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The National Musicale Pinafore (1964)
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This set of highlights was issued in 1964 with two companion discs,
Pirates
and The Mikado. Neither orchestra, nor
soloists, nor conductor, was credited by name. It is a truly awful
recording, with most numbers taken at horribly slow tempi.
The hornpipe at the end of "A British tar" is taken at about half
the correct speed.
In 1965, these highlights were re-issued on the Society label with a new overture and some of the numbers re-arranged. The re-issue credited Martyn Green, Richard Korn and James Pease as being among the cast, but this was clearly an error Green is definitely not singing, and the other two probably aren't either. When the Society re-issue first appeared, Peter Parker wrote several letters of complaint to the publisher and was able successfully to have it withdrawn from the market (in the U.K. anyway). Yet another re-issue, on the Presto label, credits the "Knightsbridge Light Opera Company under the direction of Lionel Peterson." The jacket artwork is extremely similar to that of the National Musicale release on Allegro. The sleeve notes say that the record is a product of Allied Records Ltd of 326 Kensal Road London. The Society re-issue has the same notation, which suggests that this item may have come out after complaints that the earlier album erroneously claimed to have Martyn Green on it. However, Chris Webster says it is a completely re-mastered album using different tracks, which leaves the chronology of these re-issues still a mystery. The liner notes indicate that there is a Mikado on the same label, also featuring the Knightsbridge Light Opera Company under Lionel Peterson. This is presumably the National Musicale Mikado, but given all the confusion surrounding these re-issues, heaven knows what it is. Several people have observed the patter baritone's uncanny resemblance to Vincent Price. While I do see the resemblance, I do not think it's him. By 1964, when this recording was made, Price was already a famous film star and had no reason to be moonlighting anonymously in a G&S recording. In the unlikely event that he had recorded any G&S, surely he would have been credited under his real name. The selections include:
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Marc Shepherd, oakapple@cris.com Copyright ©1995-2005. All Rights Reserved. Last Modified: 31-Dec-99 URL: http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/pinnmc.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||