“…In all, this is the best case that one could ever have hoped for on behalf of this neglected opera. That the music proves fully worthy of the effort is recommendation enough. Certainly, this should be explored by more than just the fans of the more normative Savoy canon.” 

“This recording puts the gorgeous score front and center with superb performances… The music is buoyant and joyous … Soprano Elin Manahan Thomas sings with winsome simplicity and purity as Laine, illuminating the character’s inner beauty with an almost saintly goodness… the biggest joy comes from the BBC National Chorus and Orchestra of Wales under the direction of Rory Macdonald, which render Sullivan’s effervescent melodies with sheer, smile-inducing perfection.” 

*** (Good Album)               *** (Good Sound) 

“…this is certainly one of Sullivan’s more attractive scores. With an excellent cast on hand, there is a great deal to enjoy here, in a candidate for my 2014 Want List. Highly recommended.” 

Music *** (Good) Sound       **** (Very Good) 

“…There’s some lovely playing from the BBC NOW, particularly in the score’s more reflective moments. This release will please listeners far beyond the Sullivan Society, whose generosity enabled the recording to be made.” 

Performance ****     Recording ****

“…The recording and presentation are admirable …” 

" The BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales are on great form, inspired by Rory Macdonald’s committed and idiomatic direction it is an important work offering much to enjoy, deserving of this first-class advocacy. Chandos is to be thanked and congratulated on a very worthwhile and rewarding endeavour."

"...the music proves it is well worth revial. This two-disc boxed set will be a Christmas must for the great company of Savoyards." 

My thoughts on the piece and the recording are fundamentally that both are wonderful in their entirety. The alert and vigorous pacing of this new performance is just how I imagined it should be, having known the Prince Consort version for nearly thirty years: 'O'er Mirlemont city', 'With Cards and dice' and 'Hobble, hobble' are here taken respectively fast, faster and even faster. The public scenes are given an appropriate sense of bustle, and the final sections of the Act 1/ Act 3 finales are thrilling. This is not to imply that anything is hurried over - Rory Macdonald is clearly someone who simply has dramatic blood in his veins and instinctively knows when the push on. I was also pleased that he does not take the entire Act 3 finale at crotchet=dotted crotchet, which the PC recording does (thus leaving Jacqueline with the most laboured plod). Chorus and orchestra alike are superb and the recording is slightly more forward than that given to 'Ivanhoe'. The soloists seem to have given perhaps more character and thought to their roles than (generally) those in the 'Ivanhoe' recording. Rebecca Evans aptly portrays the sultry and exotic (though faded) charms of Saida with a breathy quality to her voice which contrasts well with the voices of the other female soloists; Toby Spence is refulgent and uses his voice cleverly to convey the opposing moods of Philip; and all the other principals are more than adequate to the task: Elin Manahan Thomas, in particular, is deeply affecting as Laine and has a most appropriate purity of tone (her Act 1 Prayer is a revelation). The integrity of the opera comes across in spades (bolstered by the extra exits, interludes and entries replete with musical quotes from elsewhere in the work, etc.) - it is so valuable that these various linking ('fitting') sections have been recorded. That these have been included (along with numbers cut after the opening night) is due to the production of a brand new full orchestral score prepared directly from Sullivan's autograph by Robin Gordon-Powell of the Arthur Sullivan Society. For anybody who is used to the 1984 Prince Consort recording, the opening duet for Joan and Simon will bring a surprise - three 'Click-clack's at the beginning of each verse, rather than two as printed in the 1898 Chappell vocal score. I contacted Robin to query this and there are indeed three in Sullivan's autograph score. Altogether, a wonderful release in every respect with excellent booklet essays and illustrations from the original production. This deserves every accolade and will, hopefully lead to the first professional recordings of other major Sullivan works, particularly the oratorio 'The Light of the World' (1873) and the sacred musical drama 'The Martyr of Antioch' (1880).