Rating: 
Summary: A charming, lovely "Princess Ida"
Review: "Princess Ida" is certainly one of the least known of the Savoy Operas. The problem is that you have some of Sullivan's most delicious music wedded with one of Gilbert's weakest and most dated libretti. To be honest, I was not looking forward to watching this production. In the main, the Brent Walker series can be pretty painful for the dedicated Savoyard; and I figured the "Ida" would be a total disaster.
Imagine my surprise! A wonderful cast makes this entry one of the most charming in the series and is certainly as good an "Ida" as we're ever likely to get on video. Ida's opening solo, "Minerva! Oh hear me!" is one of those pieces I usually sleep through, but Nan Christie in the title role makes the music come alive. The rest of the performers are uniformly wonderful both in voice and delivery. Even American import Frank Gorshin refrains from hamming it up as King Gama and delivers a performance worthy of Martyn Green.
All in all this DVD is a real treasure - a little known work beautifully preserved for repeated viewings!
Rating:
Summary: A charming, lovely "Princess Ida"
Review: "Princess Ida" is certainly one of the least known of the Savoy Operas. The problem is that you have some of Sullivan's most delicious music wedded with one of Gilbert's weakest and most dated libretti. To be honest, I was not looking forward to watching this production. In the main, the Brent Walker series can be pretty painful for the dedicated Savoyard; and I figured the "Ida" would be a total disaster.
Imagine my surprise! A wonderful cast makes this entry one of the most charming in the series and is certainly as good an "Ida" as we're ever likely to get on video. Ida's opening solo, "Minerva! Oh hear me!" is one of those pieces I usually sleep through, but Nan Christie in the title role makes the music come alive. The rest of the performers are uniformly wonderful both in voice and delivery. Even American import Frank Gorshin refrains from hamming it up as King Gama and delivers a performance worthy of Martyn Green.
All in all this DVD is a real treasure - a little known work beautifully preserved for repeated viewings!
Rating:
Summary: A charming, lovely "Princess Ida"
Review: "Princess Ida" is certainly one of the least known of the Savoy Operas. The problem is that you have some of Sullivan's most delicious music wedded with one of Gilbert's weakest and most dated libretti. To be honest, I was not looking forward to watching this production. In the main, the Brent Walker series can be pretty painful for the dedicated Savoyard; and I figured the "Ida" would be a total disaster.
Imagine my surprise! A wonderful cast makes this entry one of the most charming in the series and is certainly as good an "Ida" as we're ever likely to get on video. Ida's opening solo, "Minerva! Oh hear me!" is one of those pieces I usually sleep through, but Nan Christie in the title role makes the music come alive. The rest of the performers are uniformly wonderful both in voice and delivery. Even American import Frank Gorshin refrains from hamming it up as King Gama and delivers a performance worthy of Martyn Green.
All in all this DVD is a real treasure - a little known work beautifully preserved for repeated viewings!
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting
Review: As anyone who has seen "Topsy Turvy" will recall, "Princess Ida" did not exactly set the world on fire when it was first offered to the public in 1884. The stigma of being amongst the least successful Gilbert and Sullivan efforts has been hard to shake. More productions like this would certainly help. This is a fine production, for the most part well cast and extremely well sung, especially by Nan Christie in the title role. It avoids the fault, very common in this opera, of swamping the work in opulence. "Princess Ida", despite its length, is an intimate work, and this has not been lost on the producers.The text has been pruned for television it is true, and those sensitive to cuts will possibly be alarmed, though to my ears the damage is negligible.
Rating: 
Summary: Gilbert & Sullivan's Princess Ida
Review: Frank Gorshin, Nan Christie, and Neil Howlett deserve high praise for a sterling performance in this production of Princess Ida, but I was disappointed by the crude editing, omitting some of Gilbert's best, most ingenious lyrics, dumbing down the opera for mass comsumption. But dumbed-dopwn G&S is still better thqn most contemporary culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed production
Review: I agree with all the other reviewers said about the performance, but the play-within-a-play format cooked up for this particular production is a jarring note and distracts from the otherwise high quality production. This is one of the most melodic of G&S operettas and I wish it were performed more often. "Whom Thou Hast Chained" is an absolute delight.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better ones in this series
Review: I basically agree with the two previous reviewers. I'm not familiar enough with the libretto to have noticed the editing. All of the cast sings well (unlike some of the other entries in this series), and several of the performances are excellent. At first, I didn't even recognize Frank Gorshin. Hilarion, Gama, Hildebrand, and Ida were all excellent. My only disappointment was I thought Gama's sons needed more oomph.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better ones in this series
Review: I basically agree with the two previous reviewers. I'm not familiar enough with the libretto to have noticed the editing. All of the cast sings well (unlike some of the other entries in this series), and several of the performances are excellent. At first, I didn't even recognize Frank Gorshin. Hilarion, Gama, Hildebrand, and Ida were all excellent. My only disappointment was I thought Gama's sons needed more oomph.
Rating:
Summary: Best Opera World Gilbert & Sullivan Production
Review: Of the Brent Walker Gilbert & Sullivan productions, I think this one is the best. The parts are cast quite consistently, rather than having great singers mixed in with bimbos who can't carry a tune or play their parts.
Rating:
Summary: Best Opera World Gilbert & Sullivan Production
Review: Of the Brent Walker Gilbert & Sullivan productions, I think this one is the best. The parts are cast quite consistently, rather than having great singers mixed in with bimbos who can't carry a tune or play their parts.
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