The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan
by W. S. Gilbert, A. S. Sullivan
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Book Summary Information
Author: A. S. Sullivan, W. S. GilbertEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1997-09-17
ISBN: 0393316882
Number of pages: 624
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.
Book Reviews of The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan
Book Review: Imperfect but a good investment
Summary: 4 Stars
I invested in this book intending to listen to and memorize all fourteen of the Savoy operas...I now know ten of them practically from heart, which scares my friends terribly. The funny thing is that, although I intended to buy it solely so that I could sing the words to Sullivan's wonderful hummable tunes, I found myself reading the plays just for the pleasure of Gilbert's clever rymes and horribly improbable plotlines. His "Bab" illustrations are also included beside the text, which opens up another side of Gilbert's genius. But be forewarned: There are several mistakes in the text - mostly words such as "is" being replaced with "it," but also some words that are different. Perhaps the words have changed over time from the origonal texts, but once in a while you'll find a word sung differently than what's written. I treat the book like I'd treat an edition of Shakespeare - dramatic work is always bent and changed slightly. In spite of the minor textual mistakes, it is a very useful book and it's nice to have the libretto laid out without any commentary or annotations.
Summary of The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan
In one concise volume, the complete texts of these perennially popular light operas. From Trial by Jury to The Pirates of Penzance: the complete librettos of all fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Gilbert's verses for Sullivan's music are the most fastidiously turned and inventively rhymed in all lyric comedy. As the Savoy Operas enter their second century on a swell of renewed popularity, Gilbert's reputation as the supreme wordsmith of light opera remains secure. Complete and authentic, these are the librettos on which modern performances and recordings are based. Scattered among the songs are over seventy of the amusing, quirky pictures Gilbert drew to illustrate them. A chronology prepared for this edition sketches the authors' lives and careers. This is a book that no lover of Gilbert and Sullivan, musical comedy, or indeed the English theater will want to be without.From Thespis to The Grand Duke, here are all the words to all the operettas on which William Schenk Gilbert and Arthur Seymour Sullivan collaborated. A fixture in Anglo-American music theater and humor for well over a century, their wit retains its edge after all these years. Norton offers the libretti available in handy, totable book form and generously illustrates them with Gilbert's accomplished pen-and-ink drawings.
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