Sullivan: The Gilbert & Sullivan Box Collection - DVD

ENGLISH

Sullivan: The Gilbert & Sullivan Box Collection (OAF4028D)<br /> <br /> Anne-Maree Mcdonald; Graeme Ewer; Heather Begg; Anthony Warlow; Christine Douglas; David Hobson; Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra; Elizabethan Philharmonic Orchestra ; Andrew Greene; David Stanhope; Dobbs Franks<br /> <br /> During their long and successful partnership, William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan collaborated on fourteen operas, many of which are still regularly performed throughout the English speaking world today.<br /> The most successful of their ‘Savoy’ operas, The Mikado made fun of English bureaucracy, thinly disguised by its<br /> Japanese setting. Enjoying over 650 performances at the Savoy Theatre, this work remains their most frequently<br /> performed work, and has been translated into numerous languages.<br /> HMS Pinafore was Gilbert & Sullivan’s first international hit, satirising the rise of unqualified people to positions of<br /> authority, and poking good-natured fun at the English obsession with social status. As with many of their operas, asurprise twist at the end of the story turned the drama on its head.<br /> Composed in a matter of weeks, Trial by Jury pokes humorous fun at the law and the legal profession, based on Gilbert’s own experiences as a barrister. The outrageous antics of the characters led to the work being the toast of London, and was a runaway success.<br /> Patience satirises the colourful poets of the aesthetic movement including Oscar Wilde, and also lampoons male vanity and chauvinism in the military. The story concerns two rival 'aesthetic' poets, each of whom is in love with Patience, the village milkmaid.<br /> The last of Gilbert & Sullivan’s great successes, The Gondoliers, takes place partly in Venice and partly in the kingdom of Barataria. The lilting score contains some of their most sparkling and tuneful music, and plenty of dancing.<br /> <br /> "...this production has assembled a cast that simply could not be bettered." (The Sydney Morning Herald)