Sometimes, with all of this going on today, I am reminded of the argument, or at least the disagreement, between Noel Coward and Ivor Novello, who otherwise were very good friends. Coward, who served as a spy during World War II, accused Novello of not doing enough and of trying to live life as normal. This was quite unfair, as he performed during the war years, taking The Dancing years around the UK, sometimes to bombed out theatres, just to bring the people a bit of joy and hope. Not everyone is meant to risk his life in the way that Coward did, be it openly as a spy or more covertly, or even by protesting, etc. In my case, however, he would be right. I do stay away from things. But I am also a follower of dandyism, particularly in its Brummellian form. It is true that Beau Brummell lived in luxury for a time, knew the highest members of society, including the Prince of Wales, and had a mass following. But the rest of his life was sheer hell, from poverty to syphilis. Yet even as he, and everything around him, was falling apart, he never lost who he was. He never willingly stopped living to the best of his ability, seeking the finer things in life, etc. As long as his mentality held, and even once after it was gone, he remained steadfast in his love of good things. I am the same way. I refuse to give up my life style, to be negative all the time (I do not suffer from depression as he did), to bring drama into my life, etc. I want to take it for all it's worth and enjoy it! If, and only if, I am forced to change, or to move, etc. I will do so. But the world, in itself, is not my concern. My concern is myself, my loved ones, and those about whom I care deeply. That's it. I may follow the physical and vocal exercises of Clara Novello Davies, but I don't follow her life's philosophy. I can say, however, that if the world did, it would be a truly beautiful and wonderful place to live. I'm just a bit more realistic than that.
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Georgiana Brummell
in reply to Georgiana Brummell • •I read that some of the original Savoyards actually performed in Merrie England. As I was watching this version, one of the songs caught my attention, and I knew I heard it, and I could have sworn it was by one of them! So I opened my Savoyards folder, and sure enough, it was there! By the way, several other recordings of Passmore exist on Youtube.
＂The Fish Song＂ from ＂Merrie England＂ Walter Passmore Col Rena 371 Rec 1912
youtube.com/watch?v=4IwNR02hC-…
Georgiana Brummell
in reply to Georgiana Brummell • •I started on my operetta journey with Gilbert and Sullivan. Then, I watched The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar. From there, I returned to exploreing and collecting the music and plays of Ivor Novello. Along the way, I watched The Arcadians (the only full Edwardian musical comedy I could find), some Offenbach, and then the songs of Strauss (different members of the family), then back to Lehar, when I learned about Richard Tauber, and began very slowly, to collect opera from very old singers. All of this in the space of less than a year. Now, I'm back to the sort of thing that started it all! But whether it's the recording quality which switches from bad to decent, or the fact that I'm now more accustomed to the Viennese and Novellian styles, I didn't really like this as much as I thought I would. This is quite strange, especially given the topic of English patriotism, which I normally love! But I would take it any day over juke box musicals and who knows what else is out there today. I will say, the whole bit about the draggon and four legs made me laugh aloud several times!
The
... Show more...I started on my operetta journey with Gilbert and Sullivan. Then, I watched The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar. From there, I returned to exploreing and collecting the music and plays of Ivor Novello. Along the way, I watched The Arcadians (the only full Edwardian musical comedy I could find), some Offenbach, and then the songs of Strauss (different members of the family), then back to Lehar, when I learned about Richard Tauber, and began very slowly, to collect opera from very old singers. All of this in the space of less than a year. Now, I'm back to the sort of thing that started it all! But whether it's the recording quality which switches from bad to decent, or the fact that I'm now more accustomed to the Viennese and Novellian styles, I didn't really like this as much as I thought I would. This is quite strange, especially given the topic of English patriotism, which I normally love! But I would take it any day over juke box musicals and who knows what else is out there today. I will say, the whole bit about the draggon and four legs made me laugh aloud several times!
The actors who played Raleigh, and essex sounded like true professionals and amazed me, but the rest didn't. This is the difference between singers from German's and Novello's time and later. The older ones knew how to project their voices without microphones. These try very hard, but they are often drowned out by the music or simply don't speak loud enough. I have a recording of Mary Ellis made when she was very old, similar to this, from someone across the room. Believe me, you could hear her!! That said, d'Oyly Cart wasspecifically known for mostly hiring amateurs throughout their existence, so this is fitting.