchestra John Hollingsworth, conductor This has been the most popular of the Pineapple Poll recordings, aside from those led by Mackerras himself. It is a credible reading of the score, though most listeners will prefer a Mackerras-led version. (Note: I am somewhat doubtful that the label and number of the first release are accurate, since I don't think the Pye label existed in 1958.)

Pye Collector GSGC 15023

Pye EP

Vanguard SRV-292 SD

Pye PLP 1012

This arrangement by W. J. Duthoit includes four movements from the original Pineapple Poll ballet. Also included are various other non-Sullivan ballets arranged for band. According to Nathan Chan, although this was recorded in 1959, "the Golden Import pressings are later and are not as good."

This was Mackerras's second recording of the score. Mackerras's interpretation of the work has remained consistent over the years, so modern listeners will probably prefer his sonically-superior 1983 recording.

World Record Club R. 04177

EMI CDM5 66538 2

The video in my collection was recorded off the air in the 1980s when it was shown on the Bravo cable network (and introduced by Rita Moreno). I take the performance to date from the 1970s, but this is only a guess. The Cranko/Lancaster mounting is the original production from 1951. My impression is that Sadler's Wells no longer performs it very often, if at all. I am not aware of any home video release.

EMI 767 697 2

This recording includes a suite from Pineapple Poll (eight of the eleven numbers), allowing room for a suite from the ballet The Lady and the Fool, also arranged by Mackerras, from music of Verdi. Ironically, the Verdi material diminishes one's measure of Mackerras's achievement in Pineapple Poll, as the two pieces sound extremely similar, which suggests that Mackerras is not the master orchestrator many G&S fans have given him credit for. His arrangement of The Lady and the Fool suggests nothing of the style of Verdi.

Decca SXDL 7619

This is Mackerras's most recent recording of the score, and the one listeners today are most likely to encounter, due to its reissuance on CD coupled with the 1965 Ida. Interestingly, the timing of this version comes within just a few seconds of Mackerras's 1962 reading, so evidently his views on the score have remained remarkably constant.

This is an abridged version of the score, presenting only the Opening Number, Poll's Dance, and the Finale. It appears on a disc called "Concert in the Park." The remainder of the disc is non-Sullivan. Bob Lang, who told me about it, speculates that it was "probably the musical part of a TV special."

Alfred Falk begged to differ: "It was, I am quite certain, a studio recording with no other purpose than future release as recorded music. I believe the Edmonton Wind Ensemble existed only for a few studio sessions and some earlier special events. 'Snake Fence Country' was released several years later by CBC, from the same sessions. Pinchin's credentials in G&S are that he was conductor of the G&S Society of Calgary, Alberta, from the mid-50's to the laste 60's (I think). Mostly, he has conducted amateur community bands for the last twenty years."