I was the piccolo player in this, Not a scratch band but the touring orchestra, augmented by extra strings as normal for London. Many happy memories, and amazing to hear myself aged 23, almost 50 years later. A great tradition, sadly lost.
Sadly, the cost of hiring a well-rounded pit orchestra these days is prohibitive, and theatres are being squeezed financially as hard as any entertainment venue, in the post-covid era. Productions like this are indeed a gem, captured in time.
It was a tragedy that the D'oyly Carte was allowed to become defunct. It was one of the great British institutions. Can you imagine the French allowing this to happen to part of their culture. All the wonderful costumes were dispersed and sold off. The scenery destroyed. The great company of singers a couple of whom I knew scattered. I remember seeing this production of Pinafore with John Reed in about 1964. It was marvellous.
@@webz3589 It's bloodless though. Too far in the other direction. I recall reading about US theater festivals that didn't want to book them because of the museum-like quality of the productions. It's spotless but almost preserved in amber.
@@tomshea8382 I mean to be fair Americans are known for their love of shallow glitz and camp. Buttercup on this particular performance leaves alot to be desired.
Cast Sir Joseph Porter - John Reed Captain Corcoran - Michael Rayner Ralph Rackstraw - Malcolm Williams Dick Deadeye. - John Ayldon Bill Bobstay - Jon Ellison Bob Becket - John Broad Josephine - Pamela Field Little Buttercup - Lyndsie Holland Hebe - Pauline Wales with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and conductor, Royston Nash
I played the part of the mishipman in a production of this operetta 59 years ago......... with all the rehearsals, I can still now sing this operetta through. AI'm old though, so cracked voice. Don't care.
Nostalgia off-the-charts for me. I took a huge interest in my dad's GS records as a kid and my mum let me stay home from school one day when this version of Pinafore came on TV during a weekday. It was the first time I had seen, not just heard, GS. Almost 50 years later, my fandom has only grown.
Same here. My introduction was a vinyl 33 record of Martin Green patter songs (given to me by Santa). I'm now 80, and I still tear up in happiness whenever I hear something G&S or read a G&S quote someplace. My absolute favorite performance is Australian Opera's Patience.
I have loved G&S since I was a child. My father was in a production of The Mikado in high school, so we had a record with all the famous songs from the different operettas that I enjoyed listening to. We also went to the productions that the Northwestern University (Illinois) put on every year. I just finished a book entitled Gilbert and Sullivan: A Biography, by Hesketh Pearson. Fascinating details about their personalities, quarrels, and fame.
My introduction was 'The Wonderful World of Music Children' a box (book actually) vinyl record set from Readers Digest. It contained a selection of songs from HMS Pin.
Pamela Field's and Malcolm William's beautiful singing, at ease with their high notes, and John Reed's comic act and skill with the 'patter' render this the ultimate of all PINAFORE performances of all time. The uniforms are accurate to 1879. How we miss G&S and especially D'Oyly Carte productions. But at least this treasure remains!
Saw this production live in 1973 featuring John Reed. Magnificent. The quality of the voices, the underplaying. D`oyly Carte was so splendid. I miss it so. Gilbert and Sullivan wrote satire. You don`t have to camp it up. When you camp it up it becomes farce. I think I mentioned this elsewhere on RU-vid but I used to follow around the troupe during the month annually I would spent in the UK. I used to follow it around and was intercepted on one occasion by the great John Reed himself when I was having a coffee in the bar before the show. `You here again?` `Yes I am..I love the shows. And you`re so good!` And he is.
I must have seen it live at the same time. I remember having my French O Level oral exam in 1973 and the examiner saying "what are you planning to do this evening?" (in French...and it wasn't a proposition!) and me replying that I was going to the theatre. Inevitably he asked what I was going to see and I got myself into all sorts of knots trying to describe G&S and 'Pinafore' in my stuttering French! Anyway, I passed so it can't have been that bad. I have very happy memories of going with my parents to the Grand Theatre in Leeds whenever the D'Oyly Carte were appearing in the Seventies. John Reed live was something else...and, of course, the rest of the company were excellent. Such a treat to find them on RU-vid.
@@sallyhuxley8947 A treat to watch Sir Martyn Green whom I never did see in person (he was on the way out when I began attending the shows). But John Reed was something else. So thin. So lithe. So English. Never minded making a fool of himself. I love G&S done the way it is intended and not trumped up to fit someone else`s political agenda. By the way are you related ot Aldous? I almost got to meet Laura in LA but sadly did not. The great prognosticators Huxley, Orwell, and the others. So prescient. So brilliant. So English. Best of luck!
