GILBERT and Sullivan has got a similar reputation to Marmite – you either love it or you hate it.
If you love it your response to this would be “what is there not to like?”
But there were maybe some in the audience who remained unconvinced, and that could have something to do with the choice of music for this Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) concert.
The orchestra, conducted by Gareth Jones, played overtures to two of the operas, Iolanthe and The Yeoman of the Guard, which emphasised the fact that Sir Arthur Sullivan was one of the great Victorian composers.
The soloists, patter specialist Richard Suart and contralto Frances McCafferty, were both excellent.
Suart’s patter songs were indeed excellent – the Nightmare Song from Iolanthe and the famous List Song from The Mikado, which was perhaps the highlight of the evening. The ‘list’ had been updated to include Harriet Harman, Facebook and several other topical references.
Perhaps though, some of the choices were a little obscure, and taken out of their operatic context they would not have gained any new fans for Gilbert and Sullivan.
The BSO could profitably stage something similar in future, but maybe with additional singers, so that other delightful songs from these operas could be performed.
SUE EDWINS
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