The 1927 D'Oyly Carte Trial By Jury

Cast The Learned Judge Leo Sheffield The Plaintiff Winifred Lawson The Defendant Derek Oldham Counsel for the Plaintiff Arthur Hosking Usher George Baker Foreman of the Jury T. Penry Hughes Conductor: Harry Norris Recorded in London, September 20 & 29, 1927

Pearl GEMM 148/9 Leo Sheffield as Judge

Pearl GEMM CDS 9961

"78s 2 CD" GS08

In 1927, D'Oyly Carte and HMV launched a new series of electrical recordings. All three of the sets that began the series—the Mikado, The Gondoliers, and this Trial—have stood the test of time and are among the best ever made.

Surprisingly, while most of the other operas had by now been recorded at least once, this was the Company's first recording of Trial. The main attraction is Leo Sheffield's bouncy, idiomatic Judge, which has probably never been equaled on record.

Overall, if one can tolerate the lesser sound quality of an old recording, this may be the best Trial on record. As shown below, there has been no shortage of re-issues.

[THE GRAMOPHONE, November 1927, (Vol. V); pg. 246]

The Gilbert & Sullivan News December, 1928

This is a set I and, I am sure, hosts of others had been wanting badly for years. Trial by Jury has the unique advantage that it can be recorded as a perfect whole, there being no dialogue, but apart from that contains passages of beauty and of wit that make imperative its inclusion in the collection of Gilbert and Sullivan albums. I still have an old and excellent Columbia record of the Judge's Song by Walter Passmore, which Sheffield's, good as it is, cannot supersede, but there are others for which we have waited in vain, for example the defendant's When first my old, old love I knew.

RCA Victor LCT/WCT 6008

For recording purposes principals of the standing of Derek Oldham and Winifred Lawson are included in the cast, which is all Savoyard — George Baker may be considered an honorary member by now. But I prefer to think of Trial by Jury as a concerted whole rather than a work consisting of separate numbers; "dramatic cantata" is the description on the title page of the libretto. Listening to these records I notice with delight many charming touches from the orchestra and chorus, such as the semi-ecclesiastical greeting to the Judge, that escape notice in the theatre, the more so since there Trial by Jury is but a prepiece to Pinafore or The Pirates. The discerning, however, have always looked upon it as a gem rather than a rag.

It is not worth while mentioning a few small faults, on which opinions will certainly vary; it is better to praise the performance and recording in general, of soloists, ensemble, chorus and orchestra.

N. O. M. C[AMERON].

Sounds on CD VGS 246 [Cover by Matt Bland]

Issue History

Recording Details

Recording Sessions

1. The table above suggests that Trial by Jury was one of the smoother recording projects that the company undertook in the early days. No matrix number has a take number higher than 2, suggesting that every selection was able to be recorded without the need for make-up sessions — a rare occurrence for a D'Oyly Carte set of this period.