Sullivan, A: The Sorcerer Overture

In a high-spirited romp that irresistibly parodies the dramatic and musical gestures of Italian grand opera, The Pirates of Penzance tells the story of Frederic, apprenticed in error to a shipload of good-natured buccaneers. Famously featuring a loquacious major general and an ineffectual police squad, the operetta received its premiere in New York in 1879, thus pre-empting any ‘pirate’ American productions of the kind that followed the London success of its maritime predecessor, HMS Pinafore.

Recordings: Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London, UK, July 1962 (Ruddigore), April 1964 (The Yeomen of the Guard); Watford Town Hall, Watford, UK, August 1959 (H.M.S. Pinafore), September 1960 (Iolanthe, The Gondoliers), September 1961 (Patience); Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, UK, May 1965 (Princess Ida), February 1966 (The Sorcerer), December 1967 (The Pirates of Penzance), January 1969 (Choruses), January 1973 (The Mikado), June 1974 (Macbeth), July 1975 (Utopia Limited), March 1976 (The Grand Duke); Kingsway Hall, London, UK, January 1961 (Cox and Box), November 1982 (Overture di Ballo); Whitfield Street Studios, London, UK, February 1977 (Marmion)

In 2011 Decca Eloquence will commence on a series of G&S operetta highlights discs. By way of an ‘overture’, here’s a 2CD set of Overtures from the D’Oyly Carte recordings made over several years by Decca, together with some of Sullivan’s ‘concert overtures’ – Macbeth, Marmion and Di Ballo. Also included is an extremely rare 1969 Decca recording of Sullivan Choruses conducted by James Walker, better known in musical circles as one of Decca’s key recording engineers, but an ardent G&S fan. It receives its first release on Decca CD. A perfect introduction to the set pieces and patter songs in orchestral guise.