Search - Philip Potter, Kenneth Sandford :: Patience

The Golden Cast of D'Oyly Carte!

04/13/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My wish had always been to see John Reed and the D'Oyly Carte Company in a performance of Patience. My mother had done so, remarking that, 'You'd need patience to watch it', she was coloured in her opinion, since she wanted to see 'The Mikado', but had gotten the wrong tickets! The recording, made in 1961, is superb in every detail. You are with the cast, on stage, in the auditorium, it is such a 'live' performance. The dialogue is delivered exquisitely, whilst the singing is uniformerly of the highest standard. I recently portrayed 'Bunthorne' and throughout my performances, I felt that I was continuing the legacy of Gilbert and Sullivan. All the past history of performers were there. I feel that Patience is a magical Savoy Opera. Do not miss the opportunity to own such a definitive performance. Maybe the subject of the 'Art Nouveau' periodof Victorian England is dated, but as one critic has already stated, every generation 'throws up' its poseures, to be knocked. 'Ah, me! lack aday!' BUY IT!"

The best ever version

Papageno | Devon,South West, England | 06/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The wonderful cast transports you to the realms of Gilbert and Sullivan, to make you feel that you are experiencing a first night in 1881! John Reed, as Bunthorne, an aesthetic poet is superb, camp, subversive and a complete fraud. If anyone is not aware, the story of the opera is based upon the idiosyncracies of the Aesthetic movement in England of the 1880's and Gilbert used the public parodies of his friend Oscar Wilde as his major source. The rest of the cast, chorus and orchestra , under the long experienced 'Goddie' are superlative and make for one of the finest line-ups in D'Oyly Carte history. Revel and enjoy, for this is quite the best."

The Definitive Recording

Papageno | 12/09/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For those who prefer the traditional Savoyard renderings of the G&S canon, this is far and away the best recording of this parody of the cult of celebrity. John Reed leads the cast as a delightful Bunthorne, and the recording contains all of the opera's dialogue. "HMS Pinafore," "The Mikado," and "The Pirates of Penzance" may be better known, but "Patience" is deserving of a wider audience."