The 1964 D'Oyly Carte Yeomen

Cast
Lieut. CholmondelyAnthony Raffell
Colonel FairfaxPhilip Potter
Sergeant MeryllDonald Adams
Leonard MeryllDavid Palmer
Jack PointJohn Reed
Wilfred ShadboltKenneth Sandford
First YeomanDavid Palmer
Second YeomanThomas Lawlor
Elsie MaynardElizabeth Harwood
Phoebe MeryllAnn Hood
Dame CarruthersGillian Knight
KateMargaret Eales

D'Oyly Carte Opera Chorus
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Sir Malcolm Sargent

Recorded at Walthamstow Town Hall
5–8 & 11 April 1964

London A-4258
London A-4258
London/Decca 417 358-4
London/Decca 417 358-4

This is a fine performance of the opera, though Yeomen has fared exceptionally well on records, and it is doubtful that most collectors will be satisfied with just one recording. There are no significant weak spots in the cast. My only complaint is that Philip Potter makes the lout Fairfax sound far too sweet.

Sir Malcolm Sargent conducts his first D'Oyly Carte recording since the 1930s, though of course he had by this time completed his series for EMI with grand opera singers in the leading roles. It is surprising that he recorded another Yeomen just six years after his EMI performance, which certainly was still in the catalog. (These days, artists generally sign a ten-year exclusion agreement for any work that they record.)

One casting oddity is Elizabeth Harwood as Elsie. Harwood sang small parts on a couple of the other Sargent recordings, but she never appeared on stage for D'Oyly Carte. Ann Hood was the Company's regular Elsie at this time, and so she was here re-assigned to Phoebe — no small part to be sure, but not a role she ever sang on stage.


Decca 473 655-2
Decca 473 655-2
Issue History
DateLabelFormatNumberComments
1964 Decca Mono LP LK 4624/5
LKA 4624/5
The catalog numbers containing 'A' are Australian pressings.
Stereo LP SKL 4624/5
SKLA 4624/5
London Mono LP A-4258  
Stereo LP OSA-1258
1965 Decca Mono 45rpm DFE 8630 Highlights
196-? London 4-track reel-to-reel LOH-90086  
1966 Decca Mono LP LK 4809
LKA 4809
Highlights. The catalog numbers containing an 'A' are Australian pressings.
Stereo LP SKL 4809
SKLA 4809
London Stereo LP OS 26028 Highlights
Late 1960s Decca Stereo LP 9BB 162/7 Six-LP set that also included the 1957 Mikado and the 1961 Gondoliers
1970s Decca Cassette KSKC-4624/5 Australian issue
ca. 1979 Decca Cassette K60K 22
1986 Decca Stereo LP 417 358-1 Digitally remastered; with 1964 Trial By Jury
Decca/London Cassette 417 358-4
1989 Decca CD 417 358-4
1990 London
2003 Decca CD 473 655-2
2003 Decca CD 473 631-2 24-CD set including the complete Decca G&S series on CD (13 G&S operas, plus Cox and Box and The Zoo).