"The Question gentelmen Is.... " from Gilbert & Sullivan's play: Trial By Jury. Recorded in Melbourne, Australia. Widescreen, Dolby Stereo and subtitled in English.
'Trial By Jury' was an addition to 'H M S Pinafore' and it took me ages to work out that the judge and the Captain were the same man, the marvellous Anthony Warlow.
I have this whole show on video. It was coupled with and followed HMS Pinafore (same cast). The best performance of both I`ve ever seen, and I`ve been a G & S fan for 60 years. A wonderful show.
Respectfully submitted for your consideration; Gilbert and Sullivan are the ONLY operatic composers who can make something as annoying and putrid as a family court dispute a hilarious romp of songs and gestures that makes us laugh over 100 years later, and just as hard as when it first came upon the stage.
@@wanderingkernel5002 No, I'm sold that they're the greatest duo in all of history. One thing I would like to see though is different historic period attire productions of their operas. I think that a ruffs and puffy trousers version of the pirates of penzance could world, and I think a late feudal attire version of the sorcerer might be feasible. It's still very clearly G&S and it's the same songs plots etc, it'd just be set at any of a variety of earlier time periods. I think that one reason G&S are timeless is that significant portions of their storylines are things everyone or nearly everyone experiences.
@@aputridpileofb-movies6542 well, in high school, due to budget problems, we played "the mikado" in ancient romans' costumes (from a play of some year before). It was a bit weird to see romans sing in Japanese, but, apart from that, it actually worked.
I taped the whole of HMS Pin and also T by J when it was shown on tv in England a few years ago, and im glad I did. The Aus production is fabulous and captures the spirit of the age most perfectly. The cast and presentation is a delight. Good on em!
God Warlow is so talented. You’d be hard pressed to tell that he’s a classically trained baritone from the way he sings here, he sounds like a drunk guy singing at a karaoke bar (in a good way).
Anthony Warlow is the Judge, David Hobson is the defendant, Ali McGregor is the plaintiff, John Bolton-Wood is the counsel, Richard Alexander is the usher. I've forgotten the name of the foreman of the jury...
I don't know their names. They are all members of the Australian Opera. If you go to the link at the of the tune, there should be some information there, including the names of the cast.
@MrCybershade ... I always thought the last line was ''... settled with a BOB (as in olde money, because the Judge threw something to the defendant) and a good job too...'' But I may be wrong, I'm sure all the G&S afficinado's out there will correct me... But I did enjoy that very much, yes indeed I did... What ho',chaps and ladiesI send you my very best regards from Wales UK .. :0)x
Not only did G&S write Trial By Jury as an after piece to Offenbach's comic opera, La Périchole, here it even sounds like something Offenbach would write.
MrCuddlyable3 It‘s far better than anything Offenbach wrote (perhaps with the exception of La belle Helene) because G&S didn’t produce semi ready made funny music, but in any of their musical comedies (and not so comic ones too) minutely caught the particularities of the characters as well as the situations
@@dankurth4232 Yes. The premiere of "Trial by Jury" in 1875 was when impresario D'Oyly Carte gave Gilbert and Sullivan their one chance to show, not by a full opera but only by a 30-minute curtain-raiser "cantata", what they could deliver in direct comparison with an opera by Jacques Offenbach who had by then established himself as the French master of "opéra bouffe". Few could imagine that the popular acclaim for the triumph of G&S in this competition would pave the way for the pair going on to a string of successful collaborations, starting with "The Sorcerer" (1877), "H.M.S. Pinafore" (1878), "Pirates" (1880) and culminating after 20 years in 13 operas. The modern dress of this performance means that fans of authentic Victorian G&S are denied bouffant gowned Angelina and bridesmaids, but the energy of the cast of Opera Australia amply compensates for this. Thankfully there is no anachronistic attempt to change the all-male jury.
MrCuddlyable3 Thanks for your very informative response! In Sullivan’s first musical sketch you’ll even find some more Offenbachesque influence, but already a more subtle setting of an intricate personal interaction than any you would ever find in any piece of Offenbach. Also in his later collaboration with Gilbert Sullivan is vastly more honest and in a sense morally engaged than either Offenbach or Strauss. And this very much shows in his music and not just in Gilbert’s librettos
@@dankurth4232 I think Sullivan resented doing this work - already dominated by a militaristic father and an older brother, Sullivan had different musical ambitions but to gain a theatrical income, D'Oyly Carte required him to "play second fiddle" to the demands of the inflexible 6-year older Gilbert, known to be a quarrelsome autocrat with a grudge against authority. For me, the artistic tension in their uneasy collaboration is first apparent in "Princess Ida" (1884), particularly in its overture that kicks off with the clownish soldiers' theme (clearly Gilbert's idea) but hastily changes into Sullivan's masterful "Oh Minerva!" aria that treats majestically the opera's theme of higher education for women, a notion that Gilbert sought only to satirize. We know that, after this in 1884, the previously submissive Sullivan now in poor health declared that he had "come to the end of my tether" and refused to continue the partnership on Gilbert's terms.
MrCuddlyable3 LOL in my preceding answer to your original response I forgot to insert the title of what I referred to as Sullivan’s first musical sketch, namely Cox and Box. That showed a stronger influence of Offenbach, but then immediately also more of the understanding of human interaction by Sullivan than one would ever see in the more sarcastic works of Offenbach. Gilbert wasn’t sarcastic in the sense of Offenbach, but he had a critical somewhat ideological agenda and he was also a somewhat torn apart loyal British subject with severe issues of the state of British institutions of his time. Sullivan was much more relaxed with respect to this and was able to introduce a very specific English sound into then modern popular music of the highest rank
Victorian England, not Australia. I'm not sure answering this question after 12 years is worth while, but ... Angelina and the guy have agreed to be married. Angelina has spent money on her wedding and marriage wardrobe. Now the guy backs out of the marriage; Angelina sues him for the cost of her wardrobe. Judge tries to find solutions: (1) Guy to marry two women, "serious crime", (2) Determine if they really should marry (get guy drunk and see if he would "thrash and kick her"). Neither solution is acceptable, so judge decides to marry Angelina. "O joy unbounded". Now that I write out the plot, it sounds horrible, but the style, the humor, the music, the absurdity, all make it wonderful even more than a century later. The first time I saw this was about 1962. The Harvard G&S Society did it at MIT. I was entranced.
De-stillness arose, with a few whines of improper prose from the courtroom spectators. The trial by brewery proceeded just the same, presided over by the good Judge Sizeher Seizeher esq.