@@sandrashevey8252 No relation I'm afraid; at least that's what my husband tells me, though his sister is also Laura! Orwell et al would doubtless be bemused by the present state of the world but not surprised. I guess G&S's amusing, yet subtle, digs at politics and society are very English. You sometimes have to interpret the finer points for yourself to get the full flavour (that's a generalisation on Englishness, not just G&S!). I find myself quoting Sir Joseph Porter quite a lot these days when observing our current government '...and I never thought of thinking for myself at all...' etc! D'Oyly Carte were certainly the best. What an honour for you to be recognised by John Reed though - I think he loved recognition, and deservedly so.
I first saw HMS Pinafore in 1973 as well!!!!! It wasn't this production though. It was at a Secondary School I was going to go to. It was The Mount School in Milespit Hill, Mill Hill, London, NW7. I was very happy at that School, it was the School I was at for the longest. I TOTALLY FELL IN LOVE WITH HMS PINAFORE, AND G&S ALTOGETHER. It's "out of this world." The words, songs and tunes are so cleverly put together, and very catchy as well.
A must for all who recall the D'Oyly Carte productons. Top quality performances and settings. Glorious vocal projection that makes listening s rich pleasure. RU-vid has so much for us to be grateful for.
I was Fleta in 1973 @ Smithfield High School Senior Year) & I was chosen to do the 3rd set. Per the Boston opera that attended our presentation. I was only 17 years old and now I'm 67 & still remember my lines etc... Amazing...I loved it~~~Thank you Mr. Robert Cleasby our chores teacher. Who to this day still keeps in touch with us all... Some of us went on to New York... Like James Lawton....
So pleased to see five encores for ‘Never mind the why and wherefore’ - I was a regular in the upper circle at Sadlers Wells in the 1970’s and one of the great joys was coaxing yet another encore out of John Reed, Ken Sandford et al (not that they needed much persuading). Good to see the incomparable John Reed as Sir Joseph, as not long afterwards he dropped the role from his repertoire. All in all, a wonderful nostalgia trip - but have to remember that the audience would have been going home to a miners’ strike and a three-day-week!
My grandmother gave me a Panasonic cassette player and a tape of this production. I wore it out three times listening to it... She kept making replacement tapes for me. I was 8 years old. This was my gateway into classical music. I did not understand the plot, but the music made such perfect sense to me.
As an American I greatly appreciate this! English pride is on display, distinguished English gravitas, distinctively British! I will watch Terrance McNally's Ragtime to end my night.
Oh rapture, what a gift!! Have not seen this since the late '80's or early '90's and then it was just the short version. Bless you for posting this! RIP John Ayldon, Michael Rayner, John Reed and all the rest, lovely to see them all again!
Thank you for your lovely comments. It is a pleasure to share and preserve such an iconic video.I don't ever want to make profit from posting my videos -purely to ensure their longevity and give pleasure to those who appreciate them. x
And a wonderful reference point from the original 1873 production .Of course -of its time-but a bow to the precision and tradition that we can all learn from as our "rock".xx
Thanks for posting. It's great that there's a visual recording of this and viewers should note that it's not really a movie but an archive of a stage show.
As a child back in the 1950s, G&S was regular fodder of our local am dram musicals and we would all go as a family to see them twice a year. Can you imagine taking modern children to watch these ?? We loved them as a special night out - magic sets and costumes, but family nights out were very rare in the 1950s in the UK, when money was so tight after the war. A meal out once or twice a year on Bank holidays, 2 or at most 3 sets of clothes, a pair of winter shoes and summer sandals with the flower cut out on the toes !!! They were hard times and any entertainment was so appreciated. I was in Devon in the Uk, often one telephone per road and TV ??? not till 1957 !
The soprano singing Josephine is Pamela Field, who also sang many of the principal soprano roles in the Centenary Season of 'Trial By Jury' at the Savoy, beginning on March the 25th, 1975. The two-week Season involved one performance of each opera for one night in chronological sequence, [with the exception of 'Trial' which on the first three nights preceded 'The Sorcerer', 'H.M.S. Pinafore' and 'Pirates',] and on the penultimate night included her wonderful re-creation of the role of Princess Zara in 'Utopia, Ltd.' which I was privileged to hear in the Savoy Theatre both in rehearsal and in subsequently at the celebratory performance shortly thereafter.
I hate to say it, but hitting the notes, also the high ones, was normal in those days . Basic skill . Expected of every house soprano, even at Sadler's Wells. After all, the likes of J Sutherland were singing at Covent Garden regularly at that time too. People expected sopranos to hit all the notes AS WELL AS being able to be heard in the back row of the gods. It was unremarkable. Now .... 😭...well. And that fabulous contralto 😱 ... wow! Her type are now completely extinct.
@@robertwhittaker5477 Thank you very much indeed for that fascinating information. I heard her only that once, but she was certainly a very fine soprano in the English style. I wonder whether you know the name of the contralto singing Buttercup here? Again, thanks.
@@theon9575 Yes I do. This is Lyndsie Holland who sang the principal contralto roles with the company for many years and who - like Pamela Field did as soprano - sang those roles in the Centenary season at the Savoy and the Royal Festival Hall in 1975. During that season she re-created the roles of Lady Sophie in the full new production of "Utopia, Ltd." and of the Baroness von Krakenfeldt in the concert performance of "The Grand Duke" which was the final evening of the fortnight at the Savoy. She can be heard in both of those roles in the recordings of each of the two operas by the old company which are still available. Sadly she died in 2014, but is still fondly remembered.
The very best! I saw the company’s last US tour in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl. I saw Pirates, Mikado and their final night where they mix everything up. I was 17 yrs old and to this day a devoted G&S lover who knows every line like countless others. A miracle to have this legacy on film for future generations.
I had this version, which I view as the best one by far, on a VHS which I lost after a friend of mine had by accident recorded some thing else on it. So I was delighted to have it available on youtube. This version by D'oyly Carte is no longer to be found on the market. Many thanks to youtube.
When you see and hear the standard of this performance you realise what a cruel decision it was for the Arts Council to take away the D'Oyly Carte's subsidy and bring about the closure of the company a few years later. I saw The Sorcerer in their last season with a very good cast. There is some fine singing in this Pinafore and impressive chorus work.
How I wish I could have seen Kenneth Sandford as Dr. Daly. I've read that for that last season John Ayldon dropped the role of Sir Marmaduke and it was taken over by Clive Harre.
I was happy to find this, I have a videotape of this production, Mr John Reed was kind enough to autograph it for me several decades ago. Such a kind and talented man. I was able to see him live on Stage many times.
Could anyone else look as dapper as John Reed here? His costume is impossibly well fitted. And in addition he's a marvelous physical actor. I've so admired him for many years, and seen him perform live a few times.
Thank you so much for posting this performance. While it is a good thing any time a G&S opera is staged, it is important that we are able to have access to paradigmatic productions like this one.
I'm so old that I actually saw this production at Sadlers Wells in 1973! Thank you so very much for posting this to freshen my treasured memory of it. I am, however, disappointed that you didn't think the names of the fine singers were worth mentioning.
@@penguinlegs1236 It was a Saturday matinee, and I was a young man of 23 years. I can scarcely believe that was 50 years ago 😱. This D'Oyly Carte memory is a good example of why I reckon I lived in the best of times. We took the quality of singing quite for granted in those times. Although I'm old and my life will end soon, experiences like this and so much else in musical London in those times mean I'm happy that I'm 73 and not 23 now. I feel sorry for young people these days, though luckily they know not what they're missing. Your own story of this as your unforgettable first night at the theatre as a 5 year-old is perfect. ❤
I first saw Pinafore at Golders Green Hippodrome in 1957. I was 8. The babysitter had let my parents down at the last minute. After that, I always went with them whether it was GGH or Sadlers Wells and saw all the operettas many times. I remember the night that Peter Pratt was indisposed and John Reed stepped in. Our dismay soon turned to delight. It was a Golden Age and sorely missed.
Absolutely brilliant! I first heard and saw this when my school staged it - I was 14 - and fell love with Gilbert & Sullivan. I watched it tonight and loved it. I won't mention my age but I grew up and remember music in the 60's!! ☝
Delightful. John Reed occasionally performed with us in NYGASP starting about a decade after this, and so we were privileged to learn some of the traditional business from him.
The Arkansas Opera Theatre did an annual Spring G&S performance for years, with families enjoying a picnic in lovely outdoor settings. Lots of great memories and fun!
Damn this thing. Trying to leave comment and it went to before I was ready. I saw this in 1973 hosted by Richard Thomas (John-Boy - when he was, actually, still a boy) and I was a lad of merely 16. This is how it is done. The style of thing precisely. All the modern silly extraneous dancing extraneous movement everything to make the audience be engaged in the unnecessary and distracting movement on the stage like it’s an action movie and not in the music is not here. I can now pass in peace having seen and heard what once was but is now is a requiem upon the wind.
