G&S Discography Revision History

February 4-16, 1996

Version 2.9 — February 16, 1996 (172 pages)
  • Added a set of highlight discs issued by the Reader's Digest in the early 1960s. The set included a number of D'Oyly Carte stars, particularly Kenneth Sandford and Donald Adams, in unaccustomed roles (because their Company contracts prohibited them from competing with the D'Oyly Carte's own recordings). Thanks to Dave Kehs, Dan Kravetz, J. Donald Smith, Phil Sternenberg, Peter Withey and Tom Shepard for information on these recordings.
  • Added highlights discs issued by the World Record Club in 1962. These old recordings have been re-issued over and over again, despite the fact that there seems to be nothing particularly impressive about them. Thanks to Dave Kehs, Dan Kravetz, J. Donald Smith and Seth Schneider for information on these recordings.
  • Added two highlights discs by the Michael Sammes Singers from the 1960s. Thanks to Dave Kehs and Dan Kravetz.
  • Added recordings of The Black Mikado (1975) and The Hot Mikado (1995). Thanks to Dave Kehs.
  • Changed the date of the bulk of the G&S For All recordings from "1970s" to "1972". J. Donald Smith also clued me into an eight-disc boxed set from Murray Hill Records that contained the entire output of G&S For All.
  • Corrected an HTML syntax error on the Artist Index page that caused it to display incorrectly on Netscape 2.0.
Version 2.8 — February 11, 1996 (159 pages)
  • Added issue histories for The Gondoliers, Utopia, Limited and The Grand Duke. This part of the project is now completed.
  • Added the recordings by Gilbert and Sullivan For All, the G&S touring group founded by Thomas Round and Donald Adams. (Previously, only their Trial and Cox & Box were covered.) Thanks to J. Donald Smith and Dave Kehs.

    Since these recordings are not in my personal collection, I would be grateful to anyone who can provide reviews or impressions of them. If anyone can date them more accurately (than merely "1970s") this would also be helpful. Lastly, I am also missing cast and catalogue information for the G&S For All Mikado (though I have been assured that such a recording exists).

  • Added the recordings by Al Goodman and His Orchestra of highlights from The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore. Thanks to Dave Kehs. (If anyone knows of more recordings in this series, can date them more accurately, or is willing to provide a review, please contact me.)
  • Added comments from J. Donald Smith to the 1973 Mikado
Version 2.7 — February 10, 1996 (150 pages)
  • Added issue histories for all Ruddigore and Yeomen recordings.
  • Made some overdue corrections on the 1907 Pathé Yeomen. (Thanks to Tom Shepard for information on this early recording.)
    • I had stated previously, based on information found in Wolfson, that there are no surviving copies of this set. Several people informed me that this statement was incorrect (although the set is scarce).
    • Added cast member names for Sir Richard Cholmondely, Kate, and the 1st thru 4th Yeomen, which were previously left unspecified.
    • Corrected the allocation of the role of Phoebe, which seems to have been taken by just one singer despite the statement in Wolfson that it was shared.
  • Exchanged the order of the 1907 HMV Yeomen and the 1907 Pathé Yeomen in the chronology. It is a small point, but the Pathé set appeared a month before the HMV set did.
Version 2.6 — February 7, 1996 (150 pages)
  • Added issue histories for all Mikado recordings.
  • Added the 1912 Edison Bell Mikado to the Discography, bringing the total number of recordings to 107.
  • Added the Pro Arte cassette re-issue to the 1929 Pirates.
  • Added the Sony CD issue to the New D'Oyly Carte Iolanthe.
  • Added more catalog numbers for the CD re-issues of the Sargent Trial, Pinafore, Pirates and Patience. It seems that all of the Sargent CD re-issues have come out with two parallel sets of catalog numbers. (Perhaps one set was for the U.K., another for the U.S.)
Version 2.5 — February 6, 1996 (149 pages)
Version 2.4 — February 4, 1996 (149 pages)
  • Added issue histories for all Iolanthe recordings.
  • I now have better dates for the re-issues of the Sargent recordings. The digital remastering dates from 1987, not 1992 as I originally thought. These recordings were all re-issued on LP and cassette in 1987. By that time, microgroove LP technology allowed a shorter opera like Patience or Iolanthe to fit on just a single disc. Thus, for example, these two operas were offered in a two-disc set. The CD re-issues date from 1992, as originally stated.
  • Added a further cassette re-issue of the 1971 Pinafore.
Version 2.3 — February 4, 1996 (149 pages)
  • Added issue histories for all Patience recordings.
  • Additional comments on the D'Oyly Carte monaural recordings from Stefan Pilczek and Hal Chernoff.
  • Added reviews of the S.A.S.S./Divine Art Cox & Box and the New D'Oyly Carte Patience.
  • Itemized the cuts on the Mackerras Mikado.
  • Jeff Weisenfreund has filled me in on issues of the Green-era recordings on 45rpm discs. Stefan Pilczek has filled me in on simulated stereo re-issues of those same recordings dating from the late seventies. ("These are to be avoided like the plague," he cautions.)
  • Added coverage of cassette issues of the 1971 Pinafore and the 1968 Pirates.
  • Added coverage of a recent two-CD set from Romophone featuring the 1930 Pinafore coupled with the 1929 Pirates.
  • Earlier versions had stated that the 1971 Pinafore was recorded in quadrophonic sound. This was incorrect. The so-called "Phase-4" system was a kind of enhanced stereo, but was not quad.
  • Bill Sommerwerck has been educating me on the history of stereo recording. Stereo was not invented in the 1950s (as I had previously stated), but way back in the 1930s. However, it was not introduced commercially until the '50s. Also, "ffrr" did not mean the same thing as recording on magnetic tape. It corresponded to a series of frequency range improvements that dated back to the end of the 78rpm era. Bill also tells me that many of the Green-era recordings were issued on reel-to-reel tapes, but he does not have catalogue numbers for those sets. If anyone out there does, please let me know!
  • A clarification on the Sadler's Wells Iolanthe: this recording never was complete.
  • A minor correction in the artist index: Hebe on the Mackerras Pinafore was played by Valerie Seymour, not Valerie Masterson.
  • Re-arranged previously posted issue histories, so the order is now Date/Label/Format/Number, rather than Date/Format/Label/Number.
vers0003.htm More of the Revision History vers0001.htm
View Complete List