Product Description

The comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan are a performing arts phenomenon. Wildly popular when first produced, they are if anything even more popular today. The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan provides the complete text of all thirteen of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas still being performed today, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado. Each work is thoroughly annotated, with the text, including stage directions, given on the right-hand page, and the notes on the left. The annotations provide a wealth of information--everything from the identity of real-life people mentioned in the opera, to clear explanations of obscure words and phrases (such as legal terms) and other literary references, to comments from first-night critics, and much more. In addition, Bradley has written a marvelously informative introduction to the book as well as superb introductions to each piece, describing the genesis of the work, its performance history, and other fascinating tidbits. A goldmine of information, The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan will delight the hearts of Savoyards everywhere.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #331488 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-27
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1214 pages

Amazon.com
Gilbert and Sullivan, librettist and composer, were classically Victorian gentlemen whose comic operas for the Savoy Theater under impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte have endured down to the present day despite the disappearance of the British imperial world which they lampooned. Theirs was a happy combination of Sullivan's cheerily catchy tunes and Gilbert's witty lyrics which captured the comedy of universal human nature. Ian Bradley, annotator of an earlier Gilbert and Sullivan collection, completes and updates the record with the inclusion here of the last collaborations of the two, and new introductions to the operettas that reflect modern interpretations.

From Library Journal
Lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan will be in heaven with the publication of these two books, which nicely complement each other. Stedman (English, Roosevelt Univ., Chicago) offers an outstanding study of this playwright and his often overlooked works, with much of its value deriving from its study of Gilbert without Sullivan. The author is a recognized expert on Gilbert as well as the Victorian time period, and she shows him to be a complex and interesting man who often found himself at odds with his time. Stedman highlights his contribution to Victorian theater as a forerunner of Wilde and Shaw. She also exposes some of the myths about Gilbert (and his relationship with Sullivan) that have been perpetrated by earlier writers. The index and bibliography are excellent. The annotated collection serves a dual purpose: Readers can now sing along with any Gilbert and Sullivan song and know all the words, and they will understand everything the song was meant to convey. This volume combines two previously published paperbacks from Penguin and adds the libretti to The Grand Duke and Utopia Limited. All notes are on the left page, and the actual song texts (complete with stage directions) are on the facing right page. There are also new introductions to each opera, a new introduction to the volume, and corrections to the original text. Print and text layout are very good. Both titles are recommended for public and academic libraries, as well as libraries with theater holdings.?Susan L. Peters, Emory Univ., Atlanta, Ga.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, Margot Peters
There are books to be devoured in a day, books to ponder, books to sample again and again. The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, a treasury of nostalgia and "innocent merriment," belongs to the last category.

Customer Reviews

Fun details and interesting insights
Bradley's copious annotations provide a wealth of insight into the G&S operas--and they're fun, too. Included are Gilbert's alterations and substitutions, extracts from some first-night reviews, explanations of allusions, and much more. All together, the annotated G&S makes reading the librettos a much richer experience.

I preferred this version to Asimov's annotations.

1994 production:Wiener Blut[am@doDVD]
This is a fine presentation of Wiener Blut with fine singing & acting by all the prncipals. Unfortunately, this particular disc has flaws in the second act which may prevent proper playback on most equipment. If you are able to find unflawed discs, the performance is worth paying extra.Wiener Blut

Replacement ?

This reeinforces my original G&S Modern Library edition circa 1937 that I still use with my own notes made as I listened to D'Oyly Carte in those days.
Refreshing to know what W.S. meant 50 years before I came along.