RCA Camden CAM-22. The sleeve has the number "CAM-22" at the top, but it states "USA No. CAL-433" at the bottom. |
Mitchell Orman's comments are on target.
Al Goodman was an RCA Victor house conductor,
contributing a number of albums to their post-World War II
catalogue in the jazz and light opera categories. The
Pinafore selections are competently performed, but the
artists are, for the most part, not comfortable
with (or ignorant of) the appropriate performance style.
They were, probably, more at home in the
American pop idiom than in G&S.
Thus the decided American accents bother me more
than they might otherwise. Joel Grey performed Jack Point
(in the Walker Yeomen video) with
his native American accent, and this also bothers some people.
But Mr. Grey had a sense of commitment and a concept which lent
his work dignity lacking in the Goodman Pinafore.
One may, as some do, disagree with Grey's approach, but
there is no denying his artistic stature, or his integrity.
The overall mediocrity of this production is typified in the
banality of the orchestrations, which are more or less
based on Sullivan's originals. The least objectionable
passages are re-orchestrations which, while competently
written, are never superior to Sullivan's. When they
diverge, the results are invariably inferior, such as when
bass lines are changed, and fussy decorations incorporated
(which add nothing substantial except the bad taste of the
orchestrator). There are also chops, cut-and-paste
passages, and newly composed transitions which also
reflect the orchestrator/arranger more closely than Sullivan.
The most egregious orchestrational sin committed is the
unnecessary and hideous use of harp effects, which
mar the score even more seriously than those employed
in the infamous
Stratford
(Ontario) reworkings of the
1980's. The opening of "Over the bright blue sea" is
incredible in its clash of styles: it begins with lush harp
effects more appropriate to the score of South Pacific
than H.M.S. Pinafore, and sounds like the introduction
to a Technicolor movie with a tropical locale.
The choral writing appears untouched, and the level of
instrumental and choral performance is adequate for
"house" professional standards. But in addition to the
diction drawback mentioned earlier, the chorus needed better
coaching than it evidently received. Robert Shaw, who was
doing work for RCA Victor in those days, would have been
a better choice as musical director for this Pinafore.
The soloists are not uniformly adequate. The best of the
lot is Audrey Marsh, who has a lovely mezzo soprano voice
with some real contralto depth. However, she sings the
Buttercup song with the same kind of rubato one might
expect if Stephen Sondheim had written the ballad, and
she rolls her r's interminably and in inappropriate places.
Jimmy Carroll as Ralph is out of his depth vocally; his
voice has a less pleasant quality than Leonard Osborne's
although he does handle the tessitura a little better.
Martha Wright transposes both of her big solos ("Sorry her
lot" and the "Simple sailor, lowly born" section of her big
Act II solo) down, a half step each time. But she does
float a very nice high "A" at the end of the former. Her
quality is reminiscent of Victoria Sladen on a good day
(see the 1955 Princess Ida for details).
Leonard Stokes sings Sir Joseph better than most
D'OC patter men did, but gives no special character
to the role.
I would not recommend seeking this out except for
the unintentional hilarity it will give to connoisseurs.
