Guinevere (1993)

Richard Conrad, baritone
William Merrill, piano

Recorded at Killian Hall,
Cambridge, Massachusetts,
2 & 3 September 1993

Pearl SHE CD 9636
Pearl SHE CD 9636

The soloist on this album, Richard Conrad, has done much to advance the cause of Sullivan's music. As artistic director of the Boston Academy of Music, he put on the only known performance of Ivanhoe in the United States in this century (albeit a concert version that omitted the women's chorus, among other things).

The title of this recording, "Guinevere," is the title of the fifth song on the programme. The words of that song were written by Lionel Lewin, a friend of Sullivan's who would eventually write words for six of his songs, three of which are represented here. The two also considered an opera based on Guinevere, which never came to pass.

Unfortunately, I found the singing on this recording a bit colorless and bland. At 58 minutes, the disc times out about twenty minutes shy of the capacity of a CD. Still, this is a valuable opportunity to sample Sullivan's seldom-recorded non-operatic vocal music.

Contents are as follows:

  1. O Mistress Mine
  2. She is not fair to outward view
  3. Golden days
  4. A life that lives for you
  5. Guinevere!
  6. Thou art lost to me
  7. Once again
  8. County guy
  9. Mary Morison
  1. If doughty deeds
  2. Orpheus with his lute
  3. Sigh no more, ladies
  4. Sweet day, so cool
  5. Ich möchte hinaus es jauchzen
  6. Arabian Love Song
  7. Tears, idle tears
  8. Oh! ma charmante
  9. I would I were a King
Issue History
DateLabelFormatNumber
1993 Pearl CD SHE CD 9636