If you want dynamite G&S, check out the productions by the Stratford Festival of Canada. I haven't seen them all, but the ones I've seen have been fabulous, and their Mikado is particularly fine. (Oddly, I don't see a link to that one here, but I know it's available, although it may take a little searching.) They do take liberties, but in my view not offensive ones, and the whimsy is light-hearted and the energy really crackles. The costuming is a lot of fun, too! http://www.stratford-festival.on.ca/merchandise/index.cfm?shelf=32
Gail & Scott Finke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Boy, I would love to see some good Gilbert and Sullivan DVDs. I love the operettas, but all the recordings are so... blah. Years ago, when the BBC did them all, my Public Television station broadcast them -- and only "The Mikado" was worth watching. How anyone can drain the sparkling energy from a G&S show is beyond me, but they did. I am going to check out all the recommended DVDs. I love opera, but I have found that many filmed versions are just as dull as the G&S ones listed above. And I can't stand listening to recordings of any I haven't seen. (I can't stand any by Richard Strauss, but that's another story!) To return to an actual question for the list -- 12 years ago I was lucky enough to get tickets to an English National Opera production of "The Barber of Seville." The costumes were amazing (that's when I really "got" how dashing men's 1700s clothes could be) and I discovered the joys of listening to operas in English. You get the jokes! The sad parts are sad when they're supposed to be! I could never get VHS tapes of any of the performances because English VHS doesn't play here in the US. But DVDs do, right? Or are they like VHS tapes? If they do play here, does anyone have any English National Opera recommendations? Gail Finke PS for Fran: The Stratford Festival in Canada does a Gilbert & Sullivan every year. Perhaps they have some good recordings. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume --------------------------------- Brings words and photos together (easily) with PhotoMail - it's free and works with Yahoo! Mail. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
