G&S

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thank God....I thought I was the only one.

Where've you been? It's been de rigueur to loathe G&S since at least 1950!

[Beef Oven!]

Are G&S still loved and cherished hereabouts?

Definitely!

Can't see why people would have a problem with G&S????

I adore Gilbert and Sullivan. I have seen every opera, either in professional performances or amateur productions (many operas, three or four times).

My favourite is The Mikado. I took my family to an ENO Jonathan Miller production in 2006 which was fabulous. Having said that, some of the most enjoyable performances have been put on by amateurs.

I have the Decca box set of the D'Oyly Carte recordings, for whenever the urge takes me.

And the Mike Leigh film 'Topsy Turvy' with Jim Broadbent and Timothy Spall is an absolute must-watch!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In my first term as a university music student, I joined the G & S Society - one of only two music students to be a member, the other being the M.D. I joined in order to be the rehearsal accompanist - every Tuesday and Thursday. However, the Music Dept required all of its students to buy a season ticket for the series of weekly Tuesday evening chamber concerts (which were rather good, with the likes of Peter Katin, Stephen Bishop (as he then was), Ossian Ellis and John Carol Case performing) and to attend every concert. I was given dispensation to support the G & S Society, but the situation emphasised the gulf of musical perception.
In the year after I left to do teacher training elsewhere, I returned to attend a performance of Gondoliers, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that there were now many music students involved, many of them having lead roles in the cast. The reason for the change? Rehearsals no longer clashed with the chamber concerts.
The moral is that musical snobbery need not interfere with appreciation of a particular style of music.

Incidentally, Pineapple Poll is rather good too. I got to know this via Mackerras's first ever recording of the work on 78s.

[BBMmk2]

I love G & S too. The trouble is, record companies don't seem to be recording any of the operettas?

[richardfinegold]

President Nixon was a huge fan.

He would not have made a very good modern major general

[MLF]

I have often regarded G&S is a guilty pleasure. However, having listened to Iolanthe at the weekend (and attended Rocket Opera's splendid "Mikado" a week ago) I ask myself - why should I feel guilty for enjoying this?

[Flosshilde]

Sullivan's tum-te-tumming tunes

Are they any different from Verdi's tum-te-tumming tunes?

[Conchis]

Are they any different from Verdi's tum-te-tumming tunes?

Not really: when (early) Verdi is performed in English, I find it hard to distinguish him from S!

[ardcarp]

having listened to Iolanthe at the weekend

...arguably Sullivan's finest, if not the most popular. And the political satire could apply just as much today:

When in that House MPs divide
If they've a brain and cerebellum too,
They've got to leave that brain outside
And vote just as their leaders tell 'em to.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

when (early) Verdi is performed in English, I find it hard to distinguish him from S!

"Typically 'Italian' - in the worst sense of the word!", then?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

...arguably Sullivan's finest, if not the most popular. And the political satire could apply just as much today:

When in that House MPs divide
If they've a brain and cerebellum too,
They've got to leave that brain outside
And vote just as their leaders tell 'em to.

Exactly. It doesn't date at all.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have often regarded G&S is a guilty pleasure. However, having listened to Iolanthe at the weekend (and attended Rocket Opera's splendid "Mikado" a week ago) I ask myself - why should I feel guilty for enjoying this?

If you enjoy any music, you shouldn't feel guilty. Be yourself.

[antongould]

If you enjoy any music, you shouldn't feel guilty. Be yourself.

Exactly pigeonholes are for pigeons ......

[agingjb]

I like G&S, and I'm always a little disconcerted by the antipathy they inspire among some people. But then I reflect that there is not a single musical work in existence that someone here does not detest.

[Sir Velo]

I like G&S, and I'm always a little disconcerted by the antipathy they inspire among some people. But then I reflect that there is not a single musical work in existence that someone here does not detest.

I think it's because they are associated (wrongly) with "more tea vicar" and WI amateur theatricals. Absolutely brilliant satire and wit from Gilbert; and infernally catchy melodies from his partner in crime.