Malcolm Williams really sounds brilliant, what a wonderful singer. One of Sir Arthur Sullivan's finest works...just stunning writing of which even great composers from history could be proud.
@@karldelavigne8134 I've tried to kick the habit with other kinds of music which of course i also proceeded to get hooked on! And here i am back again... Truly there is no cure!
@@deewesthill6966 Sullivan was also my way of entry to other composers' music and to opera. But, for me, he has a very prominent niche in the pantheon.
Yes indeed-ok it's made for TV (or rather not a filmed "performance"-but given the talent and experience of those legendary performers-this is one of those videos that captures the essence of the old company.xx
Brilliant. I saw many D'Oyle Carte performances when a youth in UK then, when G&S for all started with Donald Adams, Thomas Round, Valerie Masterson, John Reed (sorry, cannot remember the contralto -Gillian Knight?) our family went to all the performances when we could. I like some of the updated versions but there really isn't anything to beat the D'Oyle Carte ones. I'm now 72 living in South Africa so You Tube is my only joy for these. Sad, isn't it?
I've just watched the whole of this, it's AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING...........................Some people today might not like the emphasis on "For he is an English man, though he himself has said it, and it's greatly to his credit, that he is an English man," " he resisted all temptations, to belong to other nations,............." I can't remember all the words in the right order, and I won't do the song justice if I get the order of the words mixed up, although I've only just listened to it!!!!! This type of sentiment would not sit comfortably with a lot of people these days, but we need to remember the time it was written in, EVERYTHING WAS VERY DIFFERENT. The social class structure of this Country was very much more pronounced than it is today. This is not supposed to be taken really seriously anyway. The message about "love levelling all ranks" is a good one. We're supposed to watch this and LAUGH at ourselves, and after all, it was written a long time ago!!!!!
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time
I am about to post one of the "Magic of Doyly Carte "concerts from 1985-celebrating the centenary of "The Mikado"- featuring Jon Ellison and John Ayldon and a host more.Check back in a couple of days.xx
I was inspired by learning about the recent death of Julia Goss, to search on RU-vid for anything G&S. When this upload of the old video popped up, it brought back happy memories of seeing the 1973 season at Sadler Wells in Islington. John Reed was an absolute delight and Lyndsey Holland such a character, both here and in the Mikado. The whole company recreated the originals with energy, humour and real quality singing. As someone else has said it was criminal to allow the company to collapse and disperse. D'Oyly Carte was such an important part of our cultural history; sadly we'll not see the like of this performance. Thank you so much for uploading.
NickEvershedMusic: You are not well educated if you can’t recognize a contralto which along with the soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass-baritone and bass were the backbone of G&S.
We sat in the gods so that we could afford to go to the whole cycle. And the ice creams at half time were worth slipping out a few minutes early. Happy days.
One of the most fun things for me is comparing G&S operas to Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals. For instance the sailors and Little Buttercup versus the sailors and Bloody Mary in South Pacific, and much, much more.
atheodora surname: Comparing the HMS PINAFORE to SOUTH PACIFIC and focusing only on Buttercup to Bloody Mary is a stretch. The Gilbert & Sullivan works compared to those of Rodgers & Hammerstein II are very different in perspective, tone and design. G&S works were written as satires even though Sullivan tried to push to be more serious. R&H choose topics to explore the American experience or in foreign settings where the ideals were similar.
Many lovely memories of my father taking us to see all the D’oyly carte performances. Sadly I did not appreciate them as a child as I considered them trite and overly facile. But I later learned to love them for what they are. Do have a look at the Pinky & the Brain version of When I was a Lad. G&S would have heartily approved!
Somewhere along the way, it became the norm to perform these works like idiotic clown shows-I'm afraid we're stuck with it. As shown in this production, the satire and tone are so vastly more effective with a dry, British classicism.
That's the way to do it! This is a real treat! Ray Walker is bringing out a new copy but I'm not sure the picture and sound could be improved. People don't understand that O. T. T. including musicals-like choreography just ruins the works. I would have limited the encores for "Never Mind". Sir Joseph which I played including "Water!" doesn't like the sea so he wouldn't jump into it! Who played the midshipmite on that occasion? Let's hope "Patience" West End is found. Similar old t. v. productions d.v.d. s turn up on youTube e. g. "the Merry Widow with Jeremy Brett and the Sadler's Wells "La Belle Hélene". What a shame the real D'Oyly Carte didn't film more.
