G&S Discography: Miscellaneous Videos

The Stratford Festival Videos

***Summary***
H.M.S. Pinafore (1981)
The Mikado (1984)
Pirates (1985)
Gondoliers (1986)
Iolanthe (1988)

In the 1980s, several new G&S productions were given at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada. All were extremely creative productions that took vast liberties with the text and orchestration. Most G&S fans dislike them, because the liberties seem to be taken for their own sake, rather than for any compelling reason. Four Stratford productions have been released on video: The Mikado (1984), The Gondoliers (1986), Iolanthe (1988), and The Pirates of Penzance (1989).

DVD box set containing three of the Stratford videos

The conventional wisdom on these productions is exemplified by these comments from Bruce Miller:

These productions typify a current trend in theater, in which we see the rise of the director-as-auteur. Stage Director Brian Macdonald goes far beyond presenting the operas as left to us by the authors. He has decided to "improve" them by altering not only the text but the kind of humor and satire in the pieces to suit his tastes, which are inferior to those of both Gilbert and Sullivan. The musical alterations are uniformly inferior to Sullivan's original orchestration; they are glitzy and unsubtle, and add nothing to the originals.
It is unfortunate that the director could not leave well enough alone, for his actors are thoroughly committed and often brilliant in their characterizations, and much of Macdonald's production has excellence in technique and presentation, for which he and the producing company deserve much credit. Unfortunately, Macdonald is not the brilliant author he obviously thinks he is.

The Stratford Festival videos are available at their web site, http://www.stratford-festival.on.ca/.

The site also lists a 57-minute video from the National Film Board of Canada, Musical Magic, described thus:

Internationally renowned stage director and choreographer Brian Macdonald is featured in this exhilarating look at behind-the-scenes activity as The Stratford Festival Theatre mounts three Gilbert and Sulllivan operettas for its 1984 season.

I believe that this documentary is included as an extra on the DVD of the Stratford Mikado.

The Australian Opera Videos

***Summary***
The Mikado (1988)
Gondoliers (1989)
Patience (1995)

The Australian Opera have also done a number of G&S productions, although they seem invariably to import the staging from somewhere else. Their Mikado and Gondoliers are almost exactly the same productions as their Stratford counterparts, while their 1995 Patience is based on the 1967 English National Opera production.

More of the Historical Tour