Sullivan: Cox and Box/ Trial by Jury Opera Chandos

SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN

(1842-1900)

premiere recording of original orchestration with new linking dialogue

Cox and Box (or The Long Lost Brothers)

35:58

A Triumviretta in one act adapted to the lyric stage by F.C. Burnand from J. Maddison Morton's farce Cox and Box

No. 1 Overture

2:27

Bouncer: 'It seemed like just another day. . .'

0:15

No. 2 Rataplan (Bouncer's Song)

3:20

Bouncer: 'Now, for some reason or other'

0:08

5.

No. 3 'Stay, Bouncer, Stay!' (Duet)

6:39

6.

Bouncer: 'At last he left'

0:46

7.

No. 4 'A Lullaby' (Box's Song)

2:36

8.

No. 5 'My Master Is Punctual' (Song and Dance)

0:56

9.

Bouncer: 'Disaster!'

0:08

10.

No. 6 'Who Are You, Sir?' (Trio)

3:58

11.

Bouncer: 'Not even ''Rataplan'' could settle this. . .'

0:24

12.

No. 7 'The Buttercup' (Duet Serenade)

4:34

13.

Bouncer: 'Music, it seemed, wasn't their only mutual interest'

0:15

14.

No. 8 'Not Long Ago' (Romance)

5:51

15.

Bouncer: 'An ingenious scheme'

1:22

16.

No. 10 'My Hand Upon It' (Finale)

1:54

Solo: Donald Maxwell baritone - Sergeant Bouncer

The edition of Cox and Box used in this recording was edited from Sullivan's autography manuscript and other authentic sources by Roger Harris, and is published by R. Clyde Music Publisher.

Trial by Jury

32:36

A Dramatic Cantata in one act with libretto by W.S. Gilbert. Edited by John Bauser

17.

No. 1 Chorus: 'Hark, the hour of ten is sounding'

3:09

18.

No. 1a Defendant: 'Is this the Court of the Exchequer?'

1:02

19.

No. 2 Defendant: 'When first my old, old love I knew'

3:07

20.

No. 3 Chorus: 'All hail, great Judge!'

2:18

21.

No. 4 The Judge's Song. 'When I, good friends. . .'

2:30

22.

No. 5 Counsel: 'Swear thou the jury'

1:37

23.

No. 6 Chorus of Bridesmaids. Counsel: 'Where's the Plaintiff?'

3:33

24.

No. 7 Judge: 'Oh never, never, never. . .'

1:15

25.

No. 8 Counsel: 'May it please you, m'lud!'

3:09

26.

No. 9 Judge: 'That she is reeling is plain to see!'

0:50

27.

No. 10 Defendant: 'Oh gentlemen listen I pray'

1:37

28.

No. 11 Judge: 'That seems a reasonable proposition'

0:59

29.

No. 12 Judge: 'A nice dilemma we have here'

3:09

30.

No. 13 Plaintiff: 'I love him - I love him'

2:25

31.

No. 14 Finale. Plaintiff: 'Oh joy unbounded'

1:50

68:19

Solo: Rebecca Evans soprano - Plaintiff

Solo: Donald Maxwell baritone - Learned Judge

Solo: David Thaxton baritone - Foreman of the Jury

Chorus of Bridesmaids, Gentlemen of the Jury

Choral: Chamber Choir of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (Trial by Jury only)

Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Conductor: Richard Hickox

11 & 12 December 2004

Coupling the best-known of Sullivan’s pre-Gilbert operettas with the first of their collaborations produces a programme that is not only entertaining but also shows just how essential Gilbert’s verbal coruscations were in enabling his comic genius to take flight…The performances are equally sparkling. Donald Maxwell takes the Judge’s Song at a cracking pace yet sacrifices not a jot of comic effect, and Matthew Brook’s gloriously mangled pseudo-aristocratic vowels as Counsel for the Plaintiff are guaranteed to induce helpless mirth.

The Telegraph

Regular readers will be aware of my deep-seated aversion to G&S; but this column is a broad church, public-spirited enough for me to have sat through these two half-hour works and recognise that they are performed here with character and conviction enough to recommend warmly. Tenor James Gilchrist and baritone Neal Davies shine in this recording of ‘Cox and Box’, the first of its original orchestration with linking dialogue. They are joined by the delightful soprano Rebecca Evans and the Chamber Choir of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for a spirited version of ‘Trial by Jury’, led with authentic brio by Richard Hickox.

The Observer

